I do like Nick Hornby books. This story about a 42 year old woman in the middle of getting divorced getting involved with a 22 year old young man, who also happens to be black, is funny, touching and an interesting take on human nature, ageism and racism. I thought the story was cute and the characters were very real. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the inclusion of politics (mostly Trump) and Brexit - I think many people may find this confronting and uncomfortable, especially if the conversations don’t fit with their beliefs.
I liked where the story was going but then it jumped to 2 years later rather suddenly, but perhaps as I read the unpublished version (thanks to NetGalley), it may be presented differently in the actual book.

I love Nick Hornby and this is another classic. A summer read, but with depth and tenderness that lasts long after you have finished the last page.

This novel is a brilliant social commentary wrapped in a love story.
Hornby is so good at telling a great story that you can settle into his tale and live happily in the moment for hours at a time. His characters are people we have all met, or know, or want to know and there is nothing that jars or seems unlikely. He shines a light into a world most of us can't connect with, can have no experience of, and he does it brilliantly.
In this novel he carefully and cleverly and delicately reveals the unintended racism of middle-class white people, pointing out the absurdities of deeply embedded attitudes and behaviours that have no intention of causing distress, but do anyway,. At the same time he tells a love story where everything, from the outside looking in, is stacked against the odds of long term success.
Hornby really sets himself a challenge here: a doomed romance, racial and class tensions AND the big vote of 2016. If the expression 'there are two sides to every story' ever has meaning, it's here.You'll love it.

Another fun holiday read from Nick Hornby. If you liked About a Boy, A Long Way Down or How to Be Good, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this. The characters and dialogue are believable and it never slows in pace, keeping me reading along. The race and class issues dealt with fairly sensitively, though it very clearly comes from a white middle class perspective.For me Hornby has never quite matched High Fidelity in quality. But maybe the themes of that just connected with me more than the ones he explores in his other books. Definitely worth picking up if you want something light.

Just Like You by Nick Hornby a three-star read that I had much higher hopes for. I really struggled to get through this one, it was well written, but I just couldn’t warm to either main character, Lucy and Joseph could have been anyone, I didn’t care about how many jobs he worked or how her divorce was going. I don’t know if the politics and Brexit were the main aspect that left me cold or what, I just couldn’t get into this one, and that saddened me as I adore this author, maybe next time I will enjoy it better.

Lucy is white, 42, an English teacher and separated from her alcoholic and useless husband. She hires a shop assistant from her local butchers to babysit her two football and computer mad boys. Joseph, black, 22, juggling part time jobs, also shares a passion for footie and computer games.

But who would have thought Lucy and Joseph would share any passions...?!

This story is set against the backdrop of the Brexit referendum, adding another dimension to the plot and provides interesting viewpoints from the diverse characters.

I really enjoyed this book and love how Nick Hornby brings everyday dialogue to life and makes it compelling. Much like Quentin Tarantino accomplishes in films. Conversations that are simply there for the purpose of developing the characters.
Particularly the two boys, their interactions and synergy were great fun to read and really quite amusing. So simplistic and matter of fact that we could all learn from them!

In contrast to Lucy’s two boy’s outlook on life, I think Joseph pretty much summed up her paranoia with this statement:
“I think you wondered whether he wondered. That was the only wondering that was going on.”

I did struggle with the relationship in the story though. Being 42 myself, the thought of being attracted to a 22 year old boy, a mere 2 years older than my own daughter was rather cringe!

Putting that aside though, who can really judge who we fall in and out of love with. Ultimately they made each other feel good and when they relaxed, they realised that the important thing was to live for the moment and see where the future took them. If you worry about what may or may not happen, you miss the opportunity to enjoy the moment.

“You’re my life, now,” said Joseph. “That’s enough.” 🧡🧡🧡

A sweet premise with characters I enjoyed. Hornby writes well (obviously) and covers important and relevant topics but nothing really happened and the lack of a particularly interesting plot made the novel fall a little flat at points.

Just like you by Nick Hornby - 2✴


Summary 📖 - Set in the months leading up to the Brexit referendum in 2016, Lucy a white 42 year old single mother of two, unexpectedly finds love with Joseph, a black 22 year old man of multiple part-time jobs. Just like you, follows the ups, the downs and everything in between of their relationship while the country is more and more divided by the week with Brexit.

Review ⭐️ - I enjoyed following the story of both Lucy and Joseph and how despite the odds being against them, they made it work but it was so surrounded about Brexit and at a time where Brexit is the least of everyone's worries with Covid-19, it felt like such a step back in time and if i'm honest, it wasn't necessarily a good step back.

To summarise my review - Just like you really just followed Lucy and Joseph's relationship and that's about it. It showed that relationships can go against all the odds, that two people and their families can have completely different political views and that it's okay for both. It's not a book that I'm likely to purchase following its release date on the 17th September 2020.

Thank you to both Net Gallery and Nick Hornby for the opportunity to read this before release date!

Lucy and Joseph are both single, get on really well, make each other laugh. She has kids, he gets on well with them. There is only one small problem. Is it one they can get past? Who has a problem with it, them or the outside world? Is it something anyone should worry about? A funny and thought provoking book, well worth a read

Like other Nick Hornby books this is easy to read with some quirky character traits.

It covers interesting topics with age, race and brexit in the book.

I just didn’t connect with the book and lost interest in it and I’m not really sure why.

I like Nick Hornby’s writing style - he introduces characters well and you finish his books feeling like you’ve really gotten to know them. The first half of this book is stronger than the last in my opinion. Set against the backdrop of the Brexit referendum, we follow Joseph and Lucy and watch them fall into a relationship. The second half became repetitive and a bit too angsty, I found myself trying to stay engaged so I could get to the end, but it was hard going. I have loved lots of his other books though, and know many others would enjoy this novel.
Thanks to netgalley, the publishers and author for this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Whilst I enjoyed this book there are other Nick Hornby books I have enjoyed more. It is, as it says on the box, a love story about two people who on paper would be totally incompatible, who fall in love. It challenges preconceptions, It is set in the political madness around Brexit. The issues of race and differing ages in relationships is heavy stuff but the book is not heavy, if anything I should like a little more depth here but it is an enjoyable read.

Just like you is just lovely! I’ve finished with a smile on my face, a few laugh out loud moments along the way and a look back at what has to be some of the weirdest times in living memory well captured - Brexit and Trump (but don’t let that put you off!) A story of love, family and finding happiness for the moment in the most unexpected places.

This is an easy read by a prolific author. I enjoyed it, not wow'ed by it, but, then don't think it's that type of book. It's a good read about relationships. However, once the relationship gets together, there's not much else to it - oh, there's Brexit?! But, I can't be the only one who has heard enough about that mess/mistake?

As with all Nick Hornby novels, there are some excellent observations about human behaviour, worries and insecurities and at times it's funny.

So, as I say, an easy read, there's not much more to say.

3* Good read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

A love story about a couple who are on the face of it completely incompatible but who against all the odds fall in love. The book is set in 2016, pre Brexit, and Trump’s election campaign. Lucy is in her 40’s, a white middle class school teacher with her own children and about to be divorced. She meets Joseph in his 20’s is a black working class man with a number of jobs, he wants to be a DJ. Lucy is anti Brexit, Joseph is pro Brexit. They meet in an upmarket butchers shop, the couple have absolutely nothing in common but their relationship feels right, can a relationship be sustained with so much disparity. The book is funny and tender, it deals with politics, racism, class, and the socioeconomic differences. The story delves into the heart of a couple who despite their dissimilarities, fall headlong in love with someone who is so much “not like you”. A lovely story, very funny in parts, this is Nick Horny’s forte, I thoroughly enjoyed it, a book to make you think about how people whose worlds collide can ultimately come together. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for this ARC

Just like you by Nick Hornby certainly challenged preconceptions about age, gender, education, culture and attitudes. I loved how Brexit cleverly highlighted the same differences between people of the same age group, social class, level of education etc.
Nick also captures very well how the biggest obstacles can be in our own thoughts and insecurities. It’s so heartening when Lucy and Joseph just live in the now (kudos to Joseph for getting to that point early on and helping Lucy get there too!) Loads of brilliant insights into what makes relationships work (and what doesn’t). What particularly helped was the artful introduction of Martin. It was clear that a relationship with a man 20 years older seemed so much more expected, and acceptable, than with one 20 years younger!
Nick quite rightly introduces a reality check though contrasting Joseph’s mum’s with Lucy. Both women of similar age yet poles apart in relation to mental attitude and ambition. A clear reinforcement that there are really no magic formulas but individual magic strikes when it strikes.
I loved this read but i admit it did challenge my own inherent attitudes too. That’s always a great result in my view. Brilliant!

A clever story set in the two worlds of north west London, addressing stereotypes, judgement, Brexit, racism and expectation.
An easy read that deals with some big stuff in a clever way. Perhaps not as gritty or funny as Nick Hornby's older books, but perhaps that's because like Lucy I'm now in my forties!
The story unfolded carefully and eloquently, taking us between the differing worlds of the main characters. I'm afraid there was an air of predictability early on, but twists came later. I really liked the willingness to engage with Brexit in a clever and realistic way, using near hindsight as a clever lens. I like the characters who bucked expectation and did their own thing. Clever details helped me picture myself in the narrative, and helped me keep turning the pages.
There is very little fantasy and polish here, realism and reality reign and make for an engaging story, likeable characters and a satisfying end that isn't twee or fairytale. Recommended for an easy but not fluffy read.

I loved this story of an unlikely couple against the backdrop of the Brexit vote. The characters were very believable and I was very invested in their relationship from the get-go. It was really interesting to read about the Brexit vote with the hindsight of what we now - a topic I have yet seen explored in a novel.

This was sweet and very well written but I felt like it needed a bit more plot, a bit more oomph. Hornby's dialogue is so strong; really believable in both voice, and character thoughts. Lovely enjoyable read.

Having said only recently that I've only read one novel that deals with the 2016 referendum in the UK, I'm now seeing them crop up everywhere (which is perhaps not unexpected).

Just Like You is classic Hornby territory - two very different individuals somehow cross paths and their lives change forever!

Set in the weeks leading up to and then the aftermath of the Brexit referendum in 2016, we meet recently-divorced mum of two Lucy, a schoolteacher in her early forties, who is starting to feel ready to date again. She hires a babysitter for her two sons, Joseph, who is a twenty-one-year-old black man and aspiring DJ who works part-time at Lucy's local posh butcher shop. Lucy and Joseph have very little in common, yet Lucy keeps finding excuses to have Joseph over, and Joseph keeps finding excuses to stay later when he babysits. The two become romantically involved and what ensues is a very strange relationship with many ups and downs as they attempt to bridge their age and generation gaps; negotiate their very different backgrounds, interests and life experiences; and deal with disapproving friends and family.

This is a novel that tackles many different issues: politics (particularly Brexit), racism, divorce, class, addiction, to name a few. Yet it's surprisingly light reading for the most part (though I found the racial profiling scenes very tense and uncomfortable). The book, for me, was most accomplished and engaging in the lead up to Lucy and Joseph getting together, watching the chemistry build between them. Once they got together, they just seemed to argue all the time! Perhaps this was Hornby's way of exploring the tension between the Remain (symbolised by Lucy) and Leave (Joseph).

Many thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.