Thursday 14 January 2016

Book Review: Somewhere Only We Know by Erin Lawless

Read: January 14   Verdict: 5 Stars

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.


Alex works a pretty boring desk job in the immigration office, pretty much going through the same motions every day until he comes across a visa application for a Russian girl called Nadia. Something about Nadia and her friend's character references sticks out and Alex remembers her. Like a twist of fate, Alex bumps into Nadia a week later and the two become unlikely friends - taking trips around London to brighten up Alex's life while also making sure Nadia sees everything she needs to see before her inevitable deportation.

I really loved this book. From the get go it was super cute and all the characters were very relatable and likeable. Alex had a cute shyness that reminded me of Lincoln from Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, as well as the slight likeness in getting to know Nadia through correspondence read in work. Nadia was very bubbly and hard not to like. She was kind and hard-working and didn't mope about feeling sorry for herself. I don't know much about immigration rules and about the visa process but I thought the novel was good in showing how frustrating it was to be waiting around for something that could change the rest of your life. The journey to her appeal was a pretty bleak one and Nadia had a wonderful support system - friends that were more or less her family. It's hard to imagine what something like that must be like for someone going it alone.

While this book was definitely full of the not-so-surprising twists and turns you'd expect in a rom-com book, it was just such a pleasure to read. I completely fell in love with all the characters, and the friend group had such a lovely dynamic that even included Alex and Rory (thankfully not Lili). I definitely recommend anyone to pick this up for a light-hearted yet touching read, plus it really gives you those London feels and made me want to back to the beautiful city straight away!



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