The Beth O’Leary Fan Club
In early 2022, we were lucky enough to go to the book launch of Beth O’Leary’s latest book, The No-Show. Aside from the huge imposter syndrome we both experienced, we had the absolute best time ever. We met Beth O’Leary herself (she is so so lovely) and loads of other really great people and it was just an all round great night.
We also got given the book (yay!) and did an episode on it (obviously), go check it out if you haven’t already! Anyway, it got us thinking about just how much we love Beth O’Leary and why. Her first novel, The Flatshare, warmed our hearts so much just when we needed it. The Switch also came to us at a time in need, and now The No Show has come at a time where we could do with a book to wrap us up and make us feel good.
The thing is with these books is they hit the absolute right balance between a heartwarming beach read and something a little bit more deep. We love a beach read as much as the next person but when a book combines something chill and easy to read with some deeper, more meaningful themes, surely you’ve more than likely got yourself a best-seller? Well, we think so anyway.
The No-Show is about three women who all date the same guy, but not is all what it seems! We once heard it described as ‘a romance novel that feels like a mystery’ and we’d say that’s pretty spot on to be honest. The twists and turns make it feel like a whodunnit combined with a heart wrenching romantic bit of chick lit.
Kath’s thoughts:
After reading The No-Show, I was sat up for hours and hours just thinking about the book and I was literally in bits (I am an emotional gal). Honestly, I found the book quite hard to get into to begin with and I was so concerned that it was going to ruin my Beth O’Leary bubble that I’d created for myself but by the time I finished it I was absolutely captivated by the whole thing. The ‘twist’ (if you can call it that) caught me by complete surprise (although am sure Elle will guess it when she gets round to reading it) and I was just so warmed by each of the women’s storylines.
I think and hope that Beth O’Leary will continue to be one of my automatic buy and pre order authors as she continues to produce books that make you feel all of the feels.
Elle’s thoughts:
Kath’s right, I did guess the ‘twist’ quite early on and I like when I have my suspicions are confirmed. That said, it is also nice to be pleasantly surprised (on the few occasions) when I’m not correct. The No-Show is certainly a heartwarming and heartbreaking read. With many characters and narratives to juggle, O’Leary does a fantastic job of balancing them all well enough that the reader gets a sense of who these people are and what motivates them. You will laugh, you will cry and you will rejoice reading this book. Enjoy x
Do you have any other Beth O’Leary type novels to recommend to us? If so we’d love to hear from you!
wearebookishpod@gmail.com or slide into our DMs xx