276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Preloved: A sparklingly witty and relatable debut novel

£7.495£14.99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

I felt like I saw some of the more emotional aspects of the plot– such as the likelihood of Gwen was suppressing grief from a big personal loss – coming from miles away, but I was stunned by how smoothly and beautifully the author arrived at those points, revealed them to us, and engaged her characters with them.

Preloved by Lauren Bravo a spoiler-free book review Preloved by Lauren Bravo a spoiler-free book review

Now it’s time for Gwen to get out of her life in pause, and to find a way to move forward with bravery and humanity—and more regular dental care. One of these chores is to dispose of the engagement ring that she has been holding on to since the abrupt ending of the relationship. It choked me up many times with its small, understated, beautiful details about feeling lost, family grief and the meandering friendships of your thirties. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review. I feel like last year I read a fair few books about chaotic 20-somethings who don’t know what to do with their lives (sweet summer children) – so imagine my delight to read a novel about a middle-aged woman who doesn’t know what she’s doing with her life!There are some moments that made me laugh and giggle but to be honest I spent most of the time wondering where the story was going and it did not do anything for me, the characters were mostly likeable but although easy to read it dragged. At the same time, the literary landscape seems rather saturated with these stories of anger, hunger, and youthful languishing, and I often find myself comparing it to how having lived through the worst of the pandemic, I feel no motivation to read fictional narratives about it. It wasn’t full of excitement and action, but it was a gentle meander through a map of stories that were inextricably linked through a series of happy and painful memories. The main character, Gwen, is relatable and likeable, even though she has her own issues that can be frustrating at times.

Preloved by Lauren Bravo | Goodreads

We also find out more about Gwen and what really led her to this point in her life, the reason she has isolated herself, the ending of her engagement to a man she admits was perfectly nice but not who she needed at that time. As the story progresses, it becomes clear how these people link to Gwen and other characters in the book. Are all her friends (married, cooped-up, privy to a life she doesn't care for or have access to) secretly having fun without her? The main character is one of the best I've read recently and I could relate to her in a number of ways, and the book was well worth reading for that, but I do definitely feel the book could benefit from a bit of editing for length. This is something that many struggle with…and the author handles Suze’s decision and her knowledge that she has to be selfish in making the choice is written very well.Gwen felt a bit hapless which made relating to her hard, though it does become clearer why as the tale unfolds. What I haven't yet lived through are my late-thirties, and I suspect that even those who are already there will find detaching from that tide and picking up this debut novel – which features the mid-life shambles of a 38-year-old Gwen – somewhat refreshing. She begins to make a list, to start living her life fully and make more time for friends and family. The crossover between donors/donations and their stories alongside Gwen and other volunteers' narratives sang for a while and then morphed from quirky to prosaic for me.

Lauren Bravo Lauren Bravo

She’s been isolating herself almost since the day she told her fiance that their relationship was over 5 years ago. Gwen is a well-crafted character; like most of us she has her good points and her bad ones and struggles through life the best she can. I couldn't have spent a year and a half of my life writing a book that didn't have a hopeful conclusion.Plagued with the standard milennial package of unhappy, tortuous questions – Should she have stayed in that long-ago long-term relationship? About midway through, the pieces slotted together and I realized the significance of many of the "item" chapters. I’m an author and award-winning journalist, writing about fashion, food, pop culture, travel, feminism and life,for people like Sunday Times Style, Grazia, Refinery29 UK, Cosmopolitan, Stylist, easyJet Traveller, Foodism, Delicious, The Telegraph and The Guardian. I’m really sorry but due to high volumes of requests, I can’t help with university projects anymore. You can learn a lot about people and the things they give away, hobbies that never happened and relationships that slowly faded.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment