What an enjoyable novel! A very touching read, and not one I'll forget easily.

Hannah and Mona are friends and flatmates, and they both work at Stella's Cafe, opposite Liverpool Street Station, open 24 hours and refuge to all . . .

This is a slice of life in the capital; I've never been to London but would like to think this a realistic portrayal of just a small part of it. This is a lovely read, written in an easy style,  which drew me in from the beginning and kept me there until the final words. There are hidden depths in this book; it's cleverly structured and includes people from all walks of life. I feel quite privileged at being allowed to share Hannah and Mona's days and nights and love that it was all finished off so neatly. No loose ends to worry about, exactly how I like it. I'm very happy to give this four stars.

My thanks to publisher Orion for my copy via NetGalley; this is, as always, my honest, original and unbiased review.

At its heart The 24-Hour Cafe is an epic love story, but not in a romantic sense, instead this focusses on platonic love between friends. Friends who have an instant connection but don’t always treat each other right. Friends who have their ups and downs. Friends who become the family you chose for yourself.

The 24-Hour Cafe follows the story of two best friends, Hannah and Mona, who work in a cafe whilst pursuing their dreams of becoming a singer and dancer respectively. The book is set during a double shift for both ladies. The first 12 hours covers Hannah’s shift and the second 12 hours covers Mona’s. During this 24 hour period we get an insight into Hannah and Mona’s friendship and issues, as well as meeting a variety of people who find themselves in the cafe.

I really enjoyed the writing style and the format of this book. Told over a 24 hour period, in hourly intervals (think 24 with Kiefer Sutherland) the pacing was fantastic and I loved the multiple points of view we got throughout. The story is predominantly told from Hannah and Mona’s perspectives and this allowed me to truly understand their relationship and their motives. I could relate to both of them in different ways and was rooting for them from the beginning.

Alongside their friendship are the interwoven stories of the supporting characters. From customers, to co-workers, we are introduced to a plethora of people and given a glimpse into their lives. Some of these characters stole my heart completely; Dan, Joe and Haziq, Martha and Harry, Monique, John, to name just a few. I’m not going to say why as I don’t want to give away too much but I think my reasons will be obvious if you read the book.

Now I know this cast of characters and mini-stories within the story will not be to everyone’s taste but I loved it. It added so much depth and colour. It was well written and didn’t feel like random additional plots, instead it felt like a real look at someone working in the service industry and serves as a reminder that none of us truly knows what is happening in the lives of the people we come across on a daily basis. Also after reading this book I’d be quite happy to sit in a cafe and people watch the day away!

Any book that makes me feel the full range of emotions is a winner in my eyes and although I haven’t read The Lido by Libby Page, after reading this, I’ll definitely be picking it up! Fantastic!

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher (Orion) for providing a copy. All opinions are my own and provided willingly.

I loved this book so much, it covers 24 hours in a cafe as the title suggests, but it covers all kinds of people, relationships, a lovely mix of people’s stories and real life happening around us. Such a heartwarming read. Highly recommended to make you see the good in life.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Hannah and Mona work hard taking orders and delivering food to hungry punters 24 hours a day. Each of the girls works double shifts, 12-hour days, passing like ships in the night in order to earn as much money as possible while still going to auditions and working the occasional gig. They also live together, although it’s not exactly how they expected to welcome their 30’s in, sharing a one bed flat together, swapping a living room for a second bedroom.

This isn’t what they expected life to be life. Hannah moved to London from Wales to find fame as a musician while Mona who travelled across the world from Singapore expected to have a starring role as a dancer in the West End by now. Working in a 24-hour cafe was meant to be temporary; a job that paid their bills until they made it.

They have been working at Stella’s for so long now though that they have their own little rituals. Firstly they have their own dance and every time ‘Tutti Frutti’ comes on and they are working together they have to dance – it’s the rule. Secondly, they like to share their observations and thoughts on the customers that visit the cafe.

In fact, it sounds like the ideal job if you enjoy people watching and concocting stories for each of them.

Daily life in the cafe also gives them time to reflect on their own lives, and they share quite a bit with us, the reader.

For Hannah, we learn more about her personal struggles with a difficult break-up; his deception and the longing to be loved. We also learn more about her own motivation towards a career in music and her doubts about her own abilities and whether she will ever succeed.

For Mona, her split family-life has left her with a void she hopes success and friends can fill for her. She wants a home where she feels comfortable, warm and wanted but she is concerned that will never happen. She thought she had found a place she could call home, sharing with her best friend in a city she loves but is her relationship with Hannah really that strong that it can survive anything?

It is during the quiet times in the cafe that both Hannah and Mona reflect on life and how things have changed over the years for both of them. We learn about how they first met, how their friendship developed, how the lives of their onetime closest friends – Poppy the socialiser, Bemi the loved up lesbian, Sophie the double bass player and Lily the artist – have moved on while theirs appear to have stood still in time.

Alongside these two main storylines, we learn about the lives of others that come into Stella’s. There is Dan, struggling with life since his mother passed away, Monique the new mother, Harry and Martha the newlyweds, and Joe and Haziq a couple exploring the difficulties of living life together as a gay couple from two different countries.

It is a novel that reminds you that everyone you pass or interact with on a daily basis, the unknown faces, have a life, concerns, worries, and hopes, that we will never know about. WE can speculate about their lives of course, but it reminds you that you should never judge because simply do not know what others are going through.

A clever concept, with the story set over 24 hours in one location. Unfortunately I did find the book rather tedious in places, although heart warming too.

This is a heart warming, feel good book that just shows how important friendship is. I flew through it & loved every second will definitely read more by this author.

Loved this book. I loved the characters and the writing style. I loved finding out about the customers and getting snippets of information about their lives. I laughed and I nearly cried and I got caught up in the sadness and the joy and the love between customers. I would definitely recommend this book. I would also recommend The Lido.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A 24 hour cafe in London sets the scene for this story that is a safehaven for many people from different walks of life in the dead of the night and is focused around the friendship between Hannah and Mona.

I was intrigued as to how this story would unfold as it is set on the whole within 24hrs and exposes vulnerabilities and insights into what goes on behind closed doors. I found I had to really focus to ensure that I wasn't missing anything crucial from anyone who spent time in the cafe.

Throughout this book you could see the cracks that had appeared in their friendship and the impact of how events can fracture and damage a relationship if they are not nurtured. You could feel the damage left behind by poisonous relationships with boyfriends and how breaking points in friendships and relationships can come without warning.

A book that I thoroughly enjoyed, I loved its setting and the flashbacks to past memories to help see what had happened for everyone to end up at the point where we meet them.

I loved this book covering 24 hours in an "open all hours" cafe. Obviously there are back stories as well, but the main action is during a single day. Libby Page's writing is great, with really sympathetic characters and believable stories. I enjoyed this as much as "The Lido" and would highly recommend it.

After reading and enjoying The Lido, I was thrilled to be given a digital review copy of The 24-Hour Cafe by Orion and NetGalley in return for an honest review.

It did take me some time to get into the story of Hannah and Mona's friendship, however once I got going, I didn't want to stop reading - thank goodness it was the weekend.

I loved how Libby Page brought the characters to life - I felt as if I was in the cafe myself being busy people watching. The development of the story of the friendship of Hannah and Mona was the main part of the story, but with so many other stories interwoven, the depressed new mum, the homeless student, the newly weds, the other cafe staff.

This is not Lido 2 (some other reviewers seemed disappointed) but is another beautifully written book by Libby Page which explores friendships.

Recap: Mona & Hannah work at Stella's 24hr cafe, they're best friends but their lives are about to radically change.

Review: I really liked the brief glimpses into the different people who came into the cafe, I also enjoy people watching! I'm not a big fan of having the same story told twice by different POV but I did like how present-day prompted the flashbacks. I didn't feel much sympathy for Hannah which was a shame as I felt I should've. I really connected to Dan for some reason, I wish wishing for him to come back to the cafe and I really liked his follow up. A decent rainy day read in your local cafe, buy cake!

(NB the ARC version had a lot of mistakes in it and layout issues so I really hope that all gets sorted before release as it was very distracting from the story)

Absorbing, moving, and relatable on so many levels, THE 24-HOUR CAFÉ by Libby Page is a fantastic book to read this January.

The setting is a 24-hour café called Stella's in London and the characters are those that work there and those that frequent it at all hours of the day. Hannah and Mona are best friends, one a musician and the other a dancer, who works in the café to pay the bills while they reach for their big break. Only their big break doesn't seem to be happening very quickly and as the years pass and they enter their 30s they cannot help but question if they will ever make it. But they will always have each other, right?
The café isn't just a place to grab food at any time of the day or night, for some it is a refuge - like the homeless student who is grieving his mother or the new mum who is struggling to cope with how she feels about her life or even one of the cooks who struggled to get work after prison and to which Stella's was his saviour. From young love to new love, from sadness to despair, this café sees it all and as Hannah and Mona struggle with some new issues in their friendship, could it be the place to bring them back into sync?

THE 24-HOUR CAFÉ by Libby Page is a story about life - all different walks of life, all the wonderful and sad moments of life - with the beauty of friendship at its heart. Hannah and Mona are soulmates in that they truly understand and love each other for who they are but sometimes people lose sight of friendships when they need it most and moving onto different paths can be difficult, but this author has a talent for setting the tone and mood just right at every point.

I laughed, I sniffled, and I enjoyed every moment of this novel and I cannot wait to read more from Libby Page. THE 24-HOUR CAFÉ is a must-read this January and beyond, and I highly recommend it to all fiction fans.

This was a very calm, relaxed sort of a book for me. It felt like it ambled along at a relatively sedate pace, and that it was easy to put down at the end of a chapter but also pick straight up again for the next.

For each chapter focuses on one hour of the day, in Stella's Cafe, a 24 hour Cafe near Liverpool Street station. The main focus is on the two main waitresses that work there and also are best friend and live together Mona and Hannah, as they each embark on a 12 hour double shift.

We also though get glimpses of some of the customer's and their stories too, and just what the cafe means to them too. The overall writing style was quite gentle, I really liked it, and found the way everything was presented just works.

During the day we really get to know Mona and Hannah well, as they think back to key moments in their friendship, and you can see just how much their friendship deep down does mean to them. They also both are trying to make their career as performers with varying amounts of motivation and determination.

It was certainly a different way to present a story, and a rather clever one at that. I was tending to read this in 1 or 2 hour segments (hours as in how the story is split now how long I was necessarily spending at a time reading) enjoying seeing who was in the cafe, how lingered for a while, and on occasions the thoughts and more of the story of some of the customers.

I also enjoyed the small glimpses at the other members of staff that work in the cafe. and the thoughts that small acts of kindness could have life changing affects for the recipient of them.

Given I was attracted to the book because of the word cafe in the title, and having previously enjoyed The Lido, I hadn't really looked at the blurb, and as a result had no idea what to expect - other than realising within the first few pages that this wasn't your typical cafe book, and that I was intrigued to see just how the pages would unfold.

All the characters were really believable, and this was a great change of pace to my normal books. I'm really glad I had the opportunity to read this really good book.

Thank you to Orion and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

A beautiful book which provided me shelter in its pages for a few hours just like the Café allowed weary travelers of life to rest in its warm interiors.

This was about Stella's Café which was run day to day by the waitresses Hannah and Mona, who not only provided warm food but also an ear to listen to the problems of their customers.

My first book by author Libby Page, she has beautifully depicted the emotions which were true to all of us. Loneliness and past dreams, forgotten lives and second chances were weaved into the story one thread at a time. The Café felt to be a beautiful oasis in life's problems.

I wished I had one such place where I could perhaps rewrite a new life for myself. The waitresses, Hannah and Mona, had their own ambitions; I loved how they anchored the book. The story was a day in the life of this Café, a snapshot of weary customers and their lives.

Libby's writing made these characters and their interactions relatable, especially Dan whom I had a soft touch for. A book of kindness where everyone was welcome. Indeed.

Overall, a quirky concept and a refreshing storyline with varied characters made this a fun weekend read.

Although the story line is a bit slow I found the friendship of Mona and Hannah, housemates and work colleagues, interesting and soothing. The story focuses on the customers they meet over a 24 hour period in the cafe that never closes.An easy going read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was beautifully written and whilst I loved reading about the two main characters, Mona and Hannah who both work at the 24 hour cafe I also enjoyed the snippets from other customers like the crossword man. It certainly made for a heartwarming read. It was a very good and easy read.

Enjoyed the novel and story! Was lovely to read about friendship and loyal friends! Never read a book by this author but will look out for more

I was invited to read an ARC from the Publishers of this book and Netgalley. Although I heard great reviews about the Author's previous book, I had not read it, so I was excited to read this new book.
The synopsis of this book sounded interesting, and I was intrigued to see how a book set in a 24 hour period would work. After reading this book, I can say that it works very well.
The plot evolves around Hannah and her friend Mona, as they work alternate 12 hour shifts in Stella's Cafe which is open 24 hours. It focuses on the different types of customers who visit the cafe within that 24 hour period, as Hannah and Mona 'people watch'.
It gives a fascinating insight into society, and also shows how sometimes a day can make a huge difference in someone's life.
The narrative features the backstory of Hannah and Mona, and how they met. It also tells the background of the customers, and how they came to visit the cafe on that day.
The book is cleverly written, and combines the different narratives in a way that is easy to understand and follow. It is a very interesting and compelling read, and I highly recommend reading it.

I haven't thought before about a 24-Hour café, I'm not a Londoner or even a city girl really so their existence is a bit of a mystery to me, other than the late- night kebab shops I recall from my youth. Yet Stella's café sounded like the perfect place for so many people in so many ways: a meeting place, a memory, a safe quiet place, an escape, a shelter, a job, a family.

Recurring themes of longing, loneliness, forgotten dreams, acts of kindness and second chances are written in to these pages; ultimately this book explores so many facets of humanity within such a small space on a London street. It captures the spirit of the city, and the man travellers and regulars that walk its streets.

Stella makes surprisingly very few appearances, this book is more about her staff and her customers, but you get the impression from what is written that she is a kind and generous person with a quirky sense of style and personality that is all reflected in the cafes décor and ethos.

My absolute favourite character was Dan, his story was so pure. I felt a deep connection to his journey and what struggles he was experiencing, it was truly gratifying to follow his appearances at the café and see his story conclude.

I was thoroughly charmed by this book and engrossed in the stories it holds, captivating!

I loved this book! It is better than the blurb makes out. It seems a very simple premise but the way it is written draws you in. I felt that I really got to know the girls who were depicted so realistically. You end up feeling that if you could find the 24-hour cafe and would know the girls instantly! I also so enjoyed the mini story lines about the customers, especially the way that within 24 hours you meet some of them again (not wanting to give anything away). Great women's fiction choice especially.