I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read it.

Intrigued by the Rosie project I looked forward to this one but it was a DNF for me. This was my own brain not engaging and enjoying and not the book or authors fault. Just not for me. 2 stars based on what I had read.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.

Overall rating : 4*
Writing skill : 5*
Characters : 4*
Plot: 3*
Setting: 4*

Having previously read The Rosie Project I was really interested to read something else by Simsion so requested this immediately. However, me being a total flake I left this untouched for 3 years, big mistake. This was really quite good. His writing is flawless, he transported me to Australia, Manchester and Paris effortlessly. The characters are complex and interesting and this finished quicker than I had wanted it to. I would have liked it to end differently but only because I was so invested in the characters and the paths led out for them, the fork in the road scenario, but maybe I wouldn't have rated it so highly if it had gone in a different direction. I will definitely been seeking out other work by him, and completing the Rosie series!

The Best of Adam Sharp reminded me of a car crash. I should not have looked, but I could not look away. Despite knowing better, despite wanting to step away, I continued to look.

I know many enjoy the book – the majority of my book club enjoyed this one – but it did not work for me. I could not connect with the story or the character and felt uncomfortable with most of what played out. Perhaps I’m judgemental, but I disliked the events that played out too much to forgive the characters and accept their story. Despite this, I could not stop reading.

All in all, this was addictive, but it failed to win me over.

Graeme Simsion can do no wrong in my eyes, but this one has some very mixed reviews. I'd agree it's no Rosie Project (but very little can top that!). Written with warmth and wit and plenty of humour, I really related to the way that music evokes memories throughout the book (I'm fascinated by that anyway), and it was an easy, enjoyable read.

Unfortunately, I read this book back in 2017 but completely forgot to upload a review on here, so can't remember exactly what I was going to say about it!

The best of Adam Sharp is another interesting offering from the author of the Rosie Project. While a story of multiple adulterers is certainly not as heartwarming or whimsical as the The Rosie Project, I still found it to be a unique and introspective read.

The protagonist, who seemingly wakes up one day and realizes how stale and boring his life is as he pines for the lost love of his youth, is certainly relatable to an extent. I found him to be a likable character, although admittedly as the novel continued on I found myself less fond of him.

There is a lot of inner dialogue in the book, and for a novel about infidelity and lost love it became tedious at times. For characters nearing half a century old I found them to all be rather frustratingly fickle. The back and forth, and back and forth started to grate on my nerves.

Overall though this was a decent read, but I'm not sure if I would recommend it. What drew me to the authors previous works is not found here, and the characters inability to sort out their lives (however relatable) was still annoying.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I didn't think this book was as poor as many reviewers seem to think, then again it wasn't wonderful. I did, however, want to carry on reading it to see how it finished, and found the way that Angelina's husband manipulated events to be both creepy and clever.

Went through a phase of getting "read now" books that sounded vaguely interesting. Never got around to reading this one.

I thought it was an ok read but felt it dragged a little too much for me. I didn't really feel connected to any of the characters but I did enjoy all the song references.

3 stars

When almost 5o Adam Sharp receives a message out of the blue from the other side of the world, he begins to dwell on what might have been. Twenty years earlier he discovered how it felt to find love and lose it, his present situation and feelings are not helped by the fact that his marriage seems to have hit a rough patch. The Best of Adam Sharp explores the past and transitions during the novel to the present so the reader has a full picture of what happened and why the main protagonist feels the way he does. On a personal level, I found I became somewhat impatient and a little bored with the story during the past sections because I felt like the telling did not wholly drive the story forward, I was far more interested in the present time frame of the characters and found those chapters to be far more engaging and helped me to feel a little invested in the life of Adam Sharp and the final shape it may take.

I have loved the opportunity to spend time researching novels to re-stockl our senior bookshelves in the school library that plays a central role in the life of the school. When I first took over the library was filled with dusty tomes that were never borrowed and languished there totally unloved.
Books like this, play a central role in ensuring that the library is stocked with fresh relevant fiction that appeals to the readers. It has a strong voice and a compelling plot that ensures that you speed through its pages, enjoying both its characterisation and dialogue whilst wanting to find out how all of its strands will be resolved by the end.
I have no hesitation in adding this to the 'must buy' list so that the senior students and staff of the school can enjoy it as much as I did. This is a gripping read that will be sure to grip its readers whether they are fans of this genre or coming to it for the first time through our now-thriving school library recommendation system. Thanks so much for allowing me to review it!

This was another very solid read by this dependable author. Touching on a life situation than many people deal with it will certainly hit home with a great many readers. The lost love, the love of our youth, the missed signal, the doubted decision, the what might have been. These thoughts haunt everyone. For some, more than others. Today's technology, when a ping into your email or Facebook account, can bring contact from someone you have tried hard not to think about. For some, such as the title character here, Adam Sharpe, the temptation becomes too great.

Woe be to the relationship when this contact comes at a moment of stress, difficulty, or more likely and perhaps more dangerous, boredom.

We meet Adam when this one word email appears in his box at his home late one night in England. Traveling from Australia the word " Hey " sets off a cascade of emotions and actions which could change a host of lives forever.

Adam recalls, and thus we see, himself twenty odd years ago on a short term consulting contract in Australia, meeting a young woman as he plays piano in a small bar one evening. Admiring her beauty little does he realize that the woman who joins him to sing " Angel of the Morning " is a popular television actress in the middle of a marriage breakup. This, almost predictably, leads to a passionate romance which ends when he must move onto his next position. Mixed signals, crossed signals, things left unsaid or said misleadingly, we all know what happens. Both went the same thing but they stumble over communicating it until it is too late.

Now, Adam is fifty, living with the same woman for a long time, kids never came, they tried, and the want might have been come crashing back. I will tell you, for those susceptible to these thoughts, for some they are downright dangerous, this book will do you know favors. We all have them. I am married to a wonderful woman, better than I deserve in all ways, but I recall having a day date with a girl about thirty years ago. She expressed that this was not a real date, we had just reconnected after a couple of years, and I, unsure, did not read the true signs. Looking back she dropped hints, communicated, but I could not see it. We remained friends, years later she told me she was wildly trying to make clear her feelings. What might have happened. Who knows. Do I regret it, not in the least. But, it is a rare person that does not have this.

The resolution in this book is a bit , if I may say, far fetched. Adam's partner, has her flaws, but she also has a sense of understanding I feel few would ever have. His three month whirlwind relationship decades ago becomes the lead in to his spending a week in France with the never forgotten Angelina, AND her husband. Sound weird. It does not necessarily start that way but it becomes oddly so, with a level of psychological play that just does not seem correct for a book of this type.

All the characters are very grown up, surprisingly so to Adam, but it just at times seems a little bit more Hitchcockian than necessary.

Underneath it all is the music, the soundtrack of rock and roll, and this too, if one is so inclined, can lead one down a path of memory. It sure does Adam. I have read that smell is the sense that is most associated with strong memories and that might well be true. I suspect, however, for a certain percentage of people, that a song, a tune from the past, is the most easy way to produce a memory long, and sometimes, best forgotten.

A good book, one easily relatable. The ending is dangerous. Everyone walks away too happy. I cannot think of a situation like this that has ever really occurred where everyone walked away happy. Don't be fooled.

Adam is an IT consultant, has been in a relationship with Claire for over twenty years. Somewhere in the back of his mind lurks the unforgotten Love Of his life, Angelina Brown. Adam is a pianist and there are songs entwined with his relationship with Angelina that lasted three months. Then after all these years Angelina Who’s married tonCharlie and has three children contacts Adam bu email, he knows that he should not be engaging with her, he cannot help but get drawn back in.

I love the way the music plays a role in their lives, and the way their connected to memories, whether it loss, pain, love and regrets and to the life changing events within this book. If you’d like, the author has provided An playlist to accompany the book. I really enjoyed that aspect. If you really love music and pay attention to lyrics, you’ll really enjoy this book.

Simsion packs quiet a lot into his love story, infidelity, broken marriages, memories, regret just to name a few. The Best Of Adam is a different style to his other books (Don Tillman novels).

A thought provoking and entertaining read.


I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in return for an honest and fair review. Thank You

Enjoyed this story about lost love, nostalgia, relationships and the music that shapes and provides the soundtrack to our lives.

After just finishing the rosie project I was excited to read the new book from Graeme Simsion. Unfortunately I was disappointed, I found the writing style too simplistic and the storyline boring. I would not recommend this book.

Based on reading The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect, I was really looking forward to reading Graeme Simison’s latest, The Best of Adam Sharp.
Unfortunately I was disappointed. While being an ok book, it falls massively short of his bestsellers. At first I sympathised with Adam and his wife; slowly ageing and becoming bored of the routine and familiarity of every day life. And I could see how Adam was easily tempted by the one that got away.
However I massively disliked her character. She is selfish, manipulative, very much in love with herself and cruel.
I don’t like to give away spoilers so all I will say is that I was very disappointed in Adam’s behaviour and felt that he didn’t deserve his wife in the slightest.
The book was well written and I read it quickly as I really wanted to see where it was going and what Adam was going to do. But for me, parts of this book are so unbelievably wrong and unnecessary and I really hoped that the character would have more to them and it left me bitterly disappointed.
Saying that, I guess a good book is one where you feel passionately happy/sad/angry/elated/etc. ... but I’m towing the line with a safe 3 stars for this one!

Thanks to NetGalley, Graeme Simison and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another very enjoyable, heartwarming and humorous story from a very talented author.

I really wanted to like this book because I had heard so much about it and have loved the author's other books, especially the Rosie Project. Despite enjoying the writer's style, I couldn't really identify with Adam as a character and the constant song references did get a bit tedious after a while. This one wasn't for me, sadly. Thank you for the opportunity to read it and provide feedback.