I'm a huge fan of Louise O'Neill, having devoured her last two novels like they were cake and candy. Though it took me a little while to get into this book, purely because it took a few chapters to really get to the crux of the novel, this was an incredibly sharp and poignant novel about the obsessive nature of love and the grey zone of unrequited love and 'what is this' kind of relationship.;
This is one of those books where you just hate every single character but you can't stop reading about them. It's almost like a soap opera in that sense, just with interesting Irish names. Split between two different times in lead character Sarah's life as a struggling artist, we spend the majority of the novel understanding how immature she is when it comes to relationships, particularly with those who are older and perhaps more interesting than her. Though this was definitely a really good book and I enjoyed the writing, I still felt like wanting to slap Sarah throughout the entire book.
I think I enjoyed her other novels a bit more, but for a first foray into adult fiction, this was a pretty good start.

I really loved this book. the character of Sarah is very multi-layered, she is quite unlikeable yet you find yourself empathising with her throughout the book. A great read and one that will stay with me for a while. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity of reading it.

A fantastic tale of a toxic relationship- the push and pull that keeps you there, hooked on the drama and devastation, despite being treated awfully.

Gorgeously written account of obsessive love with a protagonist who, though not exactly likable, reflects a common experience of young women desperate for affection. I feel that the "Now" and "Then" strands could have woven together better but would nevertheless recommend this.

Another great read from Louise. Yet another leading lady that you hate and learn to love. I kept holding on and maybe hoping that we would find out why she’s unloveable, why she refuses to let people love her, why she stamps all over others feelings?
And in the end I shed a tear for her, I still don’t know why but I did.

" ‘Love is kind,’ she said, with such certainty, as if she believed it, but I didn’t think that was true. Love was holding your breath until they texted you. Love was waiting for them to decide that you’re good enough."

Having read Louise O'Neill's other two books (Only Ever Yours and Asking For It), I assumed that this book would tackle another taboo subject - the abusive boyfriend. I should have known not to expect the norm with Louise - I assumed that the main character would be involved with an older, possessive, abusive man. Instead, I got an all-consuming, obsessive, sad, desperate need to be loved - from the female character.

Sarah isn't happy. Will she ever be happy? Matthew could make her happy. He's handsome, he's wealthy, he worships Sarah. Sure, she has to pretend to like things she doesn't, and she has to fake sexual pleasure, and she has to hang around waiting for him to decide when they'll meet, and she can't tell anyone about him - but that's because he loves her, isn't it?

This book goes back and forth between Sarah's past and present, between her relationship with Matthew and her current relationship, which is in tatters. I know that a lot of people didn't like Sarah, and I didn't really like her either, but we're not supposed to like everyone. It doesn't happen in reality, so it shouldn't happen in books.

Sarah's desperation to be wanted by this horrible man made me feel so uncomfortable, because I've done that - I've sent the texts, I've tried to be "breezy" while inside I was dying, wondering......will he ever reply? Is this it? Is he with someone else right now? Even if he's with someone else he'll still want me, too, right? Won't he? What if I ring him off a different phone? What if I hide my number? What if I go to that place he goes and we just "bump" into each other? Granted, I was 18 at the time, not pushing thirty, but I really understood how Sarah felt.

I found it hard to have sympathy for Sarah given her attitude towards her father and her friends, but I did feel for her. She's a tragic character, one driven by her own need to be wanted and loved, but doesn't know how to deal with being wanted and loved.

Overall, it was an uncomfortable read, as I've come to expect from this author. And to be honest, I wasn't the better of it for hours after I finished it - it brought up a lot of shite for me that I haven't thought about in years, and left a bad taste in my mouth about how many women seem to be able to identify with Sarah.

There was a quote from Jeanette Winterson on the cover of Only Ever Yours that said of this author "She writes with a scalpel" and I can't think of anything more accurate - this one cuts deep.

A terrifying example of how easy it is to fall for the wrong person, in the wrong way, and how manipulative some people can be. Matthew very quickly got a hold of Sarah, used her exactly as he wanted, and did it all with breathtaking ease.
I felt very bad for Sarah in the 'then' strand. Being outside the situation, I could see it far more clearly than she could, and it broke my heart to watch her go back to him time after time, spoiling plans and alienating friends and family for him. Not fun to watch. In the 'now' strand, though, she seemed almost cruel the way she treated people, dismissive of their feelings and angry when they didn't act according to a standard she had chosen. I was more sorry for Oisin in those sections, because he was trying his best and she didn't seem to appreciate it or care for him.
One star off for completely destroying me 'then', and one off for Sarah's behaviour 'now'. But I'll still read everything Louise produces.

Thanks Netgalley and Quercus for letting me read this.

This one was a challenge- which isn't meant as an insult. Some books are a challenge because they shine a light on something hidden that many of us like to pretend aren't real- and this is precisely that kind of book. O Neill's latest follows Sarah as she flashes between the present and the past, communicating the details of her unfulfilling current life with Oisin and her past affair with Matthew. The book touches on many topics that aren't often discussed- the capacity we all have to grow obsessive about the people we get in too deep with and the value we place on our own self respect. Sarah is absolutely reprehensible to her friends and family for the majority of the book, but this doesn't make me any less likely to sympathise with her because we've all walked the path she has, down a long road with someone who isn't committed and doesn't wish to be. Text messages missed or ignored become an emotional rollercoaster of a mystery and along the way, losing track of real life is a sad reality. I was a fan of this one, and read it in one sitting, but it definitely isn't comfortable.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. This book tells the story of Sarah a young 20 something year old Teacher who becomes involved with a wholly unsuitable older man Matthew much to the detriment of everything else in her life. As a huge fan of the authors previous two books I had been looking forward to reading Almost Love. I have to admit I cringed for Sarah many times while reading it and wanted to shout through my kindle at her but that's what makes this book so enjoyable. I found myself (currently in my thirties) transported back to my early twenties while reading this. How Sarah treats everyone around her is difficult to read at times. For me, this book was a real page turner and I look forward to reading Louise O' Neills future work, she deserves every success.

I’ve was a fan of Louise O’Neill’s previous prose and couldn’t wait to get stuck into Almost Love. I greedily devoured the book in one sitting and would highly recommend. A tale of obsessive love and fixation, the protagonist Sarah is flawed but relatable and you’d be hard pushed to find a woman who doesn’t have a “Matthew” in their past. A must read.

Almost Love is a difficult read and a difficult review to write but many 20 and 30 something women will relate to the main character of Lousie O'Neill's latest novel. Louise, as we've come to expect, writes tough stories about events we often want to keep hidden from the outside world as well as ourselves.

Almost Love is written in the Now and the Then. 'Now' Twenty-something Sarah is living with her boyfriend Oisin and 'Then' she is besotted with an older, married man, Matthew. It is a no holds barred story of Sarah falling for an older man who treats her like a piece of dirt and makes her feel worthless. So one would think we would have sympathy for her (Then) as her obsession with Matthew takes hold, but I didn't. As she was once treated badly so she treats her boyfriend (Now) just as badly.

The fact that her obsessive and selfish behaviour is accounted for by the death of her mother when Sarah was ten and her father began drinking as a result didn't completely ring true for me. Her lonely father tries all he can to make up for the past, her boyfriend is generous and kind, her friends left behind in her small Irish hometown make allowances for Sarah - but nothing is enough, only that Sarah wins Matthew's love when all he wants from her is sex, which she doesn't enjoy, in a hotel room.

It is a part of human nature that we want what we cannot have or what may be out of reach and we constantly find ways of convincing ourselves that everything will be fine once we have that something or that certain person. I hope in time girls like Sarah realise that any happiness lies within ourselves and not through another person, certainly not one who makes us feel unworthy. Personally, I would have liked to have seen Sarah at the end having learned from her mistakes and grown as a person, hence the 4* not 5*.

It seems in this day of immediate contact through social media women have become more vulnerable than ever. If someone doesn't reply to a call, text or mail immediately our response is invariably an unhealthy one. Sometimes I wish we could turn back time and go back to using landline phones and bin the mobile. It was better sitting by the phone on a Thursday night hoping for a date on Saturday!

Thank you Louise for writing a book which will generate huge discussion, your fans will not be disappointed. Thanks also to NetGalley and Quercus for the opportunity to read and review Almost Love.

What an absolutely wonderful book. I adored Only Ever Yours and Asking For It so had been impatiently waiting for this to come out and my goodness it was worth the wait! O'Neill writes so cleverly, creating in Sarah a really problematic character who is frustratingly relatable to anyone who has been with someone they knew wasn't right for them. This book will definitely stay with me for a long time, an incredibly thought provoking and moving read.

I found the blurb for this to be misleading. I was expecting an all encompassing obsessive love, one where Matthew as the older man is manipulative and isolates Sarah, moulding her into want he wants and making her want to please him no matter what. Instead what I got was a story that alternates between THEN and NOW. In the current story line, Sarah has been with her boyfriend Oisin for almost 2 years yet her affair with Matthew is still affecting her, her relationship and her friendships. We flashback to the before and see how Sarah met Matthew, how she falls for him and how wanting him and wanting to please him impacts all aspects of her life.

Sarah isn't a likeable character. She's not meant to be but I found it really hard to connect with her on any level. In Asking For It, I didn't like the main character in that either but as that story progressed, I did sympathise with her. In this book however I didn't. She confused me at times, she came across as quite strong at the beginning in her first meeting with Matthew and I felt like I never really saw the point where she fell for him. There was zero charm from Matthew, he was a horrible person! I did think O'Neill did a good job in showing how Matthew felt about the relationship, that he clearly never cared for Sarah in any shape or form and was just using her for what he wanted. He also knew perfectly how to manipulate her to get what he wanted, from not replying to texts to saying they should just break it off when she says she wants more, knowing that she would settle for what they were doing as it was better than nothing (THAT'S more like the Matthew I thought this book was going to be like!) and she also portrayed Sarah's anxiety at trying to please Matthew quite well. But overall I didn't feel it, I didn't quite believe it all because of what I described above about not seeing how Sarah falls for Matthew. Sarah frustrated me on so many levels, especially when it comes to her current relationship with Oisin.

As I've pointed out in a previous review, 2 stars on Goodreads means it was ok and this book was ok. It was a quick read, it engaged me quite a lot (I read it in a few hours) but overall it disappointed me as it wasn't what I was expecting after reading the blurb. Which can be good at times, I've judged books from covers and blurbs that have turned out to be different to what I expected and I've enjoyed them. But in this case, it didn't work like that for me.

Similar review on Goodreads but with some hidden spoilers.

As ever, a brilliant yet bleak story from the wonderful Louise O’Neill. This is her first adult novel, and she has done a fantastic job of describing unhealthy, toxic relationships that many people can relate to.

You won’t like the characters, but in this type of story you aren’t supposed to. The physical and psychological abuse carried out throughout is the type that many are victim to without fully realising it is not ok and not a normal relationship.

I highly recommend this book for Louise’s brutally honest storytelling.

One of the best things aboutNetGalley is getting early access to books I definitely would have read anyway. Almost Love is one of those books. Asking For It is a book I think every teenager in Ireland should read, and most adults in Ireland as well. I never hesitate to recommend it, because it’s written so incisively. Emma is such a horrible person, but written so well.

So when Louise O’Neill announced she was writing a book about obsessive love, this time geared more towards adults, there was never a doubt that I was going to read it. Quercus, the publisher, granted a few wishes for it on NetGalley yesterday, and I was one of the lucky grantees. I sat down and read it basically immediately, such was my excitement for it.
Like both of her YA books, this isn’t exactly a warm and fuzzy read. Sarah, the main character, isn’t the most likeable person, and she clearly doesn’t make good decisions. She doesn’t listen to her friends, and she’s selfish in how she acts. She’s thoughtless and self-centred, and most of the time while I was reading this, I wanted to shake her silly and tell her to just cop herself on.

But the really great thing about Louise O’Neill is that she manages to write books which are so compelling, even with a main character who is so distinctly dislikeable. Sarah is never one-dimesional, never simple, and even if I hate her and the way she acts, I can really understand why she acts the way she does.

Her obsessive, damaging love for Matthew and their not-relationship is drawn in a way which shows exactly how she got drawn into a situation which was so clearly bad for her, and why she found it so hard to break away. I have a slightly similar experience of aspects of her non-relationship with Matthew – although not half as bad – and everything O’Neill writes is so very real, it’s hard to look away from.

This car-crash book of a naive young woman who lets herself get drawn into a situation which is so damaging to her and her self-esteem is compulsively readable, and I stayed up far too late finishing it. As ever, O’Neill has produced a work which is bold, acerbic, and very easy to recommend.

Almost Love is published on March 1st by riverrun books.

Four Stars
****