Assessment:
Idea/Concept: In an energetic and charming story, a former beauty queen finds herself unexpectedly single and sets out to find a partner, whatever it takes.
Prose: Reading somewhat like a romantic comedy throwback, this memoir showcases the author’s bold, frequently awkward, often amusing, and ultimately satisfying journey to find love.
Originality: Stories of dating following the demise of a long relationship, are common territory, but Brodie’s self-awareness, humor, and refusal to give up on romance, heightens the reading experience.
Execution: Brodie emerges as a fully sympathetic and sincere character in her own story. The casual writing style, paired with well-rendered dialogue and description, will gratify readers of romantic fiction and stories of second chances.
Date Submitted: January 23, 2020
This beauty queen can write! In this laugh-out-loud memoir of the narrator's search for "one good knight" (a man of future husband material), Robyn Brodie introduces a cast of men the likes of which one expects only to encounter in fiction. Brodie's writing style is so candid and intimate (and funny!) that you will feel as though you are her new best friend, learning all the horrors and humilities that happen when one is single and searching.
After reading the description, I was a little hesitant that the book would wallow in self-pity or be overly-sentimental and read like a boy-crazy girl's guide to landing "the one." On the contrary, I was pleasantly surprised by the narrator's independence and moxie as well as her well-placed allusions to literature that I, too, love. While searching for her knight, she makes plenty of self-discoveries. This is a narrator you will root for and laugh with and cry with. Imagine Jane Austen in the 21st century. That's this book.