Today I am very excited to be part of the blog tour for Lauren Bravo’s new book, Probably Nothing! Read on to find out what I thought…
Title: Probably Nothing
Author: Lauren Bravo
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Synopsis:
Bryony doesn’t mind being single. Which is why she doesn’t understand why she keeps seeing (ok, sleeping with) Ed… who is perfectly fine but also only ok. She resolves to end things only to unceremoniously receive a call whilst in the queue for what report to be the best noodles in town. The caller tells her Ed has died.
Worse yet, he seems to have represented her as his great love. Obviously, it would be rude to correct them. Then she’s invited to the funeral. It would be equally rude to refuse… right?
Probably Nothing is the answer to just how far sheer awkwardness can take someone. Peppered with Lauren Bravo’s irresistible wit it explores the relatable modern conditions of both health anxiety and people pleasing.SYNOSIS HERE
My review:
Probably Nothing is so much fun! It has a great main character,
Bryony, and a ridiculous but hugely entertaining situation: Ed, the man she has
been casually dating for a little while, has died and his family all mistakenly
believe their relationship was much more serious than it actually was. Ed’s
family want Bryony involved in the funeral (and much more!) and she’s too polite
to say no…
Although this is a silly situation that could easily be avoided, I could
completely see how Bryony got sucked further and further in, thinking that this
would be the last time she’d need to lie. It’s that feeling of not wanting to
hurt someone’s feelings, and then leaving it too long to admit you’d been less than
truthful…!
The book switches between Bryony and Ed’s sister-in-law Kelly, who is trying to get pregnant with Ed’s brother and works as a receptionist at the local Doctor’s surgery. I enjoyed switching between the two characters – seeing things from Kelly’s perspective gives the reader an extra insight into how Bryony appears to other people, which was very entertaining, as well as an insight into what Ed’s family is like from someone ‘inside’ it!
The romance element is not overly present throughout the book – though it’s there, the story is very much about the situations Kelly and Bryony are in rather than any budding romance we might notice, and I think this works perfectly. There’s plenty of light-heartedness despite the underlying theme of grief – after all, the novel is full of characters dealing with this grief in their own unique ways – and I thought Probably Nothing dealt with this topic perfectly, striking just the right balance between humour and poignance.
Highly recommended. I also hugely enjoyed Preloved, so Lauren Bravo is now on my ‘must-read’ list!
My rating: 4.5/5
Probably Nothing is out in the UK on 4 July (an important date all-round!) – pre-order it on Waterstones or bookshop.
Many thanks to Books and the City (Simon & Schuster) for providing a copy of this book on which I chose to write an honest review and for inviting me onto the blog tour!
Follow the rest of the tour:
I like that it’s not overly focused on the romance, sounds great, excellent review 😀