This was a hugely readable book - sharp, intelligently observed, warm and insightful, with great dialogue. I fear it will be fairly polarising because it's both very Brexit-centric and London-centric, and I did indeed find the focus on the 2016 political landscape made it feel a bit dated. That said, it was nevertheless a really skilful novel.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This sounded like such a promising story and I was so excited to receive an arc but unfortunately I couldn't get myself to finish it. I had never read a book from Nick Hornby and after hearing amazing things about his book, I went into this anticipating to really enjoy it. The story centres around Lucy, a 42 year old mother and Joseph who is a 22 year old 'wanna be' DJ and the ways they start a relationship. Initially, I enjoyed Nick Hornby's writing style but eventually found it falling flat and I was losing interest. I wasn't connecting to any of the characters and that is definitely the reason that I had to trudge through the novel before DNFING it.

This book feels so last year! The whole agonizing over Brexit, etc. has been over shadowed by the Coronavirus crisis, the lockdown and Black Lives Matter. If you are going to write a book with that much political content, it is going to be past its sell-by date before it is published.
Apart from that, the relationship between Joseph and Lucy is just not believable, at all, on any level, especially in the long term. Nick Hornby is very much a London writer and all his books have that setting. Imagine queueing outside a butcher anywhere else, unless you are social distancing! (And spending over £100 on meat). Some of the dialogue is quite funny, but there is far too much talk about sex. Lucy's sons are amusing.
Hornby has tackled too many issues here and has not done so very deeply, making it a lightweight love story which does not work for me.

I was over the moon to be approved for this one as I'm a huge fan of Nick Hornby's books and this one didn't disappoint. The characters were great and Nick tackled topics such as Brexit, race and class. Joseph was a real lovable character and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. A solid 4 star for me.

Nick Hornby writes entertaining and yet thought provoking tales of the ordinary person. There is nothing standout that's one can point to as to why the books are so readable, but they are.

A good read for when you want some light relief from the world around you.

I love Nick Hornby and all his books. This one was no different. The characters are likeable and the plot is credible and written with his trademark wit and humour, A must read for any Hornby fan.

Lucy is 42, white, a teacher, separated from her husband and has 2 sons.
Joseph is 22, black, single and has several part-time jobs, one of which is a Saturday job at the butcher's shop Lucy uses.
She gets chatting to him and asks him to babysit for her football-mad sons. You can see where this is going...

They are, on the surface, completely wrong for each other. But something clicks.

The book addresses race, age differences, class, Brexit, politics in general, Trump - all serious subjects, but handled with such a light touch that the book is a gloriously funny read.

Thoroughly recommended.

I’ve read a couple of Nick Hornby’s books in the past and enjoyed them very much but sadly, this one was a let-down for me. I found it boring and felt that the characters though likeable were so mismatched in every way and on completely different wavelengths. Lucy’s boys were great characters, and I enjoyed them, But for me, the book was overlong and drawn out

This sounded like such a promising story, and I was so pleased to be accepted for an advance copy. Sadly it failed to live up to the hype for me. I’m a fan of Nick Hornby’s writing, but this was a major disappointment.
The two central characters, Lucy, 42 years old, white, Head of English, and Joseph, 22 years old, black, butchers assistant and wannabe DJ, somehow or other get together and begin a relationship. Though it’s hardly a relationship. He comes to Lucy’s house every night, either to babysit her two boys, or he arrives later, after the boys have gone to bed. Lucy and Joseph then watch an episode of The Sopranos, have sex, then Joseph goes back home, where he lives with his Mum.
To begin with, Joseph seems older than his 22 years, and Lucy behaves more like a giddy teenager than a 42 year old mum of two, with a responsible career. Both characters come across as shallow and superficial, and I didn’t feel I was getting to know either of them any better by the time I abandoned the book, at 61% in. Neither character rang true for me, both make some very strange choices and decisions which make no sense. I simply couldn’t get a handle on this book, there is so much dialogue between different characters; two- way; three-way; and four-way, as well as group discussions, and much of it makes no sense at all. Add in the Brexit referendum and resulting angst, rage and confusion amongst voters on both sides, and the non existent plot line becomes even muddier, and very boring.
Maybe the author was trying to be amusing, or maybe he thought he was writing a screen play. That could actually work, as the dialogue might have a chance of coming to life if it was delivered by good actors. It might even be funny. But as a novel, I’m sorry to say it falls flat.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

The story is about Lucy, a woman who is head of the English department at the local school. After becoming separated from her husband Paul, she is hoping for a new relationship, finding a kindred spirit in Joseph, a humorous, likeable young man who works at the local shop.
There are quite a few characters introduced in the first few chapters, and at first the story seems a little slow, but becomes more interesting as you get to know them. I like the light humorous tone of the writing, typical of Nick Hornby. The two main characters are likeable and amusing, Joseph particularly is hard working, doing several jobs in order to improve his lifestyle, and I enjoyed the interaction with his friends and family, who are suspicious of his new relationship with Lucy – a woman 20 years older than him. Though different in age and lifestyle, there is a real chemistry between Lucy and Joseph. The dialogue at times is hilarious and light-hearted, exploring different, topics ranging between Brexit and Joseph’s part-time DJ job.
On the downside, the story lacks pace, with little plotline to make it more entertaining. A stronger story would have made more of a page turner.

A promising story of a couple who appear to have little in common, set around the Brexit debate. I found it easy to get into but hard to stick with. The dialogue was confusing, (And there’s a lot ) and there seemed little actual chemistry between Lucy and Joseph. Thanks for the opportunity to read this.

Nick Hornby’s latest novel tells the story of an unlikely relationship unfolding against a backdrop of contemporary Brexit-obsessed Britain.

The story is told from the points of view of Lucy, a 42 year old white woman and Joseph, a young black man. As Nick Hornby is neither of those things, there’s a lot that could go wrong, but I think he pulls it off.

As the title indicates, this is a story about the many differences and surprising similarities between people, crystallised by the backdrop of the 2016 referendum. (There’s no escaping it, even now.) Nick Hornby writes very well about the febrile, often toxic atmosphere of that, with people becoming entrenched in their differences and incapable of tolerating disagreement.

Hornby’s observations about people are often razor sharp, and it’s a very enjoyable read.

I feel like I should declare my love of Nick Hornby books at the start of this review - I usually love the dialogue and the insight into people and the humour of Hornby's writing. Indeed, 'High Fidelity' is up there with my absolute favourite novels and I think I've read pretty much all his work.

This book had so much promise - essentially an age gap romance between a 42 year-old white woman (Lucy) and a 22 year-old black man (Joseph) set against the Brexit referendum. There's loads of scope for exploration of people's attitudes to race, class, age, 21st century British society...so far, so good! And indeed, a lot of this is delivered upon very well by Hornby - he perfectly captures, for example, the rage caused by Brexit on both sides of the Leave/Remain debate. Lucy's job as a teacher also struck a chord with me as reflecting my own life.

However, it's not a perfect novel. While it's enjoyable and interesting, it doesn't quite hit the spot for a romance as it's too messy and makes you wonder what the appeal is in the relationship, especially for Lucy who tolerates some pretty poor behaviour from Joseph. It felt a bit more like social commentary than a fully absorbing novel in places.

Overall, I would say this is an engaging and light read with some interesting points about British culture in the age of Brexit and Black Lives Matter. Whether it works as a romance is more up for debate - it didn't for me. If you like Hornby's writing (as I do) then you'll probably like this, but for everyone else then I'd start with 'High Fidelity' or 'About a Boy' as Hornby's real masterpieces.

This is Hornby’s take on love and relationships during political turmoil. Two unlikely people meet at the same time as arguments about Brexit are going on. It’s as if the two sides of the political argument are reflected in the two different personalities, age, class and ethnicity of Lucy and Joseph. You can imagine the various disapproval and issues that might arise, and if you want to know what the plot is, there are plenty of reviews here, and yes, it is an intriguing plot if you like reading about misunderstandings and love-against-all-odds. And of course, you do. So do I.

But, see, here’s the thing: the writing style tends to leave a few gaping holes, so, actually, the characters seem almost ghostlike and, dare I say it, cliched… It’s still a mystery to me why the two characters might want to make anything between them work, actually, and this is largely because of Hornby’s reliance on all the negatives. There was also some repetition of events and feelings instead of character or plot development and it really would have been good to have included perhaps a bit more of a believable need between the two protagonists. Basically, there just isn’t enough depth, which is a shame, because the premise is really promising.

My thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an advance copy.

I have read a number of Nick Hornby's books and enjoyed them, but I was disappointed by this book, which felt like an attempt to write a topical book, regardless of whether the author really had something to say. I found Lucy quite unlikeable, and I really couldn't believe in her relationship with Joseph. Most of the other characters were real stereotypes, and a lot of the dialogue in the book was just too long. I really wanted to like this book as Nick Hornby is a good writer, but I'm afraid I was glad to have finished this one.

Lucy is 40 something, a mother and recently separated. Joseph is 22 and has numerous jobs to keep him going. This is the story of their relationship and how it develops in spite of their differences, including the fact that Lucy is white and Joseph black.

I enjoyed this story on the whole especially the inclusion of so many relevant issues such as gender, race and Brexit. The main characters were sympathetically drawn and likeable although I wasn't sure i felt much chemistry between them. Like an awful lot of novels these days though it was very London centric. Publishers! There are other cities you know. This continuing emphasis on the capital is quite exclusionary.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Lucy is a 40 something year old mother of two and Joseph is a man in his early 20's that babysits her children and then the pair fall for each other. It's one of these books where not a huge amount happens, its well fleshed out characters and a believable story of human interaction. Just Like You is a fairly quick read that examines what happens if people look outside of what they think is expected for them and seeking out some sort of perfect match.

I have been a reader of Nick’s books since Fever Pitch and have loved his novels including High Fidelity and Juliet, Naked.
This is a very contemporary story, mainly set against the backdrop of Brexit in London 2016. Whilst the country was trying to decide on the issues brought forward, two Londoners meet and begin a relationship which is affected by race, age and money. One is white and one is black. One has a steady job and the other has a myriad of them. One is 40+ and the younger one is early twenties. Do their differences divide them or bring them closer together?
I really enjoyed this book, finding a lot to like about both Lucy and Joseph as well as being reminded about the referendum and how that was played out with everyone having their own opinion. I would recommend to any fans of Hornby or readers who are aged 20+.

I received an ARC of this from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I just finished and enjoyed both the book version and latest TV adaptation of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity so when I got the email about this release I knew I had to read it!

I enjoyed the exploration of Lucy and Joseph's relationship in addition to the overall themes and issues of this novel and considering all this I thought the backdrop of Brexit was a great narrative choice (despite being slightly triggered, knowing the outcome now).

Lucy and Joseph are great characters and I found the writing made them easy to picture - to the point I can already envision these as a series or film, either of which I would definitely watch.

Set against the backdrop of the 2016 referendum (Brexit) Just Like You follows two very different individuals who happen to fall in love. Recently divorced Lucy, a forty-one year old white schoolteacher, is looking to date again so she hires a babysitter for her two sons. The babysitter, Joseph, happens to be a twenty-one year old black man who works part time at a the butcher counter and aspires to be a DJ. In spite of how little in common Lucy and Joseph have, the two become romantically involved. Nick Hornby tackles many different issues: politics (particularly on Brexit), class, race, interracial dating, racial profiling, divorce, drug addiction, and alcoholism.
Throughout the course of their relationship Lucy and Joseph attempt to bridge the gap between their generations and to overcome their drastically different interests and backgrounds. Their friends and relatives are not very approving of their relationship, and their age gap raises a few eyebrows.
While I did enjoy reading the early stages of Lucy and Joseph's relationship (a lot of which occurs via texting), once they begin sort-of-dating, Hornby seems to gloss over their more positive interactions, focusing instead on scenes in which tensions arise between the two. While their seemingly silly misunderstandings were realistic, in the way they often escalated to actual arguments, they didn't give a full-picture of their relationship. Their earlier chemistry seems to fizzle out all too quickly, so that we are left with two people who don't really act like they really like or even love each other. Towards the end in particular I wish that Hornby had articulated Lucy and Joseph's feelings for each other (it seemed that 'for reasons' they wanted to make things work).
I also wish that Joseph hadn't been painted as being so clueless and disinterested in politics and literature. He has no real passion for music, so his dj aspirations seemed little other than a diversion.
The story too could have been more developed as it comes across as rather directionless. Lucy and Joseph have very few meaningful connections, so that many interactions—in which either of them is sick of talking to whoever they are talking to—felt repetitive. They have awkward dinners and get-togethers, they meet up with 'friends' they don't particularly care for...
And while I understand that Hornby wanted to play the devil's advocate when he introduces us to 'likeable' characters who turn out to be xenophobic Brexiteers...well, the wound is still fresh, and I have 0 sympathy for these characters.
While I appreciated that Hornby wanted the everyday moments that make up a relationship, I found myself wanting a bit more passion or romance between Lucy and Joseph. Most pages however seemed to focus on the more negative aspects of their relationship....and by the end I was just ready to be done with the 2016 referendum. The first time around was hard enough, do I hate myself so much that I want to read about it?