The Book Lovers Codex

ARC granted by netgalley in exchange for a honest review

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I started reading this book, but whatever I was expecting this wasn't it. This book is heavy. It's definitely not a light-hearted romantic read with a sad backstory. It's a bit of a serious read and if you had asked me what I thought of this book sometime during reading the first 1/3rd I would have struggled to say something nice. For me this book is a really slow starter and I found it.. Well incredibly dull - initially.

Katrina is a boring character and in all honesty she doesn't really get anymore exciting as the book goes on... She doesn't need to work, her friends are a bit blah and her days are spent doing nothing except raising her daughter. I have a son, I know the stuff kids get up to so you'd think there would be some entertainment value there, yes? Nope, not really, her daughter Abbey is sweet and quirky but not enough to alleviate boredom... Adrian comes into the picture quite early and while they make a nice couple, make you smile, you don't feel any deep connection or sparks between them for quite some time (despite them getting together quite early).

The book only starts to get interesting when Adrian starts opening up about his past. Maybe it's because of the metal-head in me but I loved the story of the rise and fall of his heavy metal band, regardless of them being fictional.

Adrian, in general, I liked as a character, he was interesting. He'd done many stupid things but he had moved on and learned from them. Adrian is British and the only thing that I didn't like about Adrian was all the British-speak. I guess to some it will add a certain something to the character, but I am British and it just annoyed me. Yes, we Brits say "bloody" and "love" a lot (along with many others) but the amount of times such words were used was bloody annoying. Geezer was another word that flipped my bic... Honestly, I've lived with a Londoner for 10 years and I struggle to recall a time when he has actually said this word to describe, or refer, to someone... I mean Adrian has lived in New York for 10 years! He wouldn't still speak like he was shootin the breeze with his buddies down Camden market!

Anyway...

As I said, the book really starts to get interesting about a 1/3rd of the way in and by the time you reach 2/3rds in you are hooked. The relationship between Adrian and Kat develops nicely and you can actually see a long-term future.

This book is told from Kats POV and I never would've made it to the end - will to live intact - if it wasn't for Adrian and Corroded Corpse. They stole the show for me.

I guess I would recommend this book as it really does get better the further in you go but I wouldn't say it's a must read.

3 out of 5 stars