The Flat Share

Wow. Wow. Wow. This book has left me speechless. If you are looking for a good old pick me up, comedic book I cannot recommend this book enough. Sharing a flat with someone who you have never met along with dealing with stalker ex-boyfriends and wrongly imprisoned brothers... what could possibly be complicated about that?

I have to say, I loved every element of this book Beth O'Leary was so clever in her writing. The story explored serious issues such as relationship abuse and mental trauma yet it was nothing too heavy it was all approached in a lighthearted way which I loved. Through out the book we slowly learn about Tiffy's previous relationship and the trauma she is left to deal with. Her ex-boyfriend Justin, emotionally abused her yet she does not come to this realization for a while. One of my favorite parts of this part of the story is when Tiffy finds the courage to seek out and see a counselor as it sends out the message that it really is okay to reach out for help and that is is okay to admit that you need professional help as well as sending out the message that it is okay not to be okay which is so so important.

The arrangement for the flat share between Tiffy and Leon means they are never supposed to met. Due to never being able to met they leave notes for each other and they slowly but surely start to learn more and more about each other. Of course they do not realize that they have developed feelings for each other for a while however, the notes allowed them to start caring about each other Tiffy even helps Leon's brother who is in prison and she has not even met Leon!!! At the very end of the novel Leon asks Tiffy to marry him but he asks her in such a romantic way and also uses notes. What I loved about this is that the notes at the beginning started everything off for them and now the notes at the end are starting a new chapter in their relationship which was an incredible way to end the story.

As already mentioned Justin is Tiffy's ex-boyfriend and Leon is the boy she shares a flat with and eventually falls in love with. There is a huge contrast between Justin and Leon. Justin is a controlling, toxic and selfish man yet Leon is a caring, helpful and kind man who always goes out of his way to make sure Tiffy is safe and okay after learning more about her history with Justin. Which shows us that although we m Near the end Tiffy tells Justin 'you leaving me was the best thing that ever happened to me' allowing us as readers to see that everything happens for a reason and that no matter how bad situations may seem, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel no matter how cliche that sounds.

I know I have only spoken about the touchy subjects and I haven't mentioned about all the comedic aspects however, I do feel like they are something you need to read for yourself as I am no Beth O'Leary and trust me she writes it a lot better then I ever could.  There is also so much more to this book that I could write about although I would be stuck writing for hours on end and if I keep going you would have probably been able to finish the books itself before finish this and so I am going to end this post with a quote from this amazing, witty, pick me up book ' being nice is a good thing. You can be strong and nice. You don't have to be one or the other.'