Mundie Moms

Saturday, December 3, 2016

London Belongs to Us by Sarra Manning / Book Review



By: Sarra Manning (facebook | twitter)
Published by: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Released on: November 1, 2016
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars - I liked it!

Seventeen-year-old Sunny's always been a little bit of a pushover. But when she's sent a picture of her boyfriend kissing another girl, she knows she's got to act. What follows is a mad, twelve-hour dash around London - starting at 8pm in Crystal Palace (so far away from civilisation you can't even get the Tube there) then sweeping through Camden, Shoreditch, Soho, Kensington, Notting Hill . . . and ending up at 8am in Alexandra Palace.

Along the way Sunny meets a whole host of characters she never dreamed she'd have anything in common with - least of all the devilishly handsome (and somewhat vain) French 'twins' (they're really cousins) Jean Luc and Vic. But as this love-letter to London shows, a city is only a sum of its parts, and really it's the people living there who make up its life and soul. And, as Sunny discovers, everyone - from friends, apparent-enemies, famous bands and even rickshaw drivers - is willing to help a girl on a mission to get her romantic retribution.

I must admit that I love Sarra's stories. She hits that right combination of romance, sweet and a deeper message than you'd expect. I loved her YA story, Adorkable (link to MM's review), and I adored You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (link to MM's Grown-Up Book Reviews)

Sunny is a girl, who is unsure of what she wants. She's flattered by her boyfriend, who comes from a richer side of London. She thinks she is in love. Maybe. And she's even considering losing her virginity to him. But, this isn't a will-she-won't-she story (honestly, those books bore me perhaps because I'm an adult). Instead, it's a cleverly plotted tale of a girl from a diverse part of London, who isn't quite sure what she wants.

As usual in a Sarra' story, the secondary characters are as well thought out as the primary ones. I adored the entire cast of characters, because they made such perfect sense alongside Sunny. The French cousins, the Godards (as they are collectively referenced) were my favorites. They had a knack for popping up just when Sunny needed help. Her extended family also plays an important role and the scene with her uncle rings so very true that it made me miss my own uncle so much.

The plot unfolds as a timeline of Sunny's adventures all over London neighborhoods while she is busy chasing down that no-good boyfriend of hers. London plays a huge role in this story, and the gorgeously described locations only made me want to plan a visit sooner rather than later.

This story made me remember a number of late night/early morning shenanigans in my twenties. A lot can happen in 12 hours, right? Sunny discovers a lot about herself, a little about her friends (including supposed enemies) and much more about that boyfriend of hers. If this were turned into a movie or a TV series, it would be a must-see for me. If you like Brit contemps, rom-coms, John Hughes-style/ "Mean Girls"-type movies, then add this to your TBR.

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1 comment:

  1. That cover is so cute :) Not really a book for me, but so glad you liked it a bunch Sophie :) Gorgeous review sweetie. <3

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