REVIEW: The Half of It by Theresa Christine

KaetrinBook Reviews / C+ ReviewsContemporary / found family / Ireland / Small-TownNo Comments

When June arrives in fictional Ballygra she meets Cara and is quickly taken into the fold of Cara’s family. Cara’s BFF is Aidan (Danny) McCarthy. Aidan’s passion is photography but he dropped out of university after the death of his older brother in a drunk driving accident (Michael, Danny’s brother, was the driver), in order to help out at his parent’s pub and try and help his mother and father deal with their loss. Danny’s mother in particular has been lost since Michael died and Danny just wants his family, what’s left of it, to be happy and together. Working in the pub is killing his soul but he feels stuck and obligated to stay until things are better.

It’s pretty obviously early on that June’s boss is planning some kind of shenanigan but exactly what it was I didn’t quite pick. He’s a bit of a sleaze and there is a very strong sense that June is being taken advantage of by her employer all the way through.

Cara welcomes June from the first and they feel a strong connection to one another, quickly forming a bond. Cara even invites June to stand up for her in the wedding.  Cara lost most of her friends after a previous break up (they chose the ex) and for Cara, June is a godsend in many ways. Strangely, there wasn’t all that much of Yasmine (Cara’s fiancee) in the book. She was present but not as strongly as one might expect considering the upcoming wedding.

Then June is contacted by the DNA company – So sorry, but there may have been a mistake in the test. Will she submit a new test so they can check? It’s probably nothing but best to be sure! Now June is in a pickle. It’s mere days away from Cara’s wedding. Does she say anything? Or is it better to take the test and wait until she’s sure there’s anything to say? It might just be a funny story to tell at the reception. Does she risk the new relationships she’s building by possibly breaching their trust?

For romance reasons, June ends up staying at Danny’s flat in the spare room and there’s a clear attraction between them. But Danny is Cara’s best friend and if June is Cara’s sister maybe that complicates things and if June isn’t Cara’s sister that complicates things in a whole nother way.

I won’t spoil what happens but of course it all comes out right in the end – it is a romance after all.

In some ways, the story reminded me a little of The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale by Virginia Kantra – probably because it features an American going to the UK (in that case, Scotland) and meeting a local guy dealing with grief though there’s a shop rather than pub involved. It’s probably what attracted me to the story when I was offered the book for review.

I found it a little hard to connect with The Half Of It. It may be that my reading mood didn’t quite gel with the story. It might just have been a timing issue. I’m struggling to identify anything really wrong with the book. Sure, there was a little bit of hand-waving about some things later on but a lot of books I love have that so that’s not a deal breaker for me. I liked The Half of It well enough but I also found it very easy to put down. I found myself doing other things rather than reading which is not the best sign. But I can’t really put my finger on why that was. It was fine! I wasn’t doing handstands about story but there was nothing egregious, annoying or poorly written either. It’s just that I didn’t have much of an emotional reaction to the story at all I’m afraid. YMMV readers. For me, it’s a C+

Regards,

Kaetrin

Related