Tag: fiction

My review: The Train Guy, by Michelle Prak

On By tasharusIn My reviewsLeave a comment

41VnjwWK9uL._AC_SY400_

About the book:

How do you introduce yourself to a stranger?

Charli is obsessed with The Train Guy.

She sees him every weekday waiting for the 8.05am from Roselea Station. She’s convinced he’s the man for her, but Charli is too terrified to say hello.

Her world is upside down since Eddie left her in humiliating circumstances. Now Charli is advertising for tenants to share her inner-city cottage, and her friends are pushing her to apply for a promotion at the cute hotel where she works. And don’t even mention what happened with the Prime Minister.

Everything would be perfect if she could just meet The Train Guy. He’s chivalrous. He’s handsome. He’s perfect. Isn’t he?

Charli has read enough spy stories to know that she could find out more about The Train Guy – by following him.

Part rom-com, part chase, The Train Guy is a page-turning joy to read.

My review:

Michelle’s second book is a real page-turner. Usually page-turners belong to thriller or suspense genre. For a rom-com it is rare which makes this book really special. I must say I quite enjoyed the plot and the main characters. I was also surprised to see a mention of the project I work for J (if I got it right). In general, this book is a light but inspiring read.

Charli is quite likable girl that anyone can relate to. I was excited to follow her thoughts, dreams and her story. Her sweet and fun character makes her an ideal bestie everyone is dreaming to have.

Several times I laughed out loud as the book reminded me myself and my fellow commuters on the train. Okay, I also have The Train Guy! I haven’t seen him since the end of the year, he must’ve broken his leg… I hope he is okay. Probably, I won’t follow Charli’s steps to try to engage with him, though.

It was fascinating to follow Charli’s story – from a single, sad, shy girl to a confident manager who knows what she wants in her professional and personal life and who wants to enjoy life to the fullest. I liked how Michelle perfectly described the development of Charli’s character. So many of us (female readers) see ourselves in Charli.

This book is perfect for a light holiday read, but also for the train ride to work.

 

My review: Goodbye Newsroom, by Michelle Prak

On By tasharusIn My reviewsLeave a comment

44094654._SY475_

About the book:

When reporter Anna is sacked from the newsroom, she limps home for sympathy from her sister and housemate, Holly. But she discovers that Holly is jobless too, after resigning from the Fairweather Report, a celebrated women’s website.

Now, Holly has grand plans for starting her own online media empire, and she insists that Anna joins her.

Anna’s first task? She’s whisked away to an influencer tour of Uruguay. It’s scary stuff for a reporter who barely knows the difference between hashtags and HTML, but at least handsome Donovan is there to help.

Life becomes even trickier when Holly publishes Anna’s romantic adventures on their fledging website. The sisters become an online sensation, but Anna is furious that her private life is being used for clicks.

Will the sisters stick together and make a living in this new media world? Or will Anna return to a newsroom again?

And who is Holly’s menacing and persistent troll?

If you love career stories like Devil Wears Prada or The Bold Type, you’ll adore Goodbye Newsroom, a modern ode to self-made young women whose greatest tools are their smartphones.

“Perfect for the digital-savvy reader who wants to escape into a juicy world of public relations, A-list parties and online intrigue.”

My review:

It took me an unusually long time to finish Michelle’s debut novel because the release coincided with my own debut as a mum of a baby girl. So, reading was happening bit by bit, during and between the feeds and naps. Sometimes I felt so tired that couldn’t read a single line, even to save my life.

Anyway, enough complaining, back to the review 🙂

The book brought back many familiar feelings. The area of work of two main characters, Australian specifics, some events in girls’ lives. It all made me feel like I know Holly and Anna for a long time. They are your usual friends – girls living next door, with their own interests, love life, ambitions. Both of them are very likeable and you empathise with them immediately.

Holly is bold and brave, Anna seems to be a little bit more sensitive. Anna’s redundancy brought back my feelings of the time when I got redundant at work. All the hurt and regrets… looking for options and trying to find a new ‘me’. I felt all the sympathy for Anna who had to come back to her workplace and keep the face in front of colleagues.

It is a great debut for Michelle who incorporated her experience with media into the plot of the novel and effortlessly raised some important questions.

I quite enjoyed the book, an easy read that touches close personally to me and many current subjects – the world and the challenges of mainstream media, social media community and influencers, career choices in this industry, ethical issues and boundaries that people can face on social channels.

What I also liked about the book is that to me it is about the change. Changes in the industry, person’s life, way of living, in everything and Goodbye Newsroom shows well how all these changes, despite being scary and daunting, are still positive and only happen for the best.

The only downside for me is that the book finished too fast. It felt a bit rushed to the end, I would’ve like to read more. I guess I will wait for a sequel 🙂

My score is 4* out of 5*.