Overspill is a stunning and emotionally charged read that’s equal parts heartbreaking and beautiful. Charlotte Paradise crafts a world that feels vivid and raw, capturing the feeling of being overwhelmed—by emotions, relationships, and the weight of everything that’s outside our control.

The story follows [insert protagonist’s name if you'd like], who is dealing with the fallout of an emotionally charged situation, and Paradise’s writing makes you feel every ounce of that tension. The characters are so real and messy, which is exactly what makes them so compelling. I found myself really connecting with them, even in their worst moments. The complexity of their emotions—anger, fear, guilt, and hope—are portrayed in such a relatable and raw way.

What really stood out to me was the pacing. It's slow, but in the best way. Paradise takes her time in unfolding the story, allowing the characters' journeys to feel earned and their emotional growth to land with impact. The themes of isolation, self-discovery, and the way our lives spill into each other are explored in such an insightful, almost poetic way.

This book is a quiet, thoughtful kind of drama. It doesn’t hit you with big twists or constant action, but the emotional payoff is huge. If you like character-driven stories that explore deep personal growth and the messiness of human connection, Overspill is absolutely worth checking out.

The premise of this really appealed to me but the execution of it fell slightly short for me, which was a shame.

The novel follows Sara, who is 25 and struggling with vaginismus and sexual trauma. We start the novel with Sara struggling to put a tampon in, which sets the tone for the rest of the novel although only scratches the surface for what comes later. She hasn't dated anyone for a long time and is embarking on a date/relationship with Miles. Miles is empathetic and eager to respect Sara's boundaries and Sara struggles with the tension between desiring Miles physically yet needing to assert and protect her boundaries.

I found parts of this hard to connect to and the characters a little hard to connect to at times. Whilst I felt for Sara, I didn't really feel emotionally connected to her story until the final third of the novel and as the novel is such an intense read, I really missed feeling that connection to her. I didn't ever warm to Miles as a character. He was set up as this really great, amazing guy who was going above and beyond for her when in reality his only achievement was not forcing or pressuring her to do anything she didn't want to do. I found the scenes with him in quite irritating and I think that definitely impacted my overall enjoyment. I really enjoyed the scenes between Sara and her therapist and would have loved more of them. The other characters didn't stay with me in all honesty. It didn't feel like they were particularly well-developed, but perhaps that's because the novel needed to stay very close to Sara. But I would have liked to have seen more interactions with her close female friends and her mother and more development of those characters in general.

Pace wise, I found this a bit of a slog, especially because of the subject matter. It just never really let up and I understand that is a realistic reflection of trauma but it was a tiring read for me personally.

Overall, I would recommend this. I'm not sure exactly why I didn't connect it with it as much as I was hoping. This is a very underrepresented and very particular type of pain and trauma - it's not something we read about often and for that reason, I do think this is an important read. I thought that the author handled the discussions around this with a lot of knowledge and sensitivity. It was clearly so thoughtfully written. The final sections of the novel in particular were written so well.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins/Akan Books for the advanced copy of this novel.

I found Overspill an upsetting and traumatic read, which I think was the point. Sara has a form of complex PTSD around intimacy, and gets into a serious relationship with Miles who has his own issues. It's well-written rather than enjoyable. Sara is constantly being retraumatised in the book in a series of shocks to her system, and it's almost too hard to watch, but stay with her we must.
It's important to say there is hope at the end of this harrowing story.

I read Overspill by Charlotte Paradise over a few days and was gripped from the first pages. It is a totally unique novel and I don’t think I’ve read anything like it before. The story is about Sara and her relationships, mainly her second serious boyfriend, Miles. Some chapters are seen through his eyes and some are the discussions between Sara and her therapist. The book deals with abuse in a really powerful and unexpected way. I think most women will find something they relate to in the character of Sara and her friends. Highly recommended reading.

Also thank you to the publishers for making the best formatted book I’ve ever downloaded from Netgalley. I’ve probably read close to 100 books that I’ve downloaded to kindle and this is the only one that reads like a proper e-book with chapter timings and well formatted chapters. Thank you!

3.5/5 Stars

The other day when I started this book I messaged my friend and told her "this is gonna break me" and I was right, this story really did. I don't want to give much away, however I want you to know that this narrative has many layers and that we follow Sara's journey as she slowly uncovers them and learns truths about herself and what happened in her past. It's a raw and traumatic story for sure, but it's also a story about hope and how it is possible to recover and get better at your own pace and with the help and support one might need.
Since this is Paradise's first novel I definitely want to praise her for writing such a powerful book. In terms of writing I wasn't the biggest fan honestly, some times the narrative felt a bit fragmented for my taste.

Overall it's a strong debut novel which I recommend, however I also suggest to check out the trigger warnings before going into it.

Overspill is the intricate and delicate story of Sara. When she meets Miles, she believes he might be the one to break the curse of her issues with intimacy and finally make her feel normal. It is at times, uncomfortable asking the reader to imagine interactions through Sara's eyes. Slowly, the reader is given insight into what has happened to Sara to stop her from being able to experience intimacy in her relationships. She self-deprecates and fills herself with shame around not being able to give Miles what she knows he needs. Yet, Miles is just as complex as Sara with his own issues from his past which weigh on his mind and influences his behaviour in the relationship. The plot will make you miss your stop on the tube.

For as much as you are rooting for Miles and Sara to find their way through both their pasts, you are hoping Sara is able to find her own voice and understand herself better. At times, you will sway between her staying and leaving and in the end the reader is rewarded with an ending that feels authentic to Sara. After all, perhaps the best ending is not the one you expected but the ending you deserve. Beautiful book and such an important issue covered with thoughtfulness and care. Read it.

A powerful debut about trauma, healing, and intimacy. It follows Sara, struggling with complex post-traumatic stress disorder, as she tries to build a relationship with Miles. This isn’t a light read, but it’s an important one — thoughtful, emotional, and impactful.

4.5 stars
Overspill is a hauntingly beautiful debut that dives deep into trauma, intimacy, and self-acceptance.
The novel follows Sara, a 25-year-old woman grappling with the aftermath of past experiences that have left her disconnected from her own body. Her growing relationship with Miles is tenderly portrayed, highlighting the complexities of intimacy when your sense of self has been broken.
Sara and Miles’s interactions are portrayed with great care, avoiding romanticised clichés. Instead, we witness an honest, sometimes challenging, path towards trust and connection.
Charlotte’s writing is remarkably authentic and evocative. It’s so raw and evocative that it really gets under your skin.
I particularly appreciated the broken-up and non-linear storytelling, which perfectly captured the FMC’s pain and emotional struggles. This technique really pulled me into her journey to healing and self-empowerment.
Overspill is an absolute must-read. It’s a raw and honest exploration of CPTSD, sexual abuse, and trauma, and I found it incredibly moving. The book’s themes are intense, so please pay attention to the content warnings. It broke my heart a few times, but it also left me with a glimmer of hope.

This book is so special. A raw, suffocating, spectacular debut dissecting the relationship between love, trauma, shame and the complexities of living with C-PTSD.

What an incredible thing it is to read about characters who are so raw and real and complex that you can’t help but root for them despite their flaws. Sara and Miles are so special and so deeply flawed both individually and together. Their relationship is so real and heartbreaking.

The ways in which Charlotte wrote about mental health and desire and wanting and one’s relationship with their own body - when it feels foreign and not like your own - was so insightful, tender, intimate and deeply upsetting that it felt so suffocatingly real.

What a spectacular debut - a must read for anyone and everyone but please check your triggers.

Thank you so much to Rachel Quin for reaching out and introducing me to Overspill and to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC and chance to review ✨

Overspill is an exceptional debut from Charlotte Paradise. Sometimes when I find out a book is a debut, I feel a little pang of disappointment that I can't go and read everything else that the author has written. I felt that with Overspill. I cannot explain to you just how fast I sped through this book. The rawness and depth of emotion felt on every page is something that is hard to find, something that Paradise has written exceptionally well.

Overspill navigates love and life amidst the glaring background of trauma, the reclamation of your body, and female desire. Sara, who is 25, cannot use a tampon without having a panic attack. Except it's not quite what you're thinking, this actually has nothing to do with the tampon. When Sara when she goes out to meet Miles for a first date, she doesn't expect much. Actually she expects it to go exactly how they've all gone as of recently. Except, little does she know that this date is the start of many. Her preconceptions were totally wrong. For three months, Miles respects her boundaries and they don't so much as touch. Ultimately what both of these individuals are searching for is love. Someone to love and who will truly love them in return.

How does one navigate this relationship without a compass and any sense of direction? How is it possible to connect with someone else, when you don't feel connected to yourself?

After fighting against your body for so long, , is it possible to feel comfortable in your own skin once more?

In this sparkling debut, Paradise redefines intimacy. Intimacy is the act of truly knowing the other, found within the folds of trust and honesty, it is not solely found within the physicality of a relationship.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Akan Books for sending me this e-ARC! I have a feeling that Overspill will be playing on my mind for the foreseeable future.

This book is beautiful and I absolutely devoured it, but the central relationship hit really close to home for me. I think I’ll have to curl up in a corner after this. Such amazing characterisation and so moving, I really loved it. An excellent read.

I must admit I only read around half of this book. As o found the subject quite unsettling.

I do appreciate the raw honest storyline and other readers no doubt will enjoy reading it .

Thank you so much to Akan Books for the ARC!

4.5 stars rounded up!

I needed a moment to gather my thoughts and feelings of this when I finished. I got the ARC and began to read & annotate and only stopped when I needed to sleep.

The writing within this is something that is so raw and familiar. Brutally honest and relatable that you get dragged into it relating to maybe everything that Sarah herself mentions, has experienced, or even just little parts.

The subject matter within the story is deep and crushing. Extremely crushing. Especially to witness a character we have been on a journey with try to gain some control on things, understandings of herself and her new relationship with Miles, we see the changes she tries to make, the things she does, the way she thinks, etc. and yet it just seemed to be piling up and up until it would actually overspill into a different yet related level that Sarah herself and the reader is now confronted with.

The writing is stunning and looking back on things that are scattered here and there and how they were within the story to where it leads to and ends just makes everything hit you with force even more. I loved how talking about bodies was so natural as well and the love/hate with bodies within it. You can't help but find at least something you have thought about. I found several LOOOOOL

I will say this, the way I was absolutely taken by Miles. Wow. He has his flaws don't get me wrong lol
What a debut!

This book is not an easy read but it is very well written. Basically it deals with CPTSD. The trauma is revealed slowly through the book but it is nevertheless a page turner. The book is very sad but there is hope. I was glad to be offered the book in advance of publication in exchange for an honest review. It is not a book I would normally have picked up but I learnt a lot from it. The characters are well depicted and relatable.

This is a really hard book to review. It’s certainly not a book I can say that I enjoyed- Sara’s trauma and distress is evident at every point and there is very little levity to be found. It feels like a story that needs to be read, but it is very heavy going.
From a more technical point of view I wasn’t a massive fan of the author’s style of writing. There are some beautiful parts, but generally I found the writing a little too dense- maybe I just prefer a more sparse prose im not sure

Let me first preface by saying that I think this book is well written and should be read by most people. It has insights into important topics that are shaping the reality of 20 year-olds these days, and it is likely beneficial to all to learn more about these.

The book is the story of a young woman in her 20s, trying to understand the physical and emotional barriers that make it hard for her to be intimate with men, despite having the usual desires and passions of any woman her age. At the beginning of the book our protagonist meets a young man roughly her age, and the story follows their relationship growing and struggling. These struggles, in their own right, help our protagonist learn more about herself and discover more about traumatic events that plague her on a daily basis.

For me the story and the writing were illuminating. I learned a lot about what dating these days looks like for young people, how they deal with trauma and stress, and what shape honestly and clear communication take in this day and age.

I did find myself struggling with the book and myself as the story progressed. This struggle, on a meta level, is the reason I would recommend reading this book, actually. On the one hand, I found myself annoyed with the apparent self indulgence of the protagonist, and her need to have everyone around her understand her, accept her, and adjust to her. This was equally applicable to the larger things, as well as to the smaller ones (like veganism). The book was full of hyper sensitivity, hyper awareness of self, and an overwhelming amount of psychological self diagnosis. On the other hand, I had to face the reality of the trauma afflicting the protagonist, and the fundamental inseparable truth of the need to heal it. On balance, it was an educational experience for me, even though I finished the book feeling that, while the trauma is ubdeniable, it doesn't mean the the person suffering from it is expemt from the need to be empathetic to others.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an opportunity to read the book ahead of its release in return for an honest review.

Overspill is an incredibly powerful and well-written debut novel that explores C-PTSD, navigating love alongside trauma, female desire and self-reclamation. Another element I found really interesting involved the reflections on Miles’ religious upbringing and the impact it had on him around desire and the shame that follows. I really do recommend Overspill; as you can imagine it can feel suffocating at times due to the subject matter but at the same time it’s an overwhelmingly raw, honest and brave book that reminded me of Jaded by Ela Lee (one of my favourite books from last year.) It’s being published just under a month today in the UK on the 24th April 2025 so one to add to your radar. A big thank you to Akan Books/Harper Collins - via Rachel Quin Marketing - as well as Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this one.

I inhaled this book in one devastating sitting. Unflinching and wholly empathetic, it was hard to read at times (in terms of the trauma discussed), and it did take a different turn to what I was expecting - but completely worth it. I can’t decide if I liked having the occasional pov of Miles (the protagonist’s love interest) or not. But, irrespective, an enormous achievement. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the privilege of this ARC.

Even though I find this topic of the book quite reletable, especially in my teens, I could not really get into it.
The first chapter was not good. Really. Maybe if she put it in a different chapter whole vibe of the book would change for me. Pacing was off a bit, too. It got better, though.
I really enjoyed the story and main characters. They were annoying at times, but overall very nice.
Topics discussed and writing of this book are the reasons I reccomend it. Maybe not for me, but it's definitelly worth to give it a try.
I am sorry that this review is kind of all over the place, but so are my feelings.
Can't wait to see the authors beautiful language in some other book. I will definitelly read it.

Thank you to net gallery shelf and marketer for earc of the book.

I feel very grateful that I could not relate to this book. But I did find it a struggle.

Sara has sexual trauma. It means she doesn’t want to be touched, can’t be touched and has a panic attack trying to use a tampon.

She meets Miles and she wants to be able to be intimate with him but she is unable too.

As I said I am very grateful to not relate to Sara but it meant I struggled with her and a lot of her relationship with Miles. I’m glad it was interspersed with his perspective.

The realisation at the end gave a lot of context and I like how everything wasn’t tied up neatly at the end but I don’t think this one was for me. However I can see this being incredible helpful and healing for some people so I’m grateful it exists for them.