Cover Image: The Shape of Us

The Shape of Us

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Member Reviews

A lovely story about love found in London.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author. All opinions are my own.

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This is such a sweet book. My only criticism is the jumping from scene to scene, from character to character without much warning. You do get used to the writing style, though some might find this annoying.

I found I liked some characters more than others, though they all grabbed a piece of me as by the end of the book I had shed a few tears.

Thank you to the author, Bookouture and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

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This was really sweet and cute. Just what I needed to help my mood!
The writing was well done and the story well executed. I’d definitely read more from this author!

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I began reading this book but gave up at around 15%. The storyline had potential, but I could not get on with the narrative. I could handle the jumps between characters, but it was not well written and included too much pointless information. It reminded me of The Note by Zoe Folbigg which I disliked for the same reason. I persevered with that and all I gained was a negative review.

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The stories here are an interesting read but I wasn't moved by then and I didn't feel it was really a funny book as it is advertised. It's very much in the theme of Love Actually with little interrelated stories of differing relationships and that was a good concept but I struggled to keep up with who was who and what was what when it was constantly swapping stories especially at the start, it loses momentum.
A good book if you enjoy stories about humanity and all its quirks

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This is a quick read about love in the big city, The cover first attracted me to the book. I really liked the character development as well.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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3.5

Nothing too deep here but enjoyable none the less. There are quite a few characters, some quite crazy, but you get a little background story for each. Then throughout this story you get to see how the characters are connected. It was clever and feel good, a nice break from all the psychological thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for a review.

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I am glad i gave this book a chance. There are quite a few characters in this story to keep track of, so if you put the book down for awhile, it takes a moment to remember who is who., but that could just be me lol. Jojo is a particular favourite of mine, watch out for her. The story is cleverly written and touches on some topics not normally seen in a love story. I love how some characters interweave in each others lives. I would recommend reading this book.

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Absolutely brilliant! A bunch of seemingly unconnected stories which are funny, sad, and some are plain old weird. When the threads cleverly come together, you cannot help but feel enormously satisfied. Highly highly recommended!

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I really enjoyed this book. The individual stories of so many characters and how their very loosely interlink at all times was such a great story. I particularly was rooting for Daisy and Chris! I loved how they each had quite strong individual stories, and their close links were touched on, but not integral parts of most stories, other than Adam and Franks. There were just enough characters to keep up with! Would definitely recommend.

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Enjoyable book, there were several characters that I wanted to know more about, and 1 or 2, that didn't interest me at all.

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"Not all love stories are heart shaped." This quote from the cover of The Shape of Us is what initially drew me to this book. I instantly felt some connection and wanted to know more. I'm so glad I took a chance and picked this up, never hearing about the book or author before. Now I'm a fan.

The Shape of Us is a love story but it's more than just that. The reader meets a variety of characters, each one cleverly crafted and so enjoyable, you end up loving them all. You follow each one as they struggle and succeed in various ways, somehow connected in the end. It was delightful, funny, and sweet. It was a little Love Actually in all the best ways.

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I’ll be honest I’ve never read a book quite like this one. One with many different main characters. The term “it’s a small world” rings true in this book. Each POV is enterwined somehow with the rest. Some characters are more engaging than others.

Jojo...

Good writing. Good plot brings the book to a good end. Recommend for something a little different.

I want to thank the author and publisher and Netgalley for the ARC a honest review.

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Thanks to Drew Davis and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book. I loved the way the various characters lives were portrayed and interwoven in this story. While at times I would have liked it to focus more on a character it came together quite nice in the end.

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Enjoyed the book and would give it 3.5 stars. At times I was confused about which character I was reading about. I ended up enjoying all the characters, even crazy Adam. Who lives in an office building? I LOVED Jojo. She was definitely my favorite character. I could have read a whole book about her and the situation she was dealing with. Her foray into the sex shop, her bluntness and how she responded to people were hilarious. She definitely deserved more than Frank. For some reason the book seemed familiar at times. The story definitely made me laugh at times.

The story follows several characters and at times they interact with each other and sometimes in strange ways. Daisy and Chris are just starting to date. Both have issues of their own. They end up going on the strangest first date. At one point they end up in a bathroom stall in a gay club with two other people, contemplating if they should to take drugs. Dylan suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome. He's sixteen and in love with a slightly older woman, although she isn't aware of his feelings. He wants to impress the girl since she she loves French movies. Dylan makes the mistake of googling Adult French movies and gets the type of movie he wasn't expecting. Adam is the craziest one of the bunch. He's recently unemployed and hasn't really been looking for a new job. When Adam comes across someone's ID badge, he becomes slightly obsessed with the company and does what most normal people do. He starts living in the office building. Then there's Jojo. She's a sixty-three year old woman having an affair with her husband. She's trying to get her husband back from his much younger mistress.

I enjoyed the story, characters and writing style. The book definitely kept me entertained. It was a fun read. I really liked the book cover. I definitely would want to be friends with Jojo!!! I loved the scene when Jojo is at the park with Belinda and someone asks about the babies. Drew's great. He has all his teeth. ( I read the author's note at the end.)

Definitely recommend the book and look forward to reading more books by the author.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author, Drew Davies, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.

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What can I say? I absolutely loved this deliciously bonkers book and its cast of disparate yet entwined characters. Yes, it took me a little while to get to grips with the connections (some only unfolding as the story progressed), but each and every plot line grabbed my attention and made me think a lot, laugh even more and cry at the end. References to The Gallagher brothers. Small, dead hedgehogs. Even sugar cubes and gorillas. OK, I'm not explaining what the book's about, but – that's not the purpose of my review. If I was forced to try and explain it, I'd simply say it's about people. Ordinary people sometimes plunged into extraordinary circumstances. The good, the bad and the downright ugly. But always laced with humour. A favourite line – 'Adam had always been afraid of kinks: they seemed so decisive. Most days, he couldn't choose between white or brown toast, let alone if he wanted to be tied up or spanked.' Five, shiny heartfelt stars from me.

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I wasn't crazy about this book. I found it hard to follow and I couldn't really connect with any of the characters so that made it feel like a chore to finish, unfortunately.

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This story was confusing from the first couple of pages. I could not stand the way the stories were broken up and the short blurbs of madness in a voice that couldn't be identified. There were rambled sections that seemed to be a blog, but I couldn't understand their purpose. Daisy sent texts/emails/a telegram (that still exists in London?) and sounded like a complete lunatic stalker. It made no sense! The story of the wife trying to get her husband back from the pregnant mistress? What on earth was that about? Oh! And the guy that apparently had a meltdown when he lost his job and hid out in an office building for months? I didn't understand a bit of it.

ARC provided free by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I picked this book because of the cover. I love the cover. I liked the idea of what the book was trying to accomplish, and I think that the circle of people in the book makes the phrase "it's a small world" pretty on point. The book itself wasn't really my cup of tea.

I thought there were too many characters, I like to read a book and if I put it down, when I pick it up again I just want to pick up where I left off without struggling to remember which character was who and what their storyline was. I would finally get into what was happening with a character and want to continue on, and it would cut off, and switch to another one, and it made it very very hard not to skim until I got back to that other character, so I would read that, struggle to remember the storyline, and get into it again just to have it cut off, I felt like I was getting whiplash. The author did a good job of weaving the characters in their circle and how each were connected in a 7 degrees sort of way, but I was hoping for more, a bigger finish, something. The book was like a bunch of short stories that was cut up and mixed to make a bigger story, but I'm not a fan of short stories, but I think that someone who likes variety and cute little books with a love of things London, would enjoy this book.

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I always enjoy books where they follow several characters and how their lives intertwine and this book was no exception. I think that when challenged, people remember how strong they are and I especially found it in Jojo. The love story between Daisy and Chris helped the reader remember what it is like to fight for something that we truly want.. This was an enjoyable read with the dash of British humor that I always enjoy.

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