Love Will Tear Us Apart by Holly Seddon

          I simply loved this book and was quite sad to see it end, especially as it sort of drifts to a conclusion but none is ever reached, there is no finality to the book.  As this is a tale of life then I can excuse it for that as there is no death to neaten things off and provide a natural conclusion.

I think it helps that it is firmly set in a time period that I recognise all too well.  Kate and Paul are children of the 1980s and a couple of years younger than I am so their fictional world is one I recognise - the brands, the TV shows, the events referenced - all help bring a sense of authenticity to the story.  Couple that with the naivety of the young and their self-centredness and you begin to realise that some things are simply a universal experience.

Watching Kate almost destroy herself through work and poor choices is not as melodramatic as it all sounds.  There is a healthy dose of realism in here that endears this rather wretched and dispossessed young woman to you and so you forgive her adult failings rather more readily in print then you would in real life.  Maybe that's the joy of it, she has generally made a horrendous muck up of things so you feel slightly better about your own failings.

I did find the denouement rather bittersweet and strangely uplifting.  It showed that maybe friendship is maybe far more important than passion and love and it is certainly more enduring.

I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.