Not Exactly What I Had in Mind by Kate Brooke
Format:(ARC e-book via NetGalley)

All the thanks to NetGalley and Penguin: Dutton for the ARC!

I’m not quite sure what I expected here, but it definitely took a huge turn from where I thought it was going! This book was extremely modern and timely (maybe a little TOO much so?), and the story was fresh and original. I enjoyed the book conceptually, but had a hard time wrapping my head around the characters in the beginning. Many important current social topics are covered here, and that’s where I wonder if it was a bit too on the nose? While these elements of the story were primarily stances I agree with, they seemed to be off balance in the plot. Over all, it was a very unique and prolific book that I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read!

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*Spoiler Free Summary*

Hazel starts out her relationship with new roommate, Alfie, and the two immediately question if their decision to hook up off the bar was a mistake. The two have an unspoken contract that they will make this work, and even choose to see other people. Meanwhile, Hazel’s sister, Emily, and her wife, Daria, are seeking to start a family of their own. The four characters’ impact in each others’ lives grows simultaneously more complicated and more essential as they experience an avalanche of unforeseen circumstances.

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Many thanks to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this book. Unfortunately, this is the last nice thing I'll say in this review.

I absolutely hated this book. I read it hoping it would get better and it didn't. Alfie and Hazel are flatmates who end up having sex on page 1. They then spend the rest of the book in a giant miscommunication trope that wasn't even really resolved in a satisfying matter. Throughout the course of the book, Hazel ends up in a relationship with someone and it seemingly ends well until the ex finds out Hazel is posting comics based on their relationship. So what happens? Skip this if you don't want to have a spoiler that I will not put under a spoiler tag --- he apparently took pictures of her without her consent as well as videos of her during sex that he a) posts on the internet and b) sends to all her friends and family. So revenge porn. And it isn't handled well. Like...at all. I was so absolutely angry at this plot twist and it got even worse when the "resolution" came.

Throw in a subplot of Hazel's sister and her sister in law trying to get pregnant and yet one more miscommunication trope thrown in. The book is jumbled and absolutely makes no sense. Oh and it's marketed as a romance. Friends, this is not a romance. It's fiction yes but it is not a romance at all.

Trigger warnings for miscarriage, death (cancer related), cancer testing, revenge porn, lack of consent, miscommunication.

I'm going to go read an actual romance novel now.

I have to say that this definitely lived up to the description. It broke my heart several times. Alfie, Hazel, Emily and Daria are fleshed out nicely. But even the minor characters are given a nice depth. I love character driven stories. But this one also holds so many emotions. It was a little slow to take off and felt a little preachy at times, but overall it was satisfying.

DNF at 35%

I am not sure what I expected with this one but I didn't like the 45 minutes and 35% I gave it so I stopped.

Alfie and Hazel are flatmates that spend the first pages getting it on but after seem to be dancing immaturely around it. Emily is Hazel's sister and her wife Daria are trying to have a baby but Daria doesn't want to and it's all going to blow up soon. Then there are some other characters that I got lost keeping track of.

I could't get interested in the characters, the plot was vague and messy.

This was a cute book for fans of Sally Rooney. Marketed as a romantic comedy it certainly hit the points. There's a lot happening here which gives it a bit more depth than I was hoping for. Overall, I feel very neutral about it but it won't linger in my mind.

When I first started reading I was really excited. One of my first notes was "So far I'm enjoying the characters, the pacing, and the setting! I can tell this will be a quick read." After a strong start with Alfie and Hazel's roommate romance drama, the love quickly fizzled. I expected a romance novel and a women's fiction with every cliche and modern life drama you can imagine was not exactly what I had in mind. The plot was all over the place. *Spoiler* There was a vegan lesbian couple using a donor to have a baby, a miscarriage, revenge porn, starving artist cliches, politics, and a pandemic lockdown in the epilogue. It was a messy family drama, at best.

The book begins with an awkward moment where two roommates who’ve been sharing a flat for a few months hook up. Hazel and Alfie actually really like each other but of course can’t say anything because that would be too simple. Hazel’s sister Emily and wife Daria come to spend the weekend and the four get a long well. In fact their friend/family dynamic is one of the better things in the story. The book follows them trials and tribulations. I mean there is a lot going on in this book. There is illness, revenge porn, fertility issues and miscarriage, climate change and the pandemic eventually shows up.

All in all I didn’t love this book and found continual lack of communication frustrating. It was hard for me to understand Hazel’s choices. Maybe it’s because I’m not a twenty something. And I’m taking an half star off because the epilogue left me feeling things were okay for now but didn't give me closure. It isn’t a bad book it just wasn’t a great fit for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. (2.5 stars)

I didn't love this one. I was really caught off guard at the beginning because we jump right in with them having sex and pretty in depth sex.
I didn't really love and connect with the characters.
The writing flows well. I didn't love the ending. This one just wasn't for me.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Conflicted feelings because I thought this book was easy to read. The writing flowed well, the characters were interesting. But man, that epilogue. What the heck. I read a few books that used the pandemic well and a few that really have not. And to just throw it into the epilogue like that was not good in my opinion. Honestly, if I had known I would have skipped it. And I suggest others do that.

This was... not exactly what I had in mind. It started off so strong but then fell so flat. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an e-ARC in exchange for my review.

This book was sent to me directly by the publisher as a widget, and I wish I had read other reviews before downloading it. The opening scene has graphic descriptions of sex and it went downhill from there. I did not finish this book due to the graphic nature. This is not my typical read and isn’t one I would’ve sought out myself.

Not Exactly What I Had in Mind had an interesting start but then.... basically felt like Sally Rooney's "Normal People." Lots of frustrating scenarios that continued to occur but had the main characters just done some simple communication the conflict could have been avoided completely. I did end up really liking the main characters, but this book didn't keep me as engaged as I would have liked.

Overall this book was pretty good. The characters themselves were charming, funny and witty. I loved how they interacted with each other and I loved how strong the friendships and family dynamic is throughout the entire novel. However, this book really tries to tackle a lot and I think it could have been more successful if it picked one topic to stick with.

We see infertility and miscarriage, revenge porn, cancer, strained family dynamics on top of some discussion of climate change. While this is all happening we are dealing with the miscommunication troupe which, if you know anything about me you know I *hate*, and this book is the worst offender of that! This book would not exist if the characters just talked to each other from the beginning. I can appreciate that they acknowledge this wouldn't have happened if were honest from the get go, but it doesn't help my frustrations through the entire first two-thirds of the book.

If you do decide to read this book, I highly suggest skipping the epilogue. The characters make this promise right at the end which isn't acknowledged in the epilogue. Rather, we see the characters in a post-covid world, which feels really weird considering it wasn't a plot point or even thought up until that point.

Character driven slice of life novel that follows two sisters and two roommates as their lives cross paths. Slow pacing at times, well written with interesting characters. I wouldn't call this one a page turner but not a terrible story either.

Not Exactly What I Expected To Read…

…and I mean that in the best possible way! My emotions are all over the land! I didn’t want it to end, and was sad when it did!

Hazel is a 20-something who just had sex with Alfie. The problem is, he’s one of her two roommates. How awkward if they start developing feelings for each other and then things don’t work out. Secretly, they both dig each other, and each of them thinks of the other even when they’re not drunk together, eating nasty food together, and frolicking together.

Alfie is ready to make the next move…but then Hazel’s sister, Emily, and her wife, Daria, come to visit. Emily and Daria are looking forward to starting a family.

These four lives intersect in a powerful and intense way as each of them grapple with the reactions to their thoughts and hopes.

This is being marketed as a rom-com. There are romantic parts and funny parts, but it’s also so much more! I absolutely loved the characterization that author Kate Brook brought to the table. I adored these four main characters, and couldn’t get enough of them. I also loved that it didn’t entirely focus on Hazel and Alfie. This book goes much deeper.

In fact, you’ll get hints of sexism, sex offense, feminism, racism, covid-ism (just briefly), veganism, and climate change(ism?). The climate change sections were the only ones I felt were a little overbearing, and yet honest.

The chemistry between certain characters is evident from the start, and I was frustrated that things didn’t always go as planned at the time when they should have! But this book is more realistic like that. Sometimes there are complications.

At the end of the day, I laughed a bit and cried a bit while flying through the pages, and I think this is a worthy addition to TBR shelves. There is a lot of negativity regarding the epilogue. It wasn’t my favorite either, but it is what it is. I really just wanted and needed ONE MORE CHAPTER!!

4.5 stars

Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 6/28/22.

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

Thank you to Dutton, Plume, Tiny Reparations Books | Penguin Random House for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am not sure how to summarize this books. I am honestly not sure it had a plot. The book opens with Alfie and Hazel, two roommates who end up sleeping together. Hazel's sister and her sister's wife are trying to have a baby, and things get complicated when they ask Alfie to be their donor. There were a lot of side stories in here like Daria's fear of having a child, Hazel dating someone else, Hazel and Alfie sleeping with other people and not sharing their feelings for each other. This book was all over the place.

I would only recommend this book to someone who really enjoys messy family situations and doesn't mind immature characters.

With 4 main characters, this book has more than I was used to, but I didn't hate it. There was a found family vibe with tinges of a British Friends. You're dropped into sex by page 2, but this is NOT a sexy book. There was a found family vibe that made it seem almost like a British Friends.
The biggest problem with the book is the epilogue. The whole thing should have been cut, since time in no way plays into the book. All of a sudden, we fast forward and it's now a pandemic book with unnecessary character death and competing tragedies.
Luckily, it didn't stick with me, and in the week since I finished I can't even name who died. It just wasn't memorable.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this one. I thought it was funny and enjoyed following the four characters, I’m biased to loving the name Hazel cause I named my dog this; I looked forward to seeing where the stories played out; but I didn’t feel fully invested in these characters like I normally would.

The characters were likeable and I really felt for them, but I wasn’t a fan of the epilogues. I’m also just not really ready to read much about the pandemic yet.

3.5 ⭐️
Thank you for an ARC for my honest review.

Very cute, heartwarming romantic comedy! This is a debut novel by this author and I look forward to anything else she writes.

“Not Exactly What I Had in Mind” is the debut novel by Kate Brook. In this book, we follow four main characters. Hazel and her roommate, Alfie, Emily, who is Hazel’s sister, and Daria, who is Emily’s wife. This is a very slice of life book revolving around these characters while they go through their late 20s/early 30s trying to figure out who they are and what they want to be. This is not a book I would have normally picked up, but when the marketing team offered me the chance to read it early, I decided it was worth a try.

What I found was a very funny, relatable story that was also heartbreaking at times. At the beginning, our characters are all funny and charming but we soon see that not everything in their lives is perfect. Every character’s struggle in this book felt very tangible. There are a lot of possibly triggering scenes in this book so make sure you look them up if you have sensitivities to any of that.

I really loved Emily and Daria’s story. Daria’s character in particular is in therapy struggling with her fear of pregnancy which I feel is a very really fear that not a lot of books talk about. They are also environmentally conscious and have this constant battle in deciding what to do to be the best advocates for their environment. The book brought up a lot of points that I had never considered before which I really enjoyed.

Alfie is a good character because he just adds to every scene that he is in. His issues that he has in this book are super relatable and I really felt for him at times.
I probably liked Hazel the least of all the main characters. At times, I didn’t understand her character and why she was making certain decisions. I do think the author conveyed Hazel’s pov and reasoning for things well, but I still didn’t love the character.

If you are a fan of the “ships passing in the night” trope in a romance, you will like this book. This book is perfect for anyone who was a fan of “One Day in December” by Josie Silver because the characters felt very similar to that book.