At first I didn't enjoy this book and stopped reading within the first 30% of the book. But recently I came back to it and I'm glad I did! I'll seek out more from this author.

“The greatest challenge in life is not to die before you die.” Diana Evans - Ordinary People

This book starts off strong, then peters off in the final third. I would say disappointingly so, but actually, it mirrors the very life we live. Reflects the trajectory and pattern of modern day love.

“Love was a palace and the body was just an object inside it.” Diana Evans - Ordinary People

In this book Diana expertly weaves together the lives of two couples: Melissa & Michael (aka “M&M” or “chocolate”) and Stephanie & Damien. Bound by friendship, untethered by desire. This is the story of how we all come undone through grief, marriage, partnership, motherhood, careers, responsibilities…life! Ordinary People is just that, a magnifying glass into the lives of ordinary people. Their mistakes and misgivings. Their…lives. Sad, but true.

“Hope is the last thing that dies.” Diana Evans - Ordinary People

I loved this - a gorgeous, poetic but gritty portrait of two middle class couples in South London, dealing with the tensions of married life, kids, ethnicity, gender roles. Wittily observed and sometimes savage in its portrayal of the mundane details of early parenthood, but also lyrical and philosophical in its descriptions of love, sex and relationships, this is layered, multi-dimensional and intriguing. A love letter to London is woven throughout, acting as a shifting backdrop to the characters' relationships and shifting emotions. Sometimes these novels of 'kitchen sink drama' style can struggle to end satisfyingly, being by their nature smaller stories - so I found it a novel twist that the writer here brings in a quasi-supernatural element towards the end. A bold turn, not overplayed and doesn't overtake - really interesting. Overall a great read, beautifully written, compelling characters. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to review.

Ordinary People by Diana Evans is about characters struggling with the grass always being greener on the other side.

I absolutely loved this book. The writing was beautiful, and the way London was described made me see it through new eyes. I loved how deep the author was able to go into the inner lives of the characters. I’ll remember this book for a long time.

The title has the word 'ordinary' in it, and the story follows (as the title suggests) the trials and tribulations of two ordinary couples living in London in 2008-09, but this book is quite extraordinary. It's lyrical, insightful, complex, beautiful and bleak. A bit like London itself, really. I love books full of minute detail about everyday life, and this book is dripping in it. A window into modern Britain, identity and race, motherhood and relationships, I was enthralled from start to finish.

The role music plays in the novel is also very clever, and the author even has a playlist for you: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2fdCiVTAXamnadiHeGXIqt I have now discovered Jaguar Wright and will be forever grateful!

With thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a review copy.

I had an ebook of this from NetGalley and I’ll be honest that I was struggling to get in to it so I bought the audio book, and once I started listening to this I just didn’t want to stop. It’s about two couples, although there is more focus on one of them, and it’s bookended by the election of Barack Obama and the death of Michael Jackson. I thought this was such a brilliant examination of relationships, of how things can go so wrong for one person and their partner doesn’t see it happening. At its core it’s a novel about the things a person loses when they commit to someone, when they become a parent, when life is pulling them in all kinds of directions but they have no time for who they are anymore. I thought this book was stunning, and it’s one that is really staying with me. I may even re-read it at some point. I recommend it!

Ordinary People was a wonderful book that made me stop and think about my own life a little too much (in a good way!). It follows the relationships of two couples who are finding that they may not be as happy as they used to be with their current situations and how they deal with the trials and tribulations of those relationships. Ordinary People is the first book in a long time that really made me contemplate my past and current relationships and how I feel about them

Set against the backdrop of Obama's election, and the recession, Ordinary People explores the trials and tribulations of modern relationships through two couples living in London.

Melissa and Michael are a black couple moving into a house for the first time with their two children. Damian and Stephanie are an interracial couple living in Surrey with their three children. The narrative focuses around the three black characters, Melissa and Michael, and his friend Damian as they live their lives together, and cross each others paths.

The novel taps into the boundary between a 'relationship' and a 'family', and how parenthood, specifically motherhood, changes not only your life but your whole being. The distance between characters, and the unspoken frustrations they have are oddly compelling, and regardless of whether we like or sympathise with them, Evan's skilful narrative does make us want the best for them. The novel is finely balanced, never coming down on any character's side. She also brings refreshing diversity to the narrative, from the rich descriptions of food, to more complex issues of the characters' race and heritage. The characters are all well rounded and complex, with the women especially being well represented, with strong personalities and identities.

However, as times the novel does itself a disservice, as its impartiality feels outdated at times. Both male and female characters make bad decisions, but given the strict heteronormative, patriarchal structures of the families in the novel, with the women bearing most of the burden of childcare, the men come off significantly worse.

The novel is enjoyable and interesting, even if it does present a bleak outlook on life and relationships. The uncanny elements serve to heighten the tension and Evans' use of symbolism, imagery and metaphor to highlight aspects of the tale, are clever and build a rich and imaginative narrative, and a fascinating exploration of modern relationships.

This book looks at the unravelling of relationships focusing on two long term couples and the changes that children into their lives. Alongside this there are element of a ghost story or perhaps it is mania or depression. For me it had confused elements trying to be a lot of different things. The devil is in the detail and there is certainly a lot of detail, at times it read like a book club reading list or a play list for a world music show, I didn't get the necessity for this. To me it "muffled" the real narrative - one which never really cam through and the ending was deeply unsatisfying. I think there were parts where good writing appeared and the narrative seemed to be progressing but unfortunately not enough to make it a book that i would recommend to others.

I do like the eye-catching cover of this book. I'm not sure what I expected inside. It's well written but I wasn't enthralled. I felt I didn't really connect with the characters or the story and it all got a bit tedious. I kept reading on, hoping for something to happen to make me feel something – but it didn't happen, apart from leaving me feeling rather flat when I got to the end. I did finish the book although I almost gave up about halfway through.

I can relate to how relationships can change when children arrive but perhaps I just don't have anything in common with Londoners (of any colour).

I even tried listening to some of the music tracks mentioned but I wasn't enthused by those either.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read Ordinary People. I'm sorry my comments are not more positive.

**Many thanks for the ARC provided by NetGalley**

Ordinary People = Ordinary Story

The story centres around two black couples at the time of Obama's election win & MJ's death. It seemed that there was no purposeful storyline & the supernatural element was utterly pointless. The sentences are long yet little really happens to keep the reader engaged.

Filled with promise yet just ordinary, as the title rightly says.

Good Book Well written.
A good recommended book.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Random House UK for my eARC of this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

"'I'm on a mission to reclaim my literary innocence.'"

Ordinary People is centered around two black couples, Melissa and Michael, and Damian and Stephanie. The initial glow of their relationships has dulled and their fiery love turns into a comfortable familiarity, which then twists into a feral resentment for each of them that was once held in the throes of passion.

The story begins with the elated and historic election of Barrack Obama, and the hopeful turn in the tide of modern racism.

"They too had stayed up on Tuesday night watching blue eat red, and the Obama daughters walking on to the stage in their small, well-tailored dresses and their excited shoes had reminded many of the four lite girls bombed forty-six years before in the church in Alabama by the Ku Klux Klan."

Initially, there is a strong sense of empowerment for black people, and beautifully made points of why the racial movement is still needed to surge forwards. I felt like I was going to really enjoy this novel, it seemed hyper aware of societal pressures, was pro-human rather than pro-generic white man, and had sensational descriptions of even the most simple of things.

And then it became overpowering.

The book loses it's firm standing of creating a realistic world which we're all sheltered from in some way or form, and stretches down the avenue of marriage. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, apart from the fact that the narrative lost the sense of empowerment completely. But:

There are vast amounts of effervescent descriptions that link and form a narrative, at first it's refreshing, and then it became stifling. I ended up skimming a few pages to see if anything of any substance or even a gleam of progression occurs. I don't need a book with all action to keep me on my toes, but there is sparse dialogue and lengthy, arduous, over-descriptions of everything. It was too much. I don't want to read about Melissa's cappuccino slip or Michael's eventual beauty any more than I need to.

The overuse of metaphors went from pretentious to annoying. The prose was a domesticated animal, a lazy cat plodding along at a slow pace, a weary dog on a come down from playing with a ball, there was no sense of urgency to the narrative, it was, well... boring.

The black empowerment theme made way for a story line of resentment within marriages. A familiar theme. And then bizarrely took a detour down a path reminiscent of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman which peaked and then fizzled out completely to make way for an unsatisfactory closure. There seemed to be a lot of conjecture but no substantial progress to a story line that connected neatly or made much sense, the prose is idyllic, but lost in a sea of plot ideas.

The lack of character development and the awful conclusions of each couples story was unsatisfying for such a long read. The novel itself is depressing for any of us readers with future prospects of marriage, and I wish I'd either avoided it completely, or put the book to rest at an earlier point.
"'The greatest challenge in life is not to die before we die,' Melissa said. 'I read that somewhere. It happens to a lot of people.' She was going to add, 'I think it's happening to me,' but didn't."

Diana Evans' descriptive prowess is incredible but excessive. If the author had reigned it in and concentrated more on the plot, I may have enjoyed this or at the very least, been more comfortable with the narrative.

Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is definitely a book about ordinary people. I am sorry but I could not get interested in the characters at all.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This story is what happens when everyday life gets in the way of the life you wanted for every day. It would be hard for this book not to strike at least one chord for readers as two couples have to face up to the "is this it?" question. It tackles the struggle between accepting the familiar life as it's now become with all of its shortcomings and disappointments or to break out and seek that elusive something that they feel they've lost along the way. Sad in many ways but a totally relatable tale.

This is a very aptly entitled book as it does indeed deal with ordinary lives of two ordinary couples, namely Michael & Melissa and Damian & Stephanie.

The former couple have just had a second child and we see how this impacts on their relationship. The latter couple go through issues of their own with bereavement acting as a catalyst.

This is a slow burner with not much action, but it still flows nicely. I enjoyed the author’s lyrical style in places, she really transported me through corners of London which I once knew and loved.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

What’s it About? In a nutshell it’s a portrait of black Londonders in the wake of Obama’s election victory and follows two couples, set to John Legend’s Ordinary People album, which by the way is a clever way to write a book and also an excellent album.

What I liked It’s smart this book, and well written – the writing is lyrical and put me in mind of Jon McGregor at first, I had If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things flashbacks which was super. It started out really well, I loved the premise and I loved the opening and the set up. So pretty, I couldn’t read it fast enough. I also – at first - loved the John Legend references, mostly because I have listened to that album a lot.

What I liked Less It was too much, too long. It got samey and it didn’t know what it was and got a little bit lost in itself and I did, I’m afraid to say, get a little bit bored. I forced myself onwards because I’d liked it so much to start but it did get a bit overwhelmed by its own self. More show less tell would have been good too, always more show and less tell.

One word review: Extraordinary

Rambling review: I really, really enjoyed this.

A tale of the strains on relationships, the toll that children take, on identity and race in Britain, and how life changes and shapes ordinary lives. Most authors focus on the extraordinary – either through plot or characters or setting or historical timeframe.

Rarely will you read a book that is just about everyday lives, and Evans has captured this perfectly. I think most readers will recognise some part of themselves in one or some of the characters.

P.S. C’mon, Melissa clearly would not be eating lunch at All Bar One. C’mon.

This is a glorious snapshot of an optimistic time in the not too distant past, but certainly feels a world away from the current day. Beautifully written characters and a really great read. Recommend!