I started this book and wasn’t gelling with Gina so I “not right now” it for a while. When I came back to it, I felt exactly the same. Unfortunately, Gina is immature, unlikeable and selfish.

I loved the premise of a woman exploring her sexuality in her late 20’s and think the discussions about bi-erasure and other bisexual stereotypes is really important… and then Gina/George went against everything and did those exact things. What?!

In the end for me, this book was a chore and it is marketed incorrectly as romcom. There’s no com. I’m disappointed that I didn’t like this book because I was prepared to fall in love, but fortunately many others think it’s great.

After reading this synopsis for Double Booked I was really excited for a story about a bisexual character, but was quickly disappointed by the stereotypical rep in the cast of characters. This was also really confusing to me as the author discussed in the book how harmful stereotyping can be in the LGBTQ+ community and yet seemed to perpetuate these stereotypes in her own writing.
I found all of the characters incredibly unlikeable and felt like the majority of the secondary characters were so one dimensional that they were just put in the book to further the plot.
There were a few interesting and good elements in the book like the ending but overall I wasn't a fan.

Oh this was so good - a great story of self-discovery, of finding out something that maybe you weren't aware of totally, but finally coming to an acceptance and an excitement in that acceptance. It's very modern, very 'now" and gives a great insight into Gina/George's personality as well as her sexuality and how she deals with questions and decisions she must face. I think it really captures the idea of discovering a new sexuality when perhaps you were least expecting it (Gina is on the point of marriage with long term partner) and Lidon has been adept at taking us along on that journey with Gina.
But, the story is also fun: there's humour; there's 'down to earth' and there's 'true to life'. The characters are well developed and the story flows.
Great book. Recommend. I'm sure Lily Lidon will go on to be quite a name in women's contemporary fiction

Unfortunately I couldn’t get into this book. I really loved the sound of it but couldn’t gel with the writing style and didn’t care much for the story. Definitely think this would be perfect for some readers but sadly it wasn’t for me!!

Readers, meet Georgina, a 26 year-old piano teacher who has her whole life written down in a calendar she shares with her long-term boyfriend, Doug. One night, she strays away from routine. What she thought was going to be a night out with her oldest friend turns out to be a kick start to her journey into exploring her identity, her sexuality and ultimately figuring out who she really is.

Double Booked had me laughing out loud. For real. Lily Lindon is a brilliant writer and I can’t wait to see what’s next. If you’re looking for a fun, romantic read, I definitely recommend picking this one up.

Witty and fun, a great LGBTQ read

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

I loved the writing style, the narrative Lindon created and the short chapters of this book, which all made this a very addictive and flowy read. It was honestly so hard to put this book down. Although, Double Booked can be quite slow-paced at times the writing style and funny moments make up for that. Also, as someone who loves music, I appreciated the music side of this story.

The story follows Georgina, who is in a happy long-term relationship with her all-you-can-want-in-a-guy boyfriend. She is teaching piano in a private school in London, has everything in her life carefully planned and organised in her digital calendar and is happily straight. That is until one evening, her friend Sophie asks Georgina to accompany her to a gay bar where a new hot lesbian pop band is performing. When Georgina meets the band, she starts questioning some of her life choices. Firstly, she realises that she misses being in a band and playing her music, secondly, she realises that she might be bisexual. These new revelations throw Georgina’s life into chaos in which she decides to start living two lives, one as Gina and one as George. However, her splitting her life in two not only causes chaos in her calendar schedule, at also causes chaos in her relationships and friendships, whilst also adding loads of lies, hiding and switching appointments on top of it…

What I loved about this book is that Gina is a mature female in her late 20s exploring her sexuality. It is the first book I read where that is the case, as most contemporary romance/ romcom books usually have teens exploring and coming to terms with their sexuality but not someone older and more mature. So, this was a breath of fresh air.

In terms of characters….Gina... Gina…Gina…There were parts of the book where I just wanted to shake Gina to some common sense but then at the same time hug her, especially when she is so hard on herself, her appearance and her looks. She always seems to put herself down and it was so hard to read at times. Although the growth of Gina in this book is brilliant. By the end of the book, she becomes more confident in her skin and more mature in her life choices, as well as realising that double life is not that easy to manage.
However, it was hard to read when she lied to Doug and kept secrets from him, especially since he was so supportive of her and had been there for her for so long. She should have had more respect for Doug who she loved for so many years. She should have told the truth and been honest. Honestly, more communication with him would have avoided too many awkward moments and hurt.

Overall: Very addicting and laugh-out-loud book, which sometimes had me shouting at the main character (I was rooting for her, just saying). Such a great narrative and writing that makes it hard to put it down. I think this book would be a perfect ‘get me out of the reading slump’ book. Can’t wait to see what Lily Lindon writes next (hopefully a sequel…) because I will be reading it.

I found this quite an odd book making it difficult to know how to sum up my feedback.

I didn't particularly warm to any of the characters. I found George quite annoying and unpleasant at times. It's an entertaining read, if a little long. It's marketed as a rom-com and that never really transpired.

oh i LOVED the representation in this gorgeous book. i felt so incredible seen and heard, as someone that goes by both pansexual and bisexual, Lily nailed the representation so well. the characters were written beautifully, with realistic flaws which i always find are hard to write. 4.5 stars from me for this gorgeous book.

Gina plans to go home, pour some wine, and watch Friends. Her best friend Soph has other ideas - she wants Gina to come with her to a local gay club to see a lesbian rock band. Gina reluctantly agrees - and finds herself in the unenviable position of questioning her sexuality at age 26, seven years into a long term relationship with a man.

Right - I'll start with the Pros:

- It's nice to see a book about questioning your sexuality in your twenties. Often this kind of storyline is limited to YA books, and this one does a great job of conveying the confusion and feelings of being torn between two worlds when someone realises that they're not straight after decades of assuming they were. The author speaks about how several things can contribute to this - from lack of representation to internalised homophobia, biphobia within the queer community, or a reluctance to assign labels or make a grand declaration.

"You don't need to declare anything about yourself, or do anything you don't want to do."

Preach, sis.

- A gay bar that remains Halloween themed ALL YEAR ROUND???

GIMME.

- Gina's colleague, Alexa. I adored her, she reminded me of Fleabag's sister, who remains one of my favourite supporting characters of all time.

UNFORTUNATELY.

This descended into fucking chaos from Part Two onwards. The solution that Gina & Douglas came up with for Gina's desire to explore her queer side was just ludicrous to me. I felt that it fed into stereotypes about bisexual women wanting the best of both worlds, when there are many, many bisexual, queer & questioning women who are in perfectly happy long term relationships or marriages with men. Some of us even have children. It just made me feel icky that the notion of Gina coming to terms with her sexuality had to include so many grand gestures. Also the "butch" makeover - can we not.

Kit was just the worst, and why did nobody tell Sophie that calling her YouTube channel SophSnob just sounds like Soph's Knob? What kind of mate are you, Gina?!

Two stars for Part One - it had great potential.
The rest was a mess.
Also, this was sold as a rom-com. It's not a rom-com.

Thanks to the publisher for the Netgalley ARC, sorry I couldn't be more positive about this one, it's a shame because I was looking forward to it.

The book starts with Georgina, she is straight with a long term boyfriend and a very quiet life. But as the story continues Georgina starts to realise that she isn't just attracted to Doug, or just men, and is in fact bisexual. We follow Georgina on her journey as she comes out and tries to manage her life without anything having to change. I loved the "hecticness" of Georgina at the start of the book, it made for some brilliant laugh out loud moments and it really built up her character well. Although I did question her actions at many points in the book, I think this was brilliant in a way as it showed how Georgina was struggling to manage this double life.

Georgina isn't really sure of her sexuality at points and frequently asks herself am I a lesbian? am I straight? or am I bisexual? It was great to follow her on her journey as she figured out her sexuality and I feel Lily portrayed the question of sexuality really well. There are some biphobic comments in the book but all of these were addressed and the characters were put in their place of why they were wrong.

This is a super fun, cute and lighthearted read. Laugh out loud moments with a few twists I didn't see coming either! I would love a sequel *cough cough* @bookymcbookface to see what Georgina gets up to next!! Also Percy has a special place in my heart!

I really enjoyed this story and the narrative Lindon was able to craft. It was such an interesting perspective with a singular voice ringing throughout. I read it quite quickly as I just needed to know what happened.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute, well-written book!

It was a quick read and something I could lose myself in long enough to read in a sitting. The comedic aspects fell right and I loved how immerse you found yourself within the story. A book I will certainly be revisiting when I need to get out of a slump!

Another on the DNF pile.
I gave it a fair chance (more than a third way through I think!)
I enjoyed the atmosphere of the book....and that's about it. I didn't like any of the characters and the writing style was just not for me. I just didn't like the vibes of the book or characters, and that's just fine. It's not what I was looking for in a romcom book, the comedy wasn't quite my style and I very much didn't gel with the MC which made it hard to be invested in the book.

In all honestly, I found this quite an odd book making it difficult to know how to sum up my feedback.

On the one hand there was great LGBTQI representation to a certain extent. On the other hand, there were massively stereotypical characters. The use of language also confused me. Some of the language used in the book (maybe in my own ignorance) could have been seen as offensive (or I thought maybe they were offensive to those in the LGBTQI+ group??) I don't know. Maybe I need to be reading more in this genre to understand what is comfortable language and what isnt.

I didn't particularly warm to any of the characters. I found George quite annoying and unpleasant at times. It's an entertaining read, if a little long.

I don't know, an odd one for me. I thought it was going to be more funny as it is marketed as a rom-com and that never really transpired.

Double Booked by Lily Lindon

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Aria and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Georgina is a sensible 26-year-old with a routine: 1) schedule dates with long-term boyfriend, 2) teach piano to inept children, and 3) repeat until dead. Perfect.

But when one night she deviates from her usual timetable and sees the indie lesbian pop band Phase, Georgina realises: 1) she longs to play her own music again, 2) she wants to be just like them, and 3) their drummer is really hot...

Scared of losing her happy straight life, but feeling a new sense of belonging in the gay scene, she does what any rational person would do: she splits herself in two. She'll be Gina by day, George by night. It's going to take painstaking scheduling, a versatile wardrobe, and an ambiguous haircut, but maybe Georgina really can have both?

I have seen a lot of negative reviews for this book but I really enjoyed it. We follow Georgina's two personas Gina and George as she handles the identity crisis of coming out as bisexual. I'd recommend giving this book a read as it is fun to read and will make an enjoyable summer read. Such an insightful book.

Rating 4/5

Enjoyable book with lots of twists although the ending was all a bit too fluffy for me with all the ends nicely tied up., I would recommend this book and possibly for anyone who has newly realised they are bisexual as it may help them find the right balance.

Absolutely adored this debut, as George realises she is bisexual and explores what it might be like to fall for a woman. It confronts all the stereotypes of being bisexual, and the concerns of being 'gay enough' in true chaotic bisexual panic. It also touches on open relationships. and figuring out your own path in life, with some laughs along the way.

i really liked this one. It was so lovely seeing Gina and George.

There were great characters, laugh out loud moments, super easy to read writing style, loved the music scenes. and the character development is brilliant.

I loved reading about Gina understanding herself and realising that she doesn’t have to be two different people to please everyone else. It made me feel sad at times when it was clear what made her happy and she felt she couldn’t be that person (especially around certain people), but it was also really lovely how everyone else around her became accepting of her.