Some of the 3 or below star reviews on amazon:
I was so excited to read this book after watching Louise on Youtube for years. This book is about a single mum called Robin Wilde, and her 6 year old daughter Lyla. Robin is fed up of being single and lonely, and wants to not only find love but make life better for both her and Lyla. It's light hearted and humorous in parts.
Where I lost interest is the way the book reads. It's very blog post, very informal and seems like you're reading a diary or blog, rather than a novel. There's grammatical errors, poorly structured sentences and overall feels very unfinished.
I almost felt like I was reading Louise's autobiography. There's lots of similarities and I found it very hard to distance myself from Louise and Robin, and Darcey and Lyla.
The story was nice, albeit predictable. It was an easy read, I just expected a little more. Would I be so harsh if it wasn't a Youtuber? I'm not sure.
It wasn't horrendous, but I would recommend other books over it if asked.
I really don't know where to start. I'm a fan of the author's YouTube content, but maybe that will change - a few times she mentioned in her videos that the main protagonist of this novel is amazing and we'd all love her but she's an awful character. She tears other women down, she refers to a six year old child as a little cow, and absolutely everything is about looks, even when discussing why she finds her own daughter so perfect. That the author bills herself as a feminist is laughable.
The writing is so clumsy. Cliché sentence structures that my Year 3 class wouldn't use anymore, constant misuse of parentheses, words not employed correctly, I could go on. There is nothing elegant about her turn of phrase, no flair, no subtlety. This poor writing from a university graduate is really a shame.
I worry that the author's following chiefly comprises young teenage girls, and I urge them to look for stronger role models, both in terms of writing prowess and female empowerment. Sadly, they won't find either in this book.
I expected a lot more from this book. Having been a bookworm all my life and gaining a first class honours degree in Englisj Literature, reading is my most favourite hobby. I am a young mum of two and I am also a fan of Louise and her YouTube content. I find her engaging, relatable and funny, but sadly her vibrant personality did not translate at all into her writing style. The premise of the story had lots of promise, the daily saga of the school run, juggling childcare with work, infertility and post natal depression... These subjects were touched on so briefly and I wish Louise had spent a little more time exploring these and a little less on the 'man hunt' which overwhelmed the story entirely. Despite being a single parent Robin's life seems far too easy, and as a mum myself I found it difficult to relate; she has a team of people around her willing to look after her perfectly behaved daughter for weeks on end, a boss who is happy for her to come and go as she pleases, where's the reality in that? It's certainly not my reality with my 9-5 job, holiday clubs and sleepless nights. It was difficult too not to draw parallels between Louise and Robin and their daughters and Aunties. Perhaps I am being a little critical, but the whole story was too fluffy, predictable and twee for me to really engage with.
Was this book not edited? Or proof read? The grammar and mistakes throughout this book are very distracting, it reads with no flow and feels very clunky. So far there is little substance or plot and I have not warmed to the characters, Robin in particular is very unlikeable. It also seems like one big pity party. I'm not sure I want to read to the end which is very disappointing.
As I've followed Louise on YouTube and twitter for many years and watched her grow as a young woman and young mum I wanted so desperately to love her first venture into writing fiction, she's smart, witty, seems to know how to string a sentence together, unlike most creators on YouTube these days! so all the signs were there, she was going to produce a novel I would enjoy reading a break out of the "YouTube author" category, wasn't she? And then, I read the book. Safe to say I had expected much, much more than was delivered. I found I struggled to keep interest in the story line and had no connection or real feelings for the characters in the book, I'm glad I gave it a shot but in my opinion, her talents lie behind a vlog camera, not behind a laptop writing fiction. Won't be waiting for a follow up novel anytime soon.