DNF

It has been a while since I got this book and unfortunately I don’t really have any interest in reading the book anymore. I am also now a lot more picky with the books I request and choose to read.

I really wanted this book to work for me but for some reason I just could not get into it. Once I finished it I did enjoy what I read but the story just didn't click for me. Perhaps this would be better for other readers. However, I am glad to have read this book.

I really enjoyed this book. I found that I just wanted to give the main character Emily a little annoying at times, but I was won around by the end. The content could be a bit upsetting to those less used to reading crime or thrillers, but it was very well written, and never without empathy or consideration. I would read other books by Seb Earl and would recommend this book to others. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

This book was not what I thought it was. It's mostly a novel about overcoming trauma and resilience.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Going into this book I prepped myself for a really hard hitting emotional read, as Emily faces her past and tries to move on with her life. Unfortunately, I felt that it just missed the mark. Now don’t get me wrong I did enjoy the story, while it was a bit choppy at times, I could see where the story was going, most of the reasons behind the decisions and emotions and I really liked the character of Sarah who just wants the best for Emily. Emily, on the other hand, I just struggled to like. I really couldn’t find the connection I wanted to really understand her as a character and she just kind of annoyed me at points.

The book itself was a slow start for me as I struggled through the first few chapters and while it did pick up I still never really found myself ‘lost’ in the story, there was definitely enough to keep me interested, just not enough to quite drag me in.

What I did like about the book was that it was able to show different aspects/personalities of secondary characters and I really liked how the author was able to add the next door neighbors as just that little bit extra to keep the story going. Also as everything ties up in the end and it just being a really satisfying ending I did feel it redeemed itself quite a few points. It just took a little bit to get there. While this is not a book I would read again, I would still be interested in reading any of the author’s other novels.

Rating: 3/5

Would I read again: No

Would I Recommend: Maybe

Would I read another book from this author: Yes

Ok. 2 stars.
I picked up this book because the premise seemed promising and i had so much expectations from this. But sadly it's just disappointing.

So i don't really know how to explain this but it's just didn't seem convincing to me. It's just felt all made out ( which it is. It's fiction ,but still.) The writing is in third person which shouldn't be a problem. But in this case it didn't work out. It should feel like we are witnessing a situation and this book didn't made me feel that even once.

The emotions felt forced to me. I didn't like Emily. Her opinions were always diverting. I just finished the book for the sake of reviewing it honestly.
(Thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing me an Arc in exchange of an honest review)

Happy Ever ?..After
By Seb Earl
Cameron Publicity & Marketing LTD

Emily went out to a bar with her best friends, and after having a little to much to drink, her best friend pours her into a cab, and what happens in that cab changes Emily's life forever. This book is about the hard subject of what happens to a woman after a sexual assault. It's a wonderfully written book, with the writer taking you inside her mind and the healing process that ensues. It's well worth taking the journey with Emily from pain to PTSD, to healing and moving forward with her life. You will open your heart and cheer Emily on towards the path of becoming a survivor, not a victim. I would recommend this book to every woman. The writer did a wonderful job and I think this should be on the top of the must read list.

Thank you to Netgalley for a ARC of this book.
Amazon, BookBub,Goodreads
BE, ladyedan, ladyedan62

This is a journey of an angry woman who was raped 8 years ago whose life is spiraling out of control. Taking her best friend's advice, she reluctantly looks for a flat so she can move out of her parents' house after living there for 8 years. She finds one and she can finally begin her healing journey on her own. There's ups and downs as she navigates through her everyday life's priblem, including dating. She realizes that she's going to be okay throughout the whole process.

Enjoyed this book. Emotional of ups and down. Was entertained through out the book.

High 3 stars from me.



Received this ARC from Cameron Publicity and Marketing Ltd through Net Galley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. Thank you!

So this book was written very well but I hated the fact she just basically quit life! I was not impressed at all with it! Self misery wasn’t the way to go with it! I know most victims go through it (I was one) but for 5 years is strange

Emily went out with her friends and was too drunk to get home so her best friend put her in a cab and sent her home. Emily didn't make it home before the cab driver took advantage and did the unthinkable which changed Emily's entire life.
After the assault Emily moved back in with her parents. After 8 years her best friends talks her into moving out into her own place.
Happily Ever.....After is a story about what women go through after a sexual assault. How it affects us and how we cope. This story may be one that is to the extreme but none the less it shows the struggles and how debilitating it can be for the victim.

The main character is assaulted in a taXi after lots of tequila celebrating college graduation with her friends .they are all embarking on a new trip of independence and starting to get jobs based on what they went to school for.She has a flashback on being assaulted in the back of a cab. She is now staying with her parents and trying to adjust.her mom is anxious that she's 30 years old and not getting married or having kids. Her 24 year old cousin is getting married which adds to the pressure

This book is written beautifully despite the hard subject matter.
I loved the lead character and also the dynamics between her and other characters.
I found the storyline interesting and the characters were very well thought out. A good read

#HappyEverAfter is a book I really looked forward to reading, to see some insight into how people, even fictional ones, deal with rape.

Emily was raped 8 years before the beginning of this book, she moved back in with her parents when it happened, and they have been looking after her since. Unfortunately living with her parents is increasingly hard, especially as Emily can’t control her temper since the incident.

I was so looking forward to reading how Emily reclaimed her life, and this is exactly what I got. However, I didn’t really understand Emily. She was completely against having a relationship, yet she entered into one feet first, with behaviour that didn’t match up to her character. The relationship is also extremely problematic- apparently her boyfriend had trouble performing sexually, but they are constantly having sex. Also, there were no issues from Emily about launching herself into a sexual relationship after being celibate for 8 years after rape, it seems to me that was a huge missed opportunity for the author to explore the effects of being assaulted. Also, her views seem to be a poor attempt at the author trying to understand feminism, but instead Emily is a vitriolic man hater- that isn’t feminism in my opinion. Her rage, was never conquered or even slightly improved upon, instead it was given the credit of being a barometer for when she wasn’t happy in a situation, she didn’t attempt to change.

I didn’t hate this book, but I found it so hard to connect with any of the characters and to feel any sense of realism. Maybe something was lost in translation for me. I am glad that the author is attempting to explore the effects of rape, fiction can be so healing, however this book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for my free advance copy in return for an unbiased review.

"Saying thank you was easy; it was feeling thankful that challenged her."

Emily was raped eight years ago. And after another night spent with a sleep filled with nightmares, flashbacks and trauma of that fateful night, Emily wakes up irritable, resentful, and above all, angry. She decides it's time to move back out of her parents' house and attempt a life of own her again; a life of independence and peace.

I picked up this novel because the plot really intrigued me. Sexual assault awareness is a matter that really needs a bigger platform right now (especially after this court case came to light in November) and I think it's important that everybody should be aware of not only the physical damage but the emotional and psychological damage that is wrought upon a victim. This is what Happy Ever... After promises.

Regardless of Emily's initial aversion to relationships, I soon found myself in the middle of a quickly blossoming, slightly baffling romance. Emily meets Olivier online thanks to her best friend, Sarah's, urging - even though the epitome of Emily's moving out was for her independence - and he is the perfect man; caring, attentive, romantic, and besotted with Emily.
"She found it increasingly difficult to cope in a world that labelled her as incomplete just for being single."

Now, the romance was baffling for so many reasons. In fact, so many reasons that I've written a list:
1. Olivier had trouble performing in the bedroom, yet they always seem to be having sex where Emily is feeling 'detached' and doesn't want to 'actively participate', if someone were to have trouble getting it up, then surely their partner's lack of interest would deter them even further?
2. Emily's views on men, relationships and marriage are twisted in general so for her to meet a guy over the internet, sleep with him on the first night, and practically move in with him months later, seems wildly inappropriate for a character with her outlook.
3. Emily sees constant symbols of her subconscious which feels suffocated by Olivier's attention. She sees a drowning fly that has her face on it. She throws up at the thought of his eagerness. She wants to slap him when he sends her a lot of texts. It is a misplaced romance, to say the least.

Emily's general stance on relationships is so negative that Emily point blank refuses to go to her cousin's wedding because she thinks marriage is a cage that men put women in. Personally, I think she should give women more credit. Her entire thought process is so draining. Her negativity is like an airborne virus, and it's catching.

Each of the character's are very under-developed. Mark's role in the book is literally looking out for Emily on her first date, and telling her that the department they work in is up for reconstruction and they could be out of a job. (Not that this side story comes to any fruition) But even the main character didn't feel quite fully formed. There was a lot of introspection, but no actions to back up the kind of character that Emily was. I really wish that the entire theme of the novel had just been Emily trying to move on from her sexual assault and that there was no romance to speak of.

The tone of the novel is kept quite light and fluffy, but the undertone implies an extreme resentment of the male gender in general. I won't say feminism, because feminism is about equality for all, and I don't entirely agree with the portrayal of men in this book. The author connects the ability to perform the physical act of sex to being a 'real man', which is plain crude and inauthentic. The main character thinks that 'boys will be boys, but not derogatorily', I hate to say it but I don't think there is an un-derogative way to think that. Excusing societal mannerisms as the genetic make-up of being male is dismissive and patronising - to all genders.

So although the theme of moving on from being a rape victim is explored, I wish that it was a forerunner and didn't immediately fade to the back as soon as potential relationships were on the scene. First there was Olivier, then there was a strange 'hate to love' trope between Emily and her neighbour Matt which seemed implausible because Emily was apparently never home. Not only that, but their mutual "hate" isn't really based on anything that is substantial. It's based on Emily's fear of men, and Matthew's dislike for the previous tenant. I kind of understand Emily's point of view, but Matt's reasoning didn't make a lot of sense, Emily tars men with the same brush, yet when she is also generalised as being a generic party girl (even though she hadn't even spent one night in her apartment) she hates Matt for it. Her compound of characteristics are bewildering and unfortunately, I couldn't connect to her or any of the other characters.
"Paper heroes were often easier to deal with than real people."

I agree wholeheartedly with this insight. However; Emily isn't the heroine for me.

Thank you to Net Galley and Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this because it tells such an important kind of story, but the execution was lacking. For how many times Emily claims her endgoal is to be independent, don't need no man, etc., her recovery path sure revolves around her romantic relationships - she even says that she couldn't have reached the point of recovery that she did without Olivier. There's an attempt at a strong female friendship with Sarah, but a lot of the offhand comments and well-meaning actions she takes are actually red flags even though they're childhood best friends because they're polar opposites - this was mentioned so many times, seriously.

You can smell the love triangle from a mile off, and there's no will they/won't they - it's obvious from the beginning who she'll end up with. Plus, there were a lot of mixed messages about feminism (though the f-word is never actually used, just implied alongside the matter-of-fact observations and attitudes); Emily is quite holier-than-thou sometimes, even when she's "agreeing" with her best friend that historically speaking it's only fair for women to play with men's feelings, or when "she thinks boys will be boys, but not derogatorily," or bemoans society's fixation on partnership and marriage. She's also quite hypocritical, getting jealous when her new boyfriend "can't help" looking at her blonde-bombshell-best-girlfriend in her provocative outfit but immediately resenting him for being a little jealous of her laughing with a male coworker; I also felt like she overreacted to what was honestly mostly normal behavior, if a little dubious. (Related: it would be nice to acknowledge that guys and girls can be friends even if they're both straight.)

Emily does eventually take actions to change her own life, but everything was wrapped up too neatly and I had several issues with the narrative that were never resolved. Just because her trauma left her unable to control her angry outbursts doesn't excuse them, and she never seems to feel real remorse (just frustration that her life is being ruined by her "monster") or apologize genuinely. And the actual definition of rape gets glossed over in the "am I a bad person for having doubts about my relationship?" No, you're not a bad person for putting your happiness and mental health first, though it may feel that way when you're recovering, and I'm glad she does eventually internalize that message.

Happy Ever... After is a book about moving on, about learning to let go of the past, and finding the strength to come out of your own shell. The main character, Emily, is a sexual assault survivor, and the focus of the events of the book is the changes she decides to make when it comes to her battle with the PTSD that followed the assault.
The book is written beautifully, despite the heavy nature of the topics at hand, the writing maintains a fairly light atmosphere and an easy to consume tone which captivates the attention. I loved Emily as a lead, watching her development throughout the book was one of the best parts, as well as the dynamics that were written between her and the other characters, they were another high point.
I found the storyline interesting, the characters well developed, and the writing easy to read. This is a great book, that fans of the romance genre are sure to enjoy.