This Could be Everything

This Could be Everything by Eva Rice

February Kingdom is nineteen years old and mourning the loss of her twin sister Diana. She lives with her aunt and uncle following the death of her parents years earlier, but hasn't left the house for six months. February finds a canary in the kitchen and this triggers a whole series of events.

Oh wow, what a fantastic book - it has everything! Nostalgia, fantastic characters, humour, emotion, a lovely story... everything. A fabulous five stars from me, I absolutely loved it. Very, VERY highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I am a huge Eva Rice fan and The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets and Tara Jupp are two of my all time favourite books. This Could be Everything is very different, but it still contains the captivating characters, the fine eye for detail that make her earlier books so compelling.

The writing is fiercely clever - breathless and slightly off-balance, drawing you in absolutely to February’s fractured and turbulent mental state. The whole book reminded me of a less spiky version of Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason - an immersive, sensitive and considered examination of mental health. At times I was overwhelmed by the frenetic energy of the writing, but the result of that was that I felt so close to Feb, she was a fully alive person to me. A beautiful, sensitive novel about loss and hope and all the different ways love can shatter and sustain us.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets is one of my very favourite books, owned, given away, rebought on kindle and in paperback so a new book by Eva Rice is always greeted with joy and trepidation. Joy for obvious reasons, trepidation in case it doesn't live up to my ludicrously high hopes. I was even more excited about This Could be Everything because it's set in 1990, my very own coming of age era (in a boring provincial way that would not make a good book unless you think driving a clapped out mini to Dungeoness to write terrible poetry about how meaningless life is interesting).

Febuary Kingdom is also leading a very dull life and that's how it needs to be. Trauma and loss has left her with severe agoraphobia and so she stays in her bedroom in her aunt and uncle's Notting Hill house, listening to the Top Forty countdown on repeat until one evening, venturing down to the kitchen, she finds a yellow canary. When they find a missing poster, her aunt seizes on the canary's arrival as a way to coax Feb out of the house to let the owner know the bird is safe which is how February meets Theo, pet shop worker and aspiring pop manager with whom she takes her first, tentative steps into the outside world.

Steeped in the music and fashion of the late 80s and early 90s, this is a wonderful, devastating yet hopeful book about love, loss, family, tragedy, ambition, lies , forgiveness and courage - with added Michael Hutchence which can only be a good thing and some real humour and a love for the era which shines through. The end left me in bits with the beauty and clarity of the writing and emotion. Feb is a compelling and very real heroine, doing her best to cope in the most horrific of circumstances, with every character perfectly drawn.

This Could be Everything, just like The Lost Art, is a book I will own in paperback so I can give it away and then rebuy and reread it, a book whichI will discover anew each time I reread it. A beautiful, human book. Highly recommended.

This is the first novel I've read by the author, and I will definitely be reading her back catalogue after this.
It's 1990 and 19 year old February Kingdom is traumatised and grieving. She lives in London with her aunt and uncle and one day an escaped canary flies into their home. The canary represents hope and brings freedom and change to February's life as she begins to venture back into the world and build friendships.
This is a beautifully written and moving coming of age story that I absolutely loved. I was close to February's age in 1990 so the popular culture references really resonated with me. I loved February and was rooting for her throughout. The author portrays her sensitively and empathically and shows a real understanding of trauma and grief. She portrays a great cast of characters brilliantly; she really brings them to life along with London in the 1990s.
A beautiful novel that I highly recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I really enjoyed this book, it was well written with a compelling storyline, set during a great era that I love reading about and well developed characters that I fell in love with, especially February. I felt everything that this book wnated the reader to feel and I still can't get Fenruary out of my head. A fantastic read

I loved 'This could be everything' so much,it had everything you could possibly want from a book.The themes of hope resonated strongly with me and the author portrayed the 90s incredibly.

Well this was just lovely! Both heartbreaking and hopeful, This Could Be Everything is a gorgeous coming of age heartbreaker of a read. I thoroughly enjoyed this, especially the flashbacks. Loved the ending.
Thank you to the publisher and author for the advanced copy!

Thank you to Anne of Random Things Tours and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to join the blog tour and a digital review copy for This Could Be Everything by Eva Rice, a new author for me.

This beautiful and emotional book should be bought (or borrowed from a library) with a pack of tissues because Eva Rice is going to make you weep. February has experienced two tragedies in her young life and is currently feeling unable to leave home.

I loved how this story evolved from finding a small yellow bird in her kitchen leading to her making small steps to start living her life again. Feb is carrying a huge amount of guilt and needs help from family and new friends to move forward.

Feb is also noticing that her aunt is changing, emotionally and physically. The two threads of the story intertwine beautifully and I found myself desperate to know what happened next to Feb, Ann and Robert.

I loved being back in 1990 – I was the same age as February then (studying at University in Yorkshire). Happy to recommend this emotional read and I look forward to reading more by Eva Rice in the future.

Such a wonderful coming of age story set in London in 1990 after a family tragedy. Full of warmth, humour and nostalgia tinged with sadness and grief. Loved the extra touch of the playlist!

A delightful and brilliant story of a coming of age and discovering what really matters. Nostalgia, humour, emotions, great characters.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last as I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I loved The Lost Art Of Keeping Secrets when I read it years ago so I was excited to read a new book by Eva Rice.

Although this book took me a little while to get into I didn't want it to end by the second half.

The central character is nineteen year old February Kingdom who is struggling to cope with daily life after the loss of both of her parents at a young age and then just recently, the death of her twin sister Diana.
Feb won't leave her bedroom where she lives with her aunt and uncle and spends her time reciting the music charts. Feb's life slowly starts to change when a canary flies into her house one day and she is forced to leave to return the bird to his owner Theo. Slowly Feb starts to form a relationship with Theo and we watch Feb slowly learn to start to piece together her life again.

The book is set in the 90s and I absolutely loved all the nostalgia. I remembered so many of the bands and magazines (Smash Hits and Just Seventeen were two of my favourites!) and just like Feb I remember recording the top 40 on a Sunday on my tape recorder!

This is a character driven story but each person is so vividly written with such great depth. There were so many quirky characters that I grew to love through the story. I was so immersed in Feb's tragic life and the way she coped with her grief was so well portrayed. I was absolutely willing her to find some happiness and love again.

This was an emotional and heart wrenching read at times but it also carried an uplifting message that there is always hope, even in the most tragic and desperate of circumstances. A brilliant coming of age story about loss and love.

This book was full of so much nostalgia for me. I absolutely love the 90’s. The book is set in 1990, I was 15/16 at this time and it totally took me back to my teenage years.

February Kingdom, (such an amazing name 😍) or Feb as she prefers to be called, is just 19 and she has gone through a lot of tragedy in her young life. She doesn’t leave the house and stays inside listening to Bruno Brookes and the Top 40 on repeat.

This story isn’t just a sad read. It is a beautiful story. Yes it had me in tears in places. But there is humour and hope too. It has taken me a couple of days after finishing to write my review. I’m not sure I can write a review that does justice to the greatness of this book.

This is the first novel I’ve read by this author and it definitely won’t be the last. If you decide to give this a read let me know what you think.

I was utterly absorbed by Eva Rice's fantastic story. February Kingdom has survived the absolute worst that life can throw at anyone, and understandably she is keeping herself safe -she stays in all day and has a very small safe life. She slowly, bravely, starts to reach out a little, engrossing herself in 1990s London, and all that it has to offer. I loved the real-life details, they sparked lots of lovely memories of my teen years, what a time to be alive!

Watching February slowly emerge from her self-imposed exile was wonderful and moving. She is such a great character who has had to handle such tragedy, but giving herself permission to be herself was beautiful to witness.

Eva Rice doesn't rush the storytelling but allows it to unfold at its own pace- a bit like February herself. A treat to read, thank you so much for letting me join you on the journey!