Fearing eternal singledom, childhood friends Kate and Paul make the age-old vow that if they don’t find love by thirty, they will marry each other.
Years later, with the deadline of their 30th birthdays approaching, the unlikely couple decide to keep their teenage promise. After all, they are such good friends. Surely that’s enough to make a marriage?
Now, on the eve of their 10th wedding anniversary, they will discover that love between men and women is more complex, and more precarious, than they could ever have imagined.
As Kate struggles with a secret that reaches far into their past, will the couple’s vow become the very thing that threatens their future?
Love Will Tear Us Apart is a novel that has its entire focus on Kate, Paul, their children and their own parents.
It’s a novel built up with time shifts, starting with the moment Kate and Paul met at the tender age of 13 up and up to now, celebrating their 10 year wedding anniversary. Well, there’s not really a festive mood and it seems all is related to a mysterious letter Kate found.
I would call this novel a descriptive family saga. I can’t say this was a love story… I wondered more than once where the love was. I didn’t really feel it from Kate’s side, at any given moment in her life which made me feel sad in her place. I didn’t see any tell-tale signs between Kate and Paul, any tentative gestures or touching by accident, nothing like that and I knew they were good together as friends but I wondered when love would change them.
I actually really liked everything about the mystery in the novel but I wasn’t really waiting to hear every single thing that happened in Kate’s life. I enjoyed reading how they became friends and how their friendship developed in the beginning of the novel, and I loved Viv, Paul’s mother who took Kate into her house and treated her like she was her own daughter. But as the novel went along it became a bit tedious having to read everything that followed and happened in her life, from her first steps into university, her first job and everything that came with it, her life felt rather depressing and I felt the focus was off.
I was more interested in that moment where they – childhood friends – finally fell in love, how they got to this point and especially what was in the letter which was brought up so many times. There was A LOT of build up to finding out what was in that letter! Some readers had expected more of it but it didn’t disappoint me, it was a good secret. Will they stay together or not after the contents of the letter are revealed though? Will love rule after all? My lips are sealed :-).
I was happy I got to read this novel through receiving daily staves. It really helped me to stay curious and not rush through the novel to get to the ending more quickly. I’d recommend this novel to readers who like to hear the life-story of their characters and truly enjoy reading family sagas.
I received a copy of this novel via The Pigeonhole. This is my honest opinion.
Great review Inge. This sounds good and I am already curious about the letter.
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Thank you Diana!
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I have this to read! Btw it’s by Holly Seddon and not Phoebe Locke xx
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My head’s in the clouds again. Thank you for pointing this out Jo!! I look forward to your review of this!
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Interesting premise Great review and even though you felt like Kate’s parts were at times unnecessary you still managed to enjoy it which is good! I often wonder how a marriage like that would work..
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The delivery in daily staves was perfect for this novel. Thank you Nikola ❤️
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I read few character life story books before. They kind of make reading too slow with lot of details but all in all I enjoy them. This sounds exactly like that. Great review! 🙂
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Thank you lovely, if you don’t expect it to focus really on the mystery but on her life story, then you really might enjoy this one!
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Lovely review!
I defo expected something different when i saw it’s about secrets and stuff. Bit i still enjoyed quite a bit 😃
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Thank you, I think I had different expectations as well and it colored my judgement a little ☺️
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Fabulous review! I am now intrigued what is in that letter???🧡
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Ah well all is revealed in the end 😄 😘
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Lovely review, Inge! I enjoyed her last book, Don’t Close Your Eyes. She writes family relationships well. I think the last one was billed as a thriller, and it definitely was more of a suspense. It was slower-building, too, but very well-written. I’ve been looking forward to this one, so I really appreciate your thoughts on it!
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Great review, even though it didn’t quite meet your expectations. I do love that cover!
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Thank you Jo and I agree it has a great cover!
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Fab review! I’m not sure if this one is for me, but it’s good to hear you found it interesting.
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It doesn’t really stand out for me but it was still okay.. could have been better if her emotions or thoughts were more explored and her life events were spun out a bit less. Thank you!
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Great review! I’ve kind of had my eye on this one, I’ve gotta say, I’m still a little on the fence.. It may be too slow of a burn for me 😣😕
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Looking back I’d say this is not my usual or preferred genre of novel and it’s no surprise I didn’t rate it higher, but if you like family sagas that really reflect the life of several people over say 20 years, then this is perhaps worth checking out. Thank you!
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Fab review! I loved the contents of the letter and I thought the ending was perfect.
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I did love the plotline about the letter too, although it was a looong wait for it to be revealed. Thank you!
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Fantastic review, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts 🙂
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Ah thank you lovely!
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You’re welcome ❤
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I’m not big on family dramas, I had enough of my own, so not something I shall be reading any time soon sad to say.
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I’m not big on family dramas either haha.. I didn’t know it was going to turn out to be this kind of story really. I don’t know if I’d read it if I knew, although that cover was convincing and the mention of a mysterious letter (secrets!) as well :-).
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Secrets are always good, and if it had the right elements above and beyond being just a drama, it might interest me. There’s always hope.
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Nice balanced review. I like the concept of taking the ‘married by’ trope further by looking at the relationship after marriage. 😊
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Thanks Nina, this wasn’t an easy one.. I’m not sure I felt what the author intended me to feel with this one.
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That happens sometimes. 🙂
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