The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary Review

 

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

First Published: 2019

Publisher: Quercus/Macmillan Audio

Format: Hardcover/Audio

Narrator: Carrie Hope Fletcher & Kwaku Fortune

Source: Bought/Audible

Genre: Romance

Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads

This was pretty much everyone’s favourite romance of 2019 so it has taken me far too long to get around to reading it. It follows Tiffy and Leon, two complete strangers who share a bed but have never met. They share a flat but never at the same time; Tiffy gets nights and weekends in the flat while Leon, who works night shifts, gets it during the day. Despite never meeting, the two develop a friendship through notes, and, of course, feelings develop. 

This ended up being more than I expected it to be. I was intrigued by the synopsis and how the romance would develop despite the pair not meeting. What I didn’t expect was the more serious side stories. Tiffy has recently come out of a pretty toxic relationship and Leon is dealing with his brother being wrongly imprisoned. Those aspects added so much to the story and I loved how the difficulties in their lives and issues they are trying to overcome brought them together. I also really enjoyed the development of the relationship through notes. I love an epistolary romance and this had aspects of that. I think is much harder to develop a relationship with convincing chemistry through notes and without the characters actually meeting, but I was completely convinced by the chemistry between these two characters before they ever met. 

The friendships in this book are really great. Tiffy’s friend group are a great example of supportive friends who will drop everything to be there when she needs them. They had such a mix of personalities as well and each one was really well developed. Their interactions made me laugh so many times and I found them to be the perfect comic relief in some of the more serious times. Leon’s brother was also really great and I was so impressed by how well his character was developed when all we got to see of him was through phone calls and letters. 

My one issue with this book was the way Leon’s chapters were written. I listened to this on audiobook and read the physical copy and found those chapters difficult to read and follow in both formats. I found it to be very jumpy and almost threw me around a bit while I was reading. I didn’t like the way the dialogue was written either. It just took me out of the story quite a bit. 

Overall, this was a really sweet romance with some interesting added layers. I was impressed by how much I found myself rooting for these characters and seeing their chemistry before they met, and then they were even better together once they were with each other in person. I loved them as a couple and how Leon was so respectful of Tiffy’s past and the struggles she was going through. I loved the little side stories like Leon’s search for his patient’s long lost love and Tiffy’s crocheting superstar author. This was just the perfect balance of fun, adorable romance and more serious, hard-hitting topics.

Have you read The Flatshare? I would love to know your thoughts.

Sophie :)