Monday 16 July 2018

Five Years From Now By Paige Toon Book Review

It's currently 1am in the morning on the 12th of July and I've just finished reading Five Years From Now by Paige Toon, and whilst this post won't be going up straight away, I felt compelled to write my review now. I'd seen this book a few times whilst I was out over the last few weeks and straight away it looked like one I was going to enjoy, luckily George got it me for our anniversary as he knows I've really been into reading again recently and after starting it last Tuesday night, I was done within 24 hours. I just couldn't put it down! Out of the few books I've reviewed recently I think this is going to be the one I really struggle to keep spoiler free. I'm going to try my best but I just have so much I want to say.
A book review of Five Years From Now by Paige Toon
What if you met the right person at the wrong time? Nell and Van meet as children when their parents fall in love, but soon they are forced worlds apart. Five years later, they find each other. Their bond is rekindled and new feelings take hold, but once again they must separate. For the next two decades, fate brings Nell and Van together every five years, as life and circumstance continue to divide them. Will they ever find true happiness? and will it be together?

My review 

Nell and Van meet at the young age of 5 and soon become inseparable. After a tragedy occurs when they are 10, they are forced apart and Van moves to Australia to live with his dad, with Nell staying in Cornwall with her dad. Though they stay in contact and maintain that close relationship as best as they can, it isn't until he returns for Christmas when they are both 15 that they realise there might be something more between them. Torn between their feelings for each other and worry about what other people may think, the book is essentially about whether they could ever really be together, and I found it absolutely heartbreaking.

From the death of a family member to them having to say goodbye to each other again at age of 15 when they've realised they're in love with each other, it was just an emotional rollercoaster. I felt so invested in their relationship, it was intense, painful and beautiful, I was so willing every 5 years when fate brought them together again for it to just finally work out for them. I don't want to spoilt it in case you haven't read it but be prepared for lots of twists and turns, it was never going to be easy for them, one lives on the other half of the world, children get involved and sometimes life just gets in the way but the love they have for each other is always there.

When reading this I found myself smiling away, just loving the relationship between Nell and Van. It was written perfectly, you could feel the chemistry between them from the words on the page. With that though there were also some really sad parts, in fact that doesn't feel justice enough for one particular part with Nell's dad later on in the story. I was sobbing, like 'I can't breathe' sobbing and I can't remember the last time a book made me feel like that. Each time we skip five years and we come back to Nell and Van, my love for the characters just grows but I do feel a bit mixed about the ending. I don't want to ruin it for you but it's very bittersweet, and a reminder that life doesn't always work out as you might imagine. I totally get that and understand why Paige Toon went the way she did with it but I'm a romantic and I love, a good love story so in my ideal world, it would have maybe gone a little differently and been wrapped up in another way. I also found there was so much build up in the first few chapters, building up that relationship between Nell and Van, that I did get so emotionally invested into it, that the last few chapters where they were both older felt a little rushed to me. Maybe that isn't the right word but I just felt that once the decision had been made to take it in a certain direction, it ended very quickly and I just wanted more. I did absolutely love the book on the whole though and there are several parts I've gone back and re-read because I enjoyed them so much, there were just a few little things I wish would have been different but that's life. Paige has written a wonderful love story and I'm so glad I read it, I was a broken woman by the end of it but that shows it was a good book. It made me feel such a range of emotions and it's been a long time since a book last made me feel like that.

'One day, maybe five years from now, you'll look back and understand why this happened'

Have you read Five Years From Now? I'd love to hear your thoughts if you have!


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