Saturday 31 August 2019

Book Review - The Postcard by Zoe Folbigg

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Title: The Postcard
Author: Zoe Folbigg
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Publisher supplied copy
Publisher: Aria
Publication Date: 1st August 2019
Rating: 3 Stars


The sequel to the bestselling phenomenon The Note – based on the true story of one girl and her 'Train Man'...
A year after the kiss that brought them together in a snowy train-station doorway, Maya and James are embarking on another journey – this time around the world.

The trip starts promisingly, with an opulent and romantic Indian wedding. But as their travels continue, Maya fears that 'love at first sight' might not survive trains, planes and tuk tuks, especially when she realises that what she really wants is a baby, and James doesn't feel the same. 

Can Maya and James navigate their different hopes and dreams to stay together? Or is love at first sight just a myth after all...

Perfect for fans of One Day in December, Our Stop and Marian Keyes. The Postcard continues the once-in-a-lifetime love story that readers so took to their hearts.

Ultimately it was the plane on the cover and the mention of a round the world trip that made me decide to read this book. After all I love books featuring travel, and I know people had raved about The Note, which I hadn't read, but I thought I would give this a go. 

Well for the first 15% or so I was lost, there were far too many characters coming at me at once, while Maya and James prepare for this round the world trip.   And even once they were abroad their first stop a lavish Indian wedding, I just wasn't connecting with the book. 

But then as they started to travel, I felt more with the rhythm of the story, and yet I was still conflicted.  Initially I was thinking I wasn't getting enough details on any of the places visited to get a real feel for them. 

And then Maya and James went to a detox spa in Thailand, which Maya needed to mention in her weekly column she was writing - and frankly there was far far far too much detail on the treatments.  At no point do I want to know what is coming out of a person during a self administered colonic irrigation. 

Yet I'll admit the book started off with an unsettling first chapter that I couldn't quite get into but also felt as though it was not from a book of this genre, and let me to wonder what I was getting into.  The story touched on in that first chapter actually turned into what kept me reading as I wanted to know what actually the truth of the matter was and just how it connected into Maya and James story. 

And then there were also chapters from Nena's point of view, about life back in London as a mum to a 6 month old, who still isn't sleeping through the night, and how she is coping with motherhood. 

It was after the retreat and once the couple went to Vietnam that I found myself really enjoying the story, there were some funny bits, some areas of despair and there was an unexpected conclusion for this couple that I just didn't really feel the connection between. 

There was the introduction of another couple that added fabulous light relief to the book, and I just wanted to give Lenny a great big hug.  I sort of wish we had their story instead, as I much preferred those characters. 

Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the writing and in parts I really was lost in the story, but it just didn't gel properly with me.  I suspect the fact I hadn't read The Note may have been an issue, or maybe I was just expecting more from the book than was there. 

Apart from the scenes that made me feel ill, it was an enjoyable story, and one that I'm sure fans of the author would enjoy a whole deal more than me.   I would suggest that if you have read the blurb and it does appeal for you to give it a go, as it may just be it was the wrong book for me on the wrong day. 

Thank you to Vicky Joss at Aria for this copy which I have reviewed honestly. 

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