Romantic Comedy |

This book… this book… I could rave about this book until the cows come home! I absolutely adored it.

I’ll admit that it took me a good few pages to get into, but once I completed the first chapter I was absolutely hooked – so much so that I read it in two days

I think there are some books that are just pure enjoyment, and if I could, I would bottle up the joy this book gave me and I would keep it forever. It had be laughing from start to finish and contains some of the best banter between two people that I have ever read – it was absolutely perfect and hilarious.

Minnie was such a well-rounded character. I definitely saw a lot of myself in her as she was constantly finding herself in awkward and uncomfortable situations, and I know exactly how that feels, as sometimes I am a walking, talking embarrassing moment waiting to happen! But, I thought that this just added to her quirkiness and loveability, and I only with that Minnie was a real person because I think I want to be her best friend.

When it comes to romance books I can be quite picky with the writing, as it’s very easy to over-explain, under-explain or simply make things ridiculously cheesy… but I needn’t have worried with this as the writing was so well done. The small details and breadcrumbs that Sophie Cousens leaves throughout are impeccable and I audibly gasped when the lightbulb moment happened in my brain regarding the brandy creme patisserie scenario! I did not see that coming whatsoever, and it was such an excellent twist! The romance was excellent, well thought out, and not cliche in the slightest.

I also love the fact that this story takes place in 2020, though an entirely different 2020 than the one all of us experienced. Somewhere in a parallel universe, where Covid never existed, Minnie and Quinn’s romance exists.

This was such a feed-good story from start to finish, and if you’re going to read anything over the festive season, then make it this.

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Note: there is also apparently a film adaptation in the works for this book, so I am very excited to see what it’s like! I feel like the problem with adaptations is that what they bring to life on screen rarely looks like what I envisioned in my head, so I often find myself disappointed… but, I’m holding out hope that this film will be a good one – especially if it retains all of the wonderful humour and banter that makes this book so perfect!

Favourite lines:

✨ ‘If you lived in a city for long enough, Minnie thought, the streets and places where life happens fold inwards like paper, making space for new memories. Yet visiting old haunts and a long forgotten road was like stretching the concertina out again – the memories leap out, fresh as the day you folded them away.’

✨ ‘All you can hope for is to do more good than harm in this life.’

✨ Minnie let out an involuntary high-pitched noise. She clutched a hand over her mouth, turning the sound into a strangled sort of sneeze.’

✨ ‘No one’s too small to make a difference; just ask Greta Thunberg.’

✨ ‘Better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you’re not.’
‘Profound,’ said Minnie. ‘Where did you read that – the back of a cereal packet?’

✨ ‘Life can’t just be about coupling up like yoghurts in a multi-pack.’

✨ ‘Don’t cry about something you wouldn’t cry about in five years time.’

✨ ‘Ah, Coco Nuts, we meet again. I see you have foiled my cunning plan to steal all the fruit in Fruitopolis.’

✨ ‘Be a good companion to yourself and you will never be lonely.’

✨ ‘She picked up a perfect red leaf from the ground, examining the intricate pattern of vessels mapping its thin surface. So beautiful, yet only created to last such a short time before its role on this planet was over, and it would decay into mulch. An unremarkable existence, and yet to look at it – how remarkable.’

✨ ‘Life is change – if nothing’s changing, you aren’t living.’

I know that for most of us, writing can often feel like a chore. It can feel like we have to have to sit down and write something otherwise we cannot call ourselves writers. Or, we think that we have somehow failed if we write nothing at all, or have not achieved the amount we had wished to write in a given period of time.

But, as most writers know, and I’m sure you are aware if you’re reading this, that sometimes we just lack inspiration. The metaphorical land where all of our inspiration lives has run out of food and water and is just sitting barren in our minds.

Or perhaps, we have inspiration for something – an idea for a script or a book that we desperately want and feel the need to write, but we have no direction as to where it is going to go, or how we are physically going to craft it into something readable.

If you are sitting there reading this, and you’re struggling with one or all of these problems, fear not. I have gathered together the following questions, to hopefully ignite the spark of inspiration once again, to turn those writing dreams into realities.

(These questions should be used as a foundation to build the world that you’re trying to create, and understand what it is that you’re hoping to achieve by writing a particular piece.)

All ideas are only as good as the characters that drive them, and all good ideas need to be dramatic.

What is the story?
What is the central dramatic action in your idea?
Do you have a compelling enough journey for the audience and character to go on?
If it’s a series or a serial, do you have enough story/stories to keep it going over a number of episodes or weeks?

Creating a coherent world is crucial.

What are the rules of your story universe?
What do and don’t we need to know/see?

Less is often more. The writer needs to know all the rules and background, but the audience only needs enough to stay hooked without being confused.

What kind of story is it?
Are you using a recognisable genre, such as thriller or romantic comedy?
If you are inspired or influenced by an archetypal story of old, what is it that’s different about your idea?

You need to bring fresh perspectives to familiar tales, worlds, subjects and genres.

What is the tone and feel of the story?
Are they consistent and coherent? There is nothing more frustrating than a slasher movie that suddenly turns into a rom-com or vice versa.

Sometimes clashing genres can work if they’re handled intelligently.

And the emotional response you are trying to aim for is just as important.

What physical reaction are you looking for? Something so poignant it makes the audience cry? Something funny it makes their sides hurt from laughing too much?

You need to know why this idea now is important.

Is it something that keeps you up at night and has really got under your skin?
What is it about?
What is the theme?
What are you trying to explore?
What are you hoping to communicate?

Don’t write anything you don’t care about just to be expedient, because it will only ever be competent at best.

Is it an idea that will strike a real chord with an audience?
Who do you think will want to see it?

If you have a burning desire to write, then it’s more likely to grab our attention.

I hope that these questions have proved useful to you, and have allowed you to break through the brick wall that some call writer’s block. And I can’t wait to read your masterpiece!