Name: Watermelon
ISBN: 9780099489986

Marian Keyes

Watermelon

Sarah Sammis

It's an easy read and it was interesting to see Claire grow as a character. I feel a little sorry for Adam. Does he know what he's gotten himself in for?

Shreya Punj

Man, this is bad. Just so bad. 

My first Keyes was ‘Grown Ups’ and that’s infinitely better than this book that made me roll my eyes at the cutesy. 

Sigh.

Ahaana Bhargava

Rating: 4.3 stars

Before I start, I just want to point out that I’m starting to format my reviews in a different way, because I feel it might be easier to understand than just paragraphs of me ranting:) Let me know in the comments if you like the format of this review better than my earlier ones, or if you like those better.

Synopsis (via Goodreads): Claire has everything she ever wanted: a husband she adores, a great apartment, a good job. Then, on the day she gives birth to their first baby, James informs her that he's leaving her. Claire is left with a newborn daughter, a broken heart, and a postpartum body that she can hardly bear to look at.
She decides to go home to Dublin. And there, sheltered by the love of a quirky family, she gets better. So much so, in fact, that when James slithers back into her life, he's in for a bit of a surprise.

WHAT I LIKED ~

The characters. Each of the characters were well-developed, and it wasn't like you only knew them at surface level. When a character was introduced, by the next few chapters, you knew everything about them, their personality, and their view on the problem unfolding. I found this awesome, because it really helped you understand the relationships between each character, and long after you finish the story, you can still remember their unique traits, and what made them special. They stick with you long after the story ends, and I don't know about you, but that's one of my favourite things about books. The characters, the way they interact with others, and what they mean to you.

The relationships (well, most of them). I haven't read a lot of books like this one before, so I wasn't sure what exactly to expect when it came to Claire's relationships with the people around her. Everything was described so well, you could form and imagine conversations that might have taken place between two characters. Claire's family was so unique, and everyone had a completely distinct personality. Her friends were always there to support her, whereas the toxicity in her and James' relationship is described to the point where you're crying for Claire, because you feel sorry for her poor, cough *misguided* cough soul.

WHAT WASN'T MY CUP OF TEA ~

The pacing. I was expecting this book to be a chick-flick, but it was a lot deeper and more meaningful than what you would usually expect from one. There was also a lot of stretching (sorry I don't know exactly how to say it). But what I mean by stretching is Keyes excessively elaborated on certain events, to the point where it got boring. I'm all for descriptions - but sometimes it was pulled over for too long, and had unnecessary pages dedicated to the same event/problem. When you could have simply finished the issue on a page, it droned over for a chapter. However, because of the plot and storyline, I still wanted to know what happens to Claire, and what the ending looked like. This wasn't a very major issue, but merely something I had to point out.

James. I'm pretty sure he is the antagonist of this book, and you're not supposed to like him, but I loathed James. I hated his slimy personality, how fake he was, how he acted, his behavior, and how he treated others. I hated how he used everyone around him like a pawn, and believed he was superior. He constantly lowered Claire's self-esteem, and treated her like rubbish. I know he's sort of the bad guy, but my feelings of hate toward him were just too strong!

Overall + Trigger Warnings
Overall, I'd say this is a wonderful book. But, before you start reading, make sure you think of it as a sort of family drama instead of chick-flick. To be honest, I haven't read books in this genre, so it was a pleasant surprise that this was my first one. As I said earlier, I would probably give this book a rating of 4.5 stars. Another thing I want to mention is that this book is actually a part of a series - I only realized this recently when I looked it up on Goodreads. Thankfully, it's the first book, so everything makes sense. The name of the series is the 'Walsh Family series', and I think the other books follow Claire's sisters and parents. I haven't read those yet, so I have no idea how they're going to be :)

TW:
- Mentions of divorce
- Mentions of alcoholism
- Drugs, drug references
- Depression

Lisa Joyner

It was hillarious witty smart kept me laughing I loved this book

Grace Emilia Machon

Isobel Holmes

Delve into the extremely funny and wonderfully touching No. 1 bestseller about a woman who thought she had it all, from the No. 1 bestselling author of Grown Ups 'An astounding writer and chronicler of our times' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY ___________ 'Failed relationships can be described as so much wasted makeup . . .' On the day she gives birth to her first child, Claire Walsh's husband James tells her he's been having an affair and now's the right time to leave her. Right for who exactly? Exhausted, tearful and a tiny bit furious, Claire can't think of what to do. So she follows the instincts of all self-respecting adults in tricky situations . . . and runs home to Mum and Dad. But while her parents are sympathetic, Claire's younger sisters are less so. Helen wants to share the new toy (baby Kate), while Anna is too busy having out-of-her-head experiences. So when James slips back into her life, desperate to put things right, Claire doesn't know whether to take a chance on a past she feared she'd lost forever or face an uncertain future of her own. But is she as on her own as she really believes? ___________ 'A warm and hilarious page turner' Good Housekeeping 'A modern fairy tale, it's full of Keyes's self-deprecating wit' Sunday Mirror 'Reading a novel by Marian Keyes is like sitting at the kitchen table with your nicest, most confiding friend' Daily Mail 'Gloriously funny' Sunday Times 'Funny but poignant' Marie Claire 'When it comes to writing page-turners that put a smile on your face and make you think, Keyes is in a class of her own' Daily Express