Good Morning All,

Hope you’re all having a fabulous week and enjoying some fantastic books. I’m still back and forth between houses whilst I’m in the middle of moving, but this week has thankfully been a little slower paced on that front. Meaning I have had some decent R&R time to get lost in this book.

Book 📖

Family for Beginners by Sarah Morgan

I saw this book being talked about on twitter and it jumped out to me straight away. Thank you to the author and HQ Stories for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Description 🔖

Flora has spent most of her life wishing for companionship and a loving family, but the reality is that she has mostly been lonely. When she meets and falls in love with Jack, not only does she have to win over his two daughters, she feels she has to compete with Jack’s dead wife; Becca. Flora only becomes more stressed when she is invited to spend the summer with Jack’s family and friends who were Becca’s best friends. Flora soon starts to realise that changing herself to feel like an insider with this family isn’t the answer, but how can she make sure she doesn’t always feel like the outsider?

General Thoughts 🤔

As soon as I started reading this book I was hooked. I didn’t have to try to like it, I just liked it. The story is SO relatable for me as my partner has two children from a previous marriage and coming into that as an outsider is terrifying. Thankfully I’ve been very lucky and I haven’t had the same experience as Flora.

I really enjoyed the easy breezy flow of this book. Although there are tense moments between characters, the book is generally very heart warming and made me feel so grateful for the shape and size of my own little blended family.

Characters 👫👭👬

The characters are what made this book for me, with my favourites being Flora and Izzy. The relationship between the two characters isn’t easy but the small moments of connection between them are beautiful.

The relationship I probably didn’t feel THAT invested in was Jack and and Flora. Not because I didn’t believe in it or think it genuine, I just didn’t feel like it was the most important relationship in the book. The family dynamic and building the family was what interested me more.

Writing Style ✍🏽

I really loved the simple, efficient and clear writing in this book. It’s not often I read a book with a straight forward, linear storyline so it was such a nice change for me. I guessed the secret that both Izzy and Clare were sharing which I’m sure most would, but it wasn’t supposed to be a grand reveal. It was the reactions of the characters to the discovery that made it awesome.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

I couldn’t put this book down once I had started and I loved all of it. It’s real, honest and I love the way that it talks about the difficulty of blending a family. Family isn’t always the “perfect” 2:1 and it is often whatever we make it, however that may present itself. A great story, told through great writing.

😍😍😍😍😫