Book Review - Girl 99 by Andy Jones - Chances Fortnight

I'm delighted that I have been able to take a chance on a new author to me,..Andy Jones. 

Amazon UK

Title: Girl 99

Author: Andy Jones

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Publication Date: 14th February 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

When Tom’s girlfriend walks out on him the day before Christmas, he feels humiliated but not necessarily heartbroken. Sadie wasn’t, after all, The One. If we’re being precise, she was number eighty-five.

And so, for reasons that are only mostly wrong, Tom embarks on a mission to bring his number of encounters up to a nice neat one hundred.

Over the course of his quest he sleeps with a colleague, a colleague of a friend, a friend of a friend, a friend of a friend’s wife, the estate agent selling his flat and several more besides.

Everything is going, if not well, then at least according to plan…and then Tom meets Verity. Whether she’s The One remains to be seen, but she’s certainly more than just another number.

Very entertaining story, about one lad who is trying to get his number up to 100, as a result of a bet! This is an amusing lad lit book, and as a female, its always great to get inside a male brain and see just what guys get up to when there are no women about to reign them in!

Tom did the honorable thing and admitted to kissing another woman, to his then girlfriend. However admitting to that sort of indiscretion via email on a Monday morning is never the advised way to go about it.  Understandably Sadie is upset and soon after Tom finds himself single. 

While he is thinking, works out that he has currently slept with 85 women, in his life, but his mistake was mentioning it to his best friend. El, who has his own fascinating storyline, due to his degenerative illness, bets Tom £1,000 that he can't get his total up to a nice even 100, by a certain date. 

In amongst Tom attempting to hit on almost everything wearing a skirt, in an effort to win the money, we also  see a lot of him at work, where he makes adverts.  Some of the best moments are the auditions for the series of adverts for Skittles, and then the production scenes. The right mix of humour and being quite sweet.  

Tom meets and does more with all manner of women, but only some of them are described to the reader in any details, and even then the sex isn't explicit. I loved Tom's estate agent, some great scenes involving her, well not the agent herself but the antics. Then there is Tom and the car share with Sadie, where things aren't quite as simple as it sounds. 

Then there is Tom's downstairs neighbour, an older man and one of Tom's friends. Watch out for an excruciating conversation between Tom and Eileen about Dave. Really though there was plenty of humour throughout the book, and even more memorable scenes. 

I could probably sit and pick out memorable scenes all day, or I could urge you to have a look at the book for yourself! 

Girl 99 will appeal to fans of Mike Gayle, Matt Dunn and Steven Scaffardi, and for anyone that wants to see a story transforming a rather laddish man about town, into someone who meets a rather intriguing woman. There are plenty of laughs, some bad language, plenty of alcohol, and generally an all around entertaining feel to the book.  In addition to a few deeper storylines, but even the those were offset with humour in the right way! 

Thank you to Lake Union and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Publication Day Extract from Girl 99 by Andy Jones

Happy Publication Day to Andy Jones, Girl 99 is out today and I'm delighted to be able to share an extract from it. I'm also really looking forward to sitting down and reading my copy. 

Published 14th February 2017

Available for purchase - http://amzn.to/2jSGPec

When Tom’s girlfriend walks out on him the day before Christmas, he feels humiliated but not necessarily heartbroken. Sadie wasn’t, after all, The One. If we’re being precise, she was number eighty-five.

And so, for reasons that are only mostly wrong, Tom embarks on a mission to bring his number of encounters up to a nice neat one hundred.

Over the course of his quest he sleeps with a colleague, a colleague of a friend, a friend of a friend, a friend of a friend’s wife, the estate agent selling his flat and several more besides.

Everything is going, if not well, then at least according to plan…and then Tom meets Verity. Whether she’s The One remains to be seen, but she’s certainly more than just another number.

Extract: The Book Club, where everyone apart from Tom are ages 65+

Rather like Tropic of Capricorn, my host’s expression is hard to read.

 ‘It’s just so bleak,’ I say. ‘He spends the whole book drunk, miserable and entirely controlled by his . . . penis.’

The word – like the entity it represents – is out before I can stop it, as if it has a mind of its own, as if possessed by the ghost of Henry goddamned Miller.

 ‘I’m sorry,’ I say, from behind my hands. ‘I didn’t mean to . . .’

‘Quite all right,’ says Helen. ‘We’re all adults. Besides, we can hardly critique literature if we’re going to embargo its building blocks.’

‘Hear hear,’ says Mo.

‘Penis?’ says Cora.

Mo strokes Cora’s hand. ‘That’s right, dear.’

‘The thing is . . .’ I say. ‘The truth is, I found Tropic of Capricorn so utterly depressing because it reminded me of myself.’

The room is silent but for the sound of seven people leaning forward.

‘And this reminds you of you how?’ asks Mo kindly.

‘I’ve slept with a lot of women,’ I say, and everyone leans back, as if retreating into the safety of their chairs.

I nod gently, as if to confirm this revelation, as if I’m granting myself permission to continue. ‘All the time I was reading Henry Miller, I was thinking how sordid and pathetic and . . . and hollow his life was, but . . . well, that’s me all over, isn’t it?’

Jim nods as if, yes, he knows exactly what I mean. Vera’s mouth is puckered into an expression that could be born of several attitudes, but I’d put my money on disapproval. Helen twiddles her glasses chain. Mo smiles. 

‘And then I met someone,’ I go on. ‘And then . . . and then I ruined it.’

‘You did the dirty on her?’ asks Agnes.

‘I was quite a one myself,’ says Cora, taking hold of my hand. ‘Is three an awful lot, do you think?’

Any other Monday, I’d shit myself laughing. But not today.

About Andy Jones

Andy Jones lives in London with his wife and two little girls. During the day he works in an advertising agency; at weekends and horribly early in the mornings, he writes fiction.


You can find Andy on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram as andyjonesauthor


Check out some other extracts of Girl 99 on some other lovely blogs today: