Whatever you think this book is going to be....it's not!
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The blurb
There are success stories – and there are true stories
How would you feel if everything in your life suddenly started to go . . . right? Six months ago, Alex Moore was stuck in a dead-end job, feeling her potential quietly slip away. Then, seemingly overnight, she launched her dream start-up and became one of London's fastest rising tech stars. At thirty-one, her life has just begun. But Alex’s transformation isn’t easy for those around her. Her friends are struggling to accept her rapid success, her parents worry she’s burning out and her fiancé is getting cold feet.
Then weird things start to happen. Muggings, stalkers – even a wild claim that she murdered a stranger. But when Alex visits the Orkney Islands to recharge, weird turns into WTF. Because there she discovers the world’s oldest secret – and it’s a secret that Alex’s stratospheric rise has royally messed up.
Full of heart and humour, this is a very modern adventure with a most unexpected twist.
The Review
I've been absolutely sideswiped by this book. What do I like most about this? The blurb manages to tell you exactly what happens without really revealing what actually HAPPENS! Sneaky and clever.
It starts off as a sort of, 'Girl come-good' tale. Alex has somehow thrown off the shackles of whatever has been holding her back all her life and is now the epitome of success. She's determined, driven, dynamic...possibly some of the other d words...
She has completely thrown herself into her new business and has transformed herself. Also, she's become a bit intolerable in the process. You know those people who suddenly become just a bit insufferable, with their positive energy and can-do attitude. Yeah, she's one of them.
Wherever I thought this book was going....it wasn't. It comes out of left field and hits you with such an unexpected storyline. A heads up; if fantasy and magic realism aren't your bag, you might find this a challenge. You really have to suspend disbelief and get on board with quite a fanciful and incredible story. I loved this magical turn in the story, as for starters it began to explain why Alex was the way she was (to start with - quite an unlikable protagonist). It became clear that there is something missing from her, something she has lost that has allowed her to make such an overnight success of herself. And you start to wonder, what did she have to sacrifice (and was it unknowingly...?) in order to reinvent herself, without something as trivial as the 'fear of failure' holding her back.
To say anymore about the plot would spoil it - all I can say is its worth a read if you want something that is a wonderful mix of genres and will certainly make you think.
For me, this type of storyline is reminiscent of 'The Binding' which I read, reviewed and loved earlier this year. It asks:
what would your life would be like, if some of the negative thoughts that hold you back, no longer existed?
Would this free you up to become the person you always longed to be? It makes you introspective: makes you think about what the fears are in life that hold us back, the stories we tell ourselves and how hard it can be to break out of your own self-fulfilling narrative whilst still remaining true to ourself.
Just for the fact that it leaves you with so many thoughtful questions, makes it a wonderful choice for a book group. Even those that aren't as enamored will have lots to add to the discussion. It could have perhaps done with being slightly shorter, as it does take quite a while for everything to make sense and does test your patience on a few occasions when things still aren't resolved and you STILL don't have the foggiest whats going on. However, it was such a delicately and intricately crafted story that I was prepared to forgive it meandering off into seemingly unrelated tangents.
I loved the style of writing and the imagination that went into this book and Flatt is definitely an author I will be looking out for more from.
This was the February selection, as part of the Reading in Heels book and gift subscription boxes. I am not affiliated with them in anyway and the subscription was a Christmas present!
Find out more about Reading in Heels here.