Book talk - Seven Exes by Lucy Vine

 

*Free copy received from publisher

Seven Exes. Seven Missed Chances. Who was the one who got away? Esther is nearing thirty, with a great job and a flat she shares with her two best friends, Bibi and Louise. But her life is missing that special someone. 

Tired of being single and sick of bad date after bad date, she thinks she’s found the answer to her romance problem in an old women's magazine. According to the magazine’s dating column, there are seven archetypes a woman will date before finding Mr. Right. It all seems silly at first, until Esther realizes she has exactly seven exes that match the The First Love, The Work Mistake, The Overlap, The Friend with Benefits, The Missed Chance, The Bastard, and The Serious One. Is it so hard to believe that perhaps one of them is The One? 

Deciding she must have left her true love in the reject pile, Esther contacts each of her old boyfriends. But finding her soulmate isn’t as simple as she hoped it would be. Madness, mayhem, laughs, and tears ensue as she valiantly works her way through her past love life and faces up to her previous mistakes. It’s an odyssey of the heart that will teach her a lot about herself . . . and just might lead her to the man of her dreams.

Seven Exes is a really fun and light-hearted romantic comedy, perfectly in time for the summer period. The premise of the protagonist revisiting her past relationships and trying to determine which of her exes is her true love is an interesting and quite unique one. As a bit of expert in this genre, I can't say I have come across this setup before, and was therefore really intrigued by it from just reading the blurb. I honestly laughed so much just within the first pages and that is quite rare for me. 

While it's a super fun, very rom-comy read, the plot surprises with great depths which is somewhat unusual for most traditional romantic comedies of this kind. It strikes a good, safe balance between light and the more complex themes the book explores. It doesn't feel heavy, but rather allows you to feel connected to the heavier, more delicate bits. Esther is quirky, loving and all round very relatable which is what makes the plot so authentic and, in turn, easy to become engrossed in. Bonus points for the dialogue -  as a friend of good conversational banter, this one had some corkers!

The inclusion of the seven specific "types" of exes you get to meet adds an additional layer of humour, charm and insight to the story. Lucy's writing feels very familiar, comfortable and relatable which is what makes it so fun to read her books, especially for those that find themselves in a reading slump, and boy have I been in a slump!

Alongside Esthers antics and witty dialogue, I really liked concept of using magazine article to reflect on one's past relationships to potentially reconnect with a former love. This again, brought a form of unique story building to it, making it feels fresh and exciting.

All in all it was a really enjoyable read with a unique premise and well-developed characters making it the perfect 2023 summer read.

Thanks to Lucy for putting this together for our enjoyment and to Simon and Schuster for providing the arc - quite long ago now, but not any less grateful.