The Idea of You
Amanda Prowse
Book Review: ♥ ♥
Amanda Prowse's book seems to be popping up everywhere, and I have to admit I was intrigued. I was sent a pre-approved invitation via Netgalley to read The idea of you. It isn't my usual read. However, the description sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, I should have gone with my instincts this wasn't for me.

Lucy is approaching the big 4 0 and desperately wants a family of her own. This is a heart-melting story. It's about realising you have to adjust life's plan to fit the cards you are dealt.

I don't like upsetting novels, and Lucy's life plan doesn't work out the way she's planned. This novel has a silver lining, but it just wasn't for me.

2 stars out of 5.
This has a Goodreads rating of 4.32 showing that if you are the right audience for this book, you will love it.

Kindle Edition £3.98 or free for KU, 332 pages
Published March 21st, 2017

Amanda Prowse has the most phenomenal output when it comes to the publication of her books and keeping her readers happy. It feels like no sooner have I finished one incredible read than the next publication day is upon us and this is such a great thing. Too often I finish a book and think, god I have such a long wait for the next story from this author but Amanda never lets her loyal readers down. One may think given the numerous publications per year that the standard of writing and the storylines would slip and waver and not be as good as the last but that is certainly not the case. Each book is always of such a high calibre, impeccably researched and packed full of heartfelt, realistic emotions that the women of today can identify with.

The topics the author covers are varied and are always hard hitting and it's rare that one scene or certain characters in Amanda's books don't find a place in your heart right from the beginning and never let go until the last word. Amanda Prowse is like the English Jodi Picoult and in my mind far more accessible than said author - her books are engaging and relevant to the times we live in today whereas Jodi Picoult became far too formulaic and in later books quite stale. Amanda writes about ordinary women like you and me who find their comfortable lives disrupted and then in turn need to find the strength to overcome the obstacles placed directly in their path to happiness. Their strength, courage, dedication and love are tested in ways you would never think possible.

This new book from Amanda The Idea of You questions what it is like to be a mother in today's hectic world where there is untold pressure from women on all sides to conform, to become a mother and do the best job possible. There is so many advertisements on the TV about what we need to be the best mother possible and endless advice is offered on the internet and in online chat rooms. But what if your long held dream of becoming a mum can't become a reality despite you giving it every best shot possible? How do you cope especially when motherhood in a strange way comes calling at your door and you can't slam said door in the situations face?

Our main female protagonist Lucy finds herself in this situation and through reading this story we see her go through a myriad of emotions as she battles to come to terms with the life changing problems she is presented with. From the brief prologue the reader can immediately sense Lucy has been through something in her past which still deeply affects the person she is today and her thought process around attempting to become a mother. There are minor hints alluded to as to what it could be throughout the book and it was only in the later half that it clicked with me just exactly what had occurred and when this happened it changed the way I thought about Lucy and the way she acted but in a good way. If I had discovered this any earlier while reading I think I would have read way deeper into Lucy's situation instead of taking everything at face value until it was the correct time to dig deeper beneath the surface as to what was truly going on. Next we meet Lucy at a christening and as she stands and watches her godson being baptised she wonders was she at aged 39 'losing a race she didn't know she had entered, she hadn't heard the starter pistol, and by the time she looked up, everyone she knew of a similar age seemed to be half way round the track'. Even this line showcases what a talented author Amanda Prowse is to convey with such simple words the entire crux of the novel and how Lucy is feeling.

At the christening, as mentioned above, Lucy meets Jonah and her life changes as they catch sight of each other. Soon they are married and living happily together looking forward to having children and completing Lucy's long held dream. Yes there is pressure from relatives and others to have this perfect baby as women are meant to be made whole when the wonderful bundle arrives. 'It is an incredible thing when you have a child, not only for yourself, but it's a wonderful gift for the whole family'. I couldn't agree more with this statement as recently I have become an Auntie for the first time and after a traumatic event this has been wonderful and a form of healing.

By day Lucy works in a high powered job in an advertising agency and by night she enjoys time with Jonah and knits beautiful baby items for a much wished child. She longs to feel complete and fulfilled. She has no doubt that she can juggle a career with parenthood if only that wish would become a reality. Throughout we can feel Lucy's devastation that she is struggling to conceive that it could be possible that it may never comes to pass that, she holds a warm bundle in her arms. 'Her nose and throat were clogged with distress and her heart and womb pulsed with longing'. It doesn't help matters that Jonah's teenage daughter from a previous relationship Camille aged 16 comes to spend the summer with them from France and stays on longer than expected. How is Lucy supposed to cope with a teenage girl who is typical of her age and the situation she too finds herself in battling through her own personal emotions and in some ways her own version of hell on a daily basis?

Throughout the book I never once questioned the love that Lucy and Jonah had for each other. Yes times were turbulent and in more ways than one Lucy had to bite her tongue and hold back from saying explicitly how she was feeling but still that spark, that connection was always there and I fervently hoped for a positive outcome. Jonah sums up their relationship beautifully when he says 'I fell for you, hook, line and sinker, and I realised that you were my missing piece. I am happy with you by my side and without you I am not. It's that simple'. The issues surrounding Camille and her settling into their home, and Lucy adjusting to becoming a step mum whilst trying to have her own baby were written in an upfront, straight forward manner. The author never shied away from the harsh realities Lucy had to cope with every day. She tried to put on a front and do her best with Camille and she was brave to do this as I feel many of us would just give in and break down and not want to make that effort. Dealing with our own issues and troubles is enough without having to take on others even though I could see she tried to do it all for Jonah.

Camille didn't come across all that nice initially it was like she was jealous of the place Lucy held in her father's heart but as we dig deeper it's clear she has her own things going on and again this didn't feel out of place at all but rather a very good overall balance to the story when at times it could have become two one sided. Having a new daughter or stepmother there is bound to be problems no one can foresee. Not everything can be a bed of roses instantly or even permanently. A new relationship has to be formed and it all takes work, time and effort and may never turn out exactly the way we want it to what makes it doubly hard for Lucy is that her calling to be a mother, is not being answered as readily as she would hope it to be. 'It was an overwhelming, all consuming sensation that flavoured my food, coloured my opinions and influenced my choices'.

Amanda Prowse has again written another triumph of a book which will people will find difficult to read for its subject matter but by the end you will be glad you have done so. I am not the target audience for this book as I do not have children so maybe I wasn't quite as affected by what was ongoing as others who have children may be when they read this. That's not in any way to take away from the stunning story within the pages. The Idea of You was a beautifully crafted story full of complex characters and again a twist you would never see coming well maybe even more than one. I was certainly turning the pages to discover what the eventual outcome would be. This was an honest, raw and emotional account of what it means to be a mother and showcases what a naturally gifted storyteller Amanda Prowse is and how she can reach inside the minds of so many and write exactly how they are feeling in the most eloquent of ways. Again there were so many lines from this poem that I reread and savoured and wanted to write down and frame and it's very rare that I find this time and time again with an author.

I have no hesitation in recommending The Idea of You, it will provide some sort of healing and solace for those that need it and for others it is quite simply a brilliant read. We don't have long to wait until something new arrives from Amanda as I have spotted that The Art of Hiding is coming in July and it sounds just as good if not better than all her previous books.

This book wasn't for me. I thought from reading the description it would be something I would enjoy reading but it didn't live up to the expectation I had. I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank you Netgalley that I had been preapproved for an ARC copy of this book.. The Idea of You is truly heartbreaking and beautiful. I can relate to her story. I felt connected to the characters throughout the novel.

I loved this, I cried with it and felt the pain and the love within.
Starting a family sounds so simple but it's fraught with fear and loss. This follows Lucy and Jonah on their romance, marriage and hopes for a child.
Jonah has a teenage daughter Camille from a previous marriage who comes to stay. To say these are difficult times is an understatement. Struggling to be a step mother to Camille while the ever pressing need to be a mother herself, Lucy feels her marriage fracturing
This is a book of love, how hard it is to find, how easily it can break and how wonderful it is when you find it
Amanda Prowse is the queen of women's fiction

Prowse knows how to get to the heart of a woman's struggle and sucker punch you in the gut with the depth of her feelings. Lucy was very easy to connect to - as a career woman, as a mother-in-waiting, as a daughter, a sister, a stepmom, and a wife. I was amazed at how easily I flowed up and down with her passion and her despair. Although her current stressor was the miscarriage (and how it amplified her past pain), I found her struggle to be totally relatable to other mothering issues as well (divorce, custody, etc.). What surprised me the most was that while I typically felt her pain and sympathized with her, at times I was ready for her to be "over it" already yet. As I dig back into my own mothering struggles, I realize how those around me who wanted to be sympathetic could be "over it" when I kept going on and on and feeling my pain. I kept waiting for the surprise ending where she got everything she dreamed of, and was actually pleasantly surprise that Prowse held true to the storyline of struggle and real recovery. There was no magic wand, no fairy dusted solution; there was real loss, real grief, and real acceptance. Lucy is one of the most relatable women I've read.

“The Idea of You” follows Lucy, a 40 year old woman who has recently gotten married to Jonah, after meeting him at a baptism. They are blissfully happy as a married couple and she is recently pregnant. Things are about to change and their lives are completely shaken up. Lucy suffers a miscarriage- and then another not far behind. Jonah has a daughter from his first marriage that he learned his ex-wife was having after the divorce papers were signed. Camille is 16, about to turn 17, and she and her mother have been fighting- Jonah offers that Camille can come stay with them for the summer.

Camille shakes up Lucy’s life in a lot of ways; she is difficult to handle and seems to resist every move Lucy makes to welcome her into her home and life. Lucy is struggling with her own miscarriages and finding her place in a world that was not quite what she anticipated. Jonah is deep in denial about his daughter and to an extent about his wife and her feelings. The book changes tone drastically about 2/3 of the way through, as Camille brings some news and we get a bombshell about Lucy that throws a wrench into everything- this is the real turning point of the book.

Lucy felt very real and three-dimensional as a character, and I felt for her with every step of the journey. It was a really emotionally difficult book to read for this reason. The first 2/3 and last 1/3 of the book almost felt like a completely different story to me- I was a bit shocked by the revelations and how poorly it was all handled (mainly by Jonah). Jonah’s character seemed to change a lot for me there. He was a less developed character, and I wasn’t sure I really ‘got’ their relationship in general, as we hardly see much from him- the story focuses pretty much entirely on Lucy and her feelings.

Overall, I am not sure how much I liked the book. It was well written, albeit difficult to read emotionally, and I did read until the end to see how things would turn out, but Lucy feels a lot of despair and it’s pretty catching. It also undergoes a pretty big shift which seemed a little odd to me/changed the tone/feel of the book. I don’t think I would read again or recommend to my friends. I think this one is just middle of the road for me.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I like variety in my reading and so when the publishers of Amanda Prowse’ The Idea of You offered me a review copy I thought from the description that it would make a change from the genres I usually read.

Amanda Prowse is a popular author, described by the Daily Mail as the ‘queen of domestic drama‘. And I can see from the numerous 5 and 4 star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads that many readers love her books.

The Idea of You is mainly about relationships motherhood, and it is emotionally charged with the devastating effect of miscarriages, but apart from that I was not convinced that the characters were real. The dialogue seemed to me to be forced and not true to life and so I felt as as though I was on the outside looking in and at times the characters of Lucy and her teenage stepdaughter, Camille, seemed to merge into each other.

The narrative is interspersed with letters Lucy writes and for a while it’s not that clear who she is writing them to. But reading the Prologue along with other clues that Amanda Prowse drops in along the way about Lucy’s past, gave me a good indication of who it was, so it was no surprise when the recipient is finally revealed. I also thought the story of Camille was too predictable given Lucy’s situation. And the ending left me with rather a sickly aftertaste. In fact I found much of the book is too cloying for my liking.

I received a copy of "The Idea of You" from NetGalley for an honest review. I wish to thank NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Amanda Prowse for the opportunity to read this book.

The author of this book has a beautiful way of writing. She describes the situation or scenes in a descriptive, yet easy-to-read style that allowed me to quickly read this book.

Unfortunately, the topic just didn't work for me. I haven't personally experienced it so I don't have the visceral connection to the story as many other women would.

I look forward to reading additional books by this author as I definitely enjoy how she writes! This is a lukewarm recommend due to the subject matter.

This is a hard one for me. I am a woman that could not have children, felt the burning need, adopted a baby a couple days old. So I totally relate to this story from begin to end. I felt the emotions all over again while reading this book. The book took me on an emotional roller coaster. I felt the book was well written and I recommend the book.

I received an electronic copy of this book via Netgalley.

Other reviewers have given fairly comprehensive synopses, so I will not repeat their efforts here.

This story is full of hope and heartbreak, challenging family dynamics, and a lot of delightful, at least to this American, British flavoring seasoning the whole.

The story didn't send me reaching for the tissue box as it did other readers, perhaps because I have not personally been in the same situation as the protagonist, or even close to it. But I was absorbed nevertheless. I would caution potential readers that if desperate longing for a baby foiled by repeated miscarriages is the story of their life, this book might be a bit too painful to read. Otherwise, I can recommend it wholeheartedly, and I plan to look up other books by this author.

an ok read

This is the first book I have read by Amanda Prowse. The characters and story are so realistic that you need to keep a tissue near by for the tears in your eyes and give your own children a big hug. This was a book I just could not put down.
The story is filled with conflict, tension, integrity and sensitivity.
Highly recommended this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
Also for introducing me to a wonderful new author and her writing.

I can't believe that this is the first book I've read by Amanda Prowse! It certainly won't be the last. This is a compelling read full of emotion, heartbreak and family love. I could not put this book down and read in just 2 sessions. A real page turner. Thank you Netgalley

manda Prowse has done it again. The author writes about real life, uncomfortable, hard as hell to talk about issues but does it in such a way that a) I am blindsided by the "twist" and b) manages to pull me in and keep me riveted until the end of the story.

I usually read books with plots that never happen in real life. Vampires, magic, insta-love, hot studly dudes falling for overweight nerdy girls; you know the stuff my daydreams since I was 16 were made of. But Prowse's byline has become an automatic want to read for me and there's none of that in her books. Her last one dealt with eating disorders while this one deals with family and lost dreams.

The best part of this book was probably the last 1/3. Sometimes we get the life we've been dreaming of but it doesn't exactly happen the way we want. It's a great lesson and I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. My review is not influenced by anyone but myself. The Idea of You came out today and is available through Kindle Unlimited on Amazon.

An emotional heart wrenching story of love and loss and a woman desperately wanting a child. This story is sensitively written and touching. It teaches us what we want, but to be grateful of what we have.

Somehow, I started this book and the next time I looked up, I was halfway through and totally hooked! A moving and interesting story of Lucy. Im glad the ending was a happy one yet not the one I was expecting. Another Great novel from Amanda prowse!!

Lucy Carpenters 40th birthday is approaching and she hopes she will finally have it all. A wonderful new husband, Jonah. She has a successful career and she now has a chance of a baby of her own. But the reality of becoming parents proves to be to much harder than they imagined.

This is a really I optional read. The characters are believable. Amanda Prowse has a writing skill that pulls you in within the first chapter. This book will leave you an emotional wreck. I do recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author Amanda Prowse for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.