Laura Kay (2)

Oh my goodness, I loved The Split so much. I raced through it (a bit of a pun as you'll see in a moment) and I just didn't want to put it down. It's a brilliant debut from Laura Kay.

The book begins with Ally being unceremoniously dumped by her girlfriend of seven years, Emily. Whilst fleeing from London back home to her dad's in Sheffield, she manages to pop their shared cat, Malcolm, in a cat carrier and take him with her, something Emily isn't very pleased about. Once she's back home her show more dad suggests she meet up with her old friend, Jeremy, who she hasn't seen for some years. Jeremy is also nursing a broken heart and they become really great friends again.

I absolutely loved the dynamics between Ally and Jeremy. They egg each other on and have a lot of fun together, whilst putting back together their shattered lives. There are actually so many gorgeous friendships and family relationships in this book and each and every character is written with such warmth. I felt like I knew them all, they all seemed to pop off the page. Ally's dad was a particular favourite of mine and I thought it was lovely how he just adjusted to her being back after so long, especially with a cat in tow. I had a real soft spot too for his dog, Pat, and Malcolm, of course! Even the animals were portrayed beautifully.

Ally and Jeremy decide to run a half-marathon, mainly because Jeremy thinks he's seen his ex, Ben, doing some running locally. The running scenes had me in stitches. This is a true laugh-out-loud book. Laura Kay's humour just completely hit the spot with me. Another thing that I loved about this book was that it's set in Sheffield, my home city, and so it was lovely to see local streets and landmarks being referred to. I could just imagine our hapless pair struggling up and down the hilly city in their running gear.

I truly thought this book was just brilliant. It's been a pleasure to read it. It's full of heart, focusing on friendships, family, and getting up and putting your running shoes on when all you want to do is veg on the settee feeling sorry for yourself. It's fresh, funny, foodie, and feel-good, and I loved it! show less

Eleanor is stuck in a rut—personal and professional—and makes a promise to herself to have a year of Wild Things, where each month she does one big thing that pushes her out of her comfort zone. So when the opportunity comes up to move into a queer commune—or at least, a run-down old farmhouse in the London commuter belt—she jumps at the chance. Except it means that now El will be living with Ray, the woman she's been unrequitedly crushing on for years.

Wild Things is a cute, light, show more queer romcom. El and Ray's getting together is a slow-burn and fairly low-key, and the book's emphasis is as much on El's growth as a person as it is on that. Laura Kay has a knack for finding the right balance so that this is cosy and happy-ending-y without being saccharine, with secondary characters who are easily distinguishable from one another without being irritating Bundles of Quirks and/or One-Liners. This was a perfect read for a blustery, snowy February evening. show less

lolol i don’t know if this was good or if i’m just obsessed with the british narrator.. but have you ever wanted to move out into the countryside with a group of friends, buy a house together and form a little gay commune? well if you haven't this book will for sure make you want too. this is the perfect read if you want something light-hearted and low stakes. the main plot is about building a home - physically and with the people you surround yourself with. the only real tension comes show more about in the final chapters when you finally get to see how Eleanor’s crush on Ray will play out. the lack of tension made it feel like i was just drifting along through most of the book. but that's the case with most books by british and irish authors so i don't hold that against them. WE LOVE CHARACTER DRIVEN BOOKS! Laura Kay’s strength is writing characters!! this cast of characters feels so real.. i really wanted to jump into the pages and join their little gay commune! their relationship and the community they build in the village is just so wholesome show less

i liked this pretty well, especially that it was so largely focused on the friend group and their joint relationship, the way things used to feel possible with groups of friends at a certain time of life. i liked the focus on queer strength and the way that can look. i wasn't so into the way the main romantic relationship wrapped up - how they got together, really, without doing much discussing of the years of pining they'd had for each other, or the sex scene - but otherwise i liked them. i show more enjoyed spending time with them and would totally visit their home in the country. i would even have been fine with them ending up as friends, because el's growth throughout felt big enough that she could handle either this perfect relationship, or a best friendship with ray. there were other deeper issues that were handled well, like the relationship el and rob had with their parents, like infidelity and how sometimes you can actually move past it or not hate someone who has cheated, and of course the queer mentoring and community support that becomes like family. and it was funny in parts. there's a lot to like here. show less