Review: Don't Get Me Wrong by Marianne Kavanagh

Summary:

For fans of Jojo Moyes, David Nicholls, and Sophie Kinsella, here is a Pride and Prejudice for the modern era: Londoners Kim and Harry can’t see eye to eye...until the life of the person they both love most hangs in the balance.

Kim and Harry are total opposites who happen to have the same favorite people in the world: Kim’s older sister, Eva, and her young son, Otis. Kim has never seen what her free-spirited big sister sees in a stuck-up banker like Harry and has spent her childhood trying to keep him out (must he always drive the most ostentatious cars and insist on charming everyone he meets?), while Harry’s favorite occupation is provoking Kim.

Both Harry and Kim are too stuck in their prejudices to care about what’s really going on beneath the surface of each other’s lives. They’ll never understand each other—until the worst of all tragedy strikes. Faced with the possibilities of losing the person they both love most, long-buried secrets come to a head in ways that will change both Harry and Kim forever.

As in her “hilarious, poignant, and profound” (Daily Mail) novel For Once in My Life, Marianne Kavanagh tackles the bonds of family, friendship, and love through sophisticated storytelling. Don’t Get Me Wrong is a witty and heartwarming book that will charm readers everywhere.

Publication Date: August 25, 2015

Don’t Get Me Wrong is a tough book to rate for me. On one hand, I couldn’t put the book down. On the other hand, I really didn’t like how the book concluded and the ending actually made me not like the rest of the story as much. There was so much build-up and then it just ended without delivering on the goods I had expected.

The characters were interesting and I really enjoyed the dynamic between Eva and Harry. I understood how Kim felt like an outsider when the three were together, but some of her reactions were way over the top. I was actually waiting for her to get a good slap across the face and for someone to tell her to wake up and stop acting so bratty.

Harry was great and the scenes told from his POV were my favorite. I think the author did an amazing job with character development. I honestly felt like I was reading about people I knew. I felt so close to the characters, I could begin to anticipate their reactions by the novel’s end.

The pace was fairly good. Some of Kim’s work drama was a little boring to me, but her struggles in her career was part of her overall growth. There were some very sad parts and I did feel myself getting teary-eyed from time to time.

I was really into the story up until the end. I felt totally unsatisfied after pages and pages of “will they?” or “won’t they?” I’d be hesitant to recommend the novel on this basis alone.

Although I didn’t like the ending, I was hooked by the author’s writing and will check out more of her work.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!