I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked this one up but it was a warming read about two flatmates who have a complicated relationship. I liked that it was character driven and centred around how Hazel and Alfie’s relationship altered and changed

Hazel and Alfie are roommates and have ended up sleeping together. But when Hazels sister Emily and her partner Daria arrive a new chain of events is put into play.

I did enjoy this read - it had very modern themes and I would describe it as very millennial . It had some quite adult themes and could be triggering to some in this book and it would be very relevant to someone probably in their mid twenties. I did enjoy the whole having a baby side of the story and how it’s not always as easy as you think. I did struggle a bit with who the characters were at the start and this was a bit confusing for me but overall it was ok. It also references the pandemic and how that affected peoples lives which I’m reading more and more in fiction now.

Such a beautiful tale !

I couldn’t put it down and was completely captivating from the first page to the last !!

Thank you netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read this

I absolutely LOVED this novel. Funny, full of twists and turns, and it was impossible not to root for the main characters, willing them to communicate properly and give the readers what they want by getting together. Would recommend. V enjoyable.

well the title of the book is exactly how i feel.
At first i thought i knew where this was going. Typical contemprary ( not that i mind those) and it was feeling very 3 star . Okay . but nothing was really standing out. I liked the characters and i really was rooting for Alfie.

Then Things started to change .. and although there were some difficult topics discussed it was refreshing to see an author take a different route!

I will be checking out more of kates work

I could not put this book down, from start to finish I was completely captivated.

This book brings joy and heartache, hope and anxiety, and reshaping and challenging the relationships of Hazel and Alfie, and Emily and Daria.

Definitely lookign forward to reading more from this author in the future!

This book didn’t really turn out to be what i thought it would be. I enjoyed the book and really liked the characters but was expecting more of a romantic comedy so it fell a bit flat for me. I feel like the author tried to include too many important topics that it all become a bit much and it didn’t give them the chance to be taken in and digested before throwing another one at us. I’d say it was just an okay book.

Ironically, I had quite a different conception of this book to what it ended up being. Hazel and Alfie are flatmates who fancy each other; Hazel's sister Emily and her wife Daria are trying to get pregnant. I enjoyed this book on the whole, because I do generally enjoy books about women in their 20s finding themselves, especially when they're set in London, but this was trying to pack in so many issues and storylines and I don't quite think it succeeded at all of them. It was a kind of rom-com (with the most aggravating lack of communication you've ever seen) but it was also contemporary fiction exploring fertility and revenge porn and climate change and family issues and sometimes I felt like the novel just needed a little more space to breathe. It also did that thing where a woman ends up with an absolutely awful man for no real reason except to facilitate the plot, which always annoys me because it never quite feels real. But enough with the criticism: Not Exactly What I Had in Mind was super readable and had the most intriguing first chapter I've read in ages. I really liked Hazel as a character, loved Hazel and Alfie together when they weren't being ridiculous and empathised totally with Alfie's hypochondria (I'm not anywhere as extreme as him but omg I felt seen). I love books where the characters are refracted through other characters' perspectives as well as their own, and I thought Kate Brook did this particularly well. To sum up: it's not my favourite but I will definitely keep reading Kate Brook's novels.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book as I had heard nothing about it, but I actually really enjoyed it! Was pleasantly surprised by the plot and the characters, and really warmed to the book as a whole. I loved the writing too!

I think the premise of this book was great and I enjoyed reading it but I was expecting more of a romantic comedy. Brook tries to speak about many important issues but there are so many that it becomes exhausting.

Unfortunately I really struggled with this book. I found all the characters boring and the storyline equally as dull. It took me a really long time to get through because I just had no interest in the story at all

I really enjoyed almost everything about this book. Great characters, interesting story and was written very well. But the epilogue? It almost felt like someone else had written it. Very disjointed, I didn't like that covid was referenced as much as it was either. And everything felt very unresolved. Now, if there is going to be a sequel I could understand leaving it the way it was. I do hope there is another, as I'd love to read more about Hazel and Alfie, as well as Emily and Daria.

Very current, very sensitive to difficult subjects and there were plenty of moments that made me cackle. Overall a really enjoyable read.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Possibly for those who like hapless romance with a bit of nastiness thrown in - I found this book hugely frustrating and annoying. Two people who can't share a flat without having sex and then it all gets very messy due to a simple lack of communication and common sense. Pretty stupid characters who do horrible things. Serious subjects get brought in but for me, this does not work.
Sorry, not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley

I did enjoy this book but really struggled to get stuck in. It felt slow moving and whilst the characters were likeable it just didn’t grab me. It was well written but needed a bit more to keep my attention.

A heartwarming and thought provoking read. I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to reading more of this author's books.

Although I liked some of the characters, I found this read average. It lacked excitement and direction. Lots of pointless happenings with a very strange dialogue.

Hazel and Alfie are great flatmates - life is uncomplicated and easy. Until they sleep together. But they barely get any time to figure out what it means when Hazels sister and her wife turn up for a surprise visit and can see instantly that something is growing between the two flatmates - and it's just the beginning of the life-changing turns they're about to embark on.

This book really was not exactly what I had in mind - yes, it's got romance and it's definitely sweet in ways, but it's a story about heartache, about family and friends, about growing old and growing up and everything in between. Our characters experience a true emotional rollercoaster and take us along for the ride with them.

A story about the beautiful connections we have with each other and the important of the people in our lives.

Not Exactly What I Had In Mind was exactly what the title suggests. You assume it’s going to be a romance, albeit one that springs from the (I would imagine) rather complicated situation of sleeping with your flat mate, but it proves to be much more than that. It weaves together the stories of four people and how they connect, as well as how they are impacted by the world around them.

I enjoyed the writing style of this one, though I’ll admit my attention did flutter away from time to time. The characters were interesting and you couldn’t help but read on but I feel like it packed too many issues, too many opinions etc in that didn’t get the chance to be discussed in as much depth as they possibly needed.

It was exactly what I had in mind, I really enjoyed this read and felt connected to it. Thank you so much