What I Liked
I’ve never read any of Nick Hornby’s novels, so when I got approved for the arc on NetGalley I was so excited! It’s a very clever, funny and charming novel that I enjoyed the majority of the time. For some reason, finishing this book took me a lot longer than usual, someone on twitter replied to me to say that I am probably just taking it all in and enjoying it rather than just reading to get it finished. I really believe this is true in some aspects as it is more than just a love story, there is a whole other side to this book which explores racial and political issues as well.

There were a few things about the book that I personally didn’t like, but we will get on to them later!

The Characters
Lucy, a white 41-year-old, almost divorced mother of two boys meets Joseph, a black 22-year-old man, part-time butcher, babysitter, sports coach and aspiring D.J. It’s a typical boy meets girl and they meet and fall in love. The only problem is the 20 year age gap, or it’s only a problem if they make it one.

I really love both Lucy and Joseph’s characters because they are so different from one another. But, I found I felt a more wholesome feeling towards them more than relating to them just because no matter what obstacle was thrown at them, they always tried to move past it. And I just loved that.



I definitely preferred Joseph throughout the book as I loved his sense of humour and his attitude to life in general. He is very much a “go with the flow” character. He isn’t bothered that he is young and doesn’t know a lot about the adult world properly yet. I also love how supportive and caring Lucy is to Joseph and how she really appreciates the time he spends with her sons. Although, I feel like her story wasn’t as developed as Joseph’s. A lot of things seemed to get introduced, for example, her ex-husband and I don’t ever remember finding out what happened to him.

The Story
Like I said before the main storyline is the romance that happens between Joseph and Lucy. I thought the age gap would make me a bit uncomfortable, but it’s nice to see relationships like this just happen without any warning. As the story says, those people are the ones that make you the happiest which I can really relate to. I bet you’re wondering how a 42-year-old and a 22-year-old got together? Well, Joseph was the babysitter for Lucy’s kids. After several nights of babysitting, they ignited the spark that appeared between them. I still think this is a clever way to emphasise to the reader that Joseph is a lot younger than Lucy.

As the book is set in Britain, 2016, we have the great pleasure to relive Brexit. I’m not a fan of politics, especially reading about it when my sole purpose of reading is to escape reality. If you too are not a fan of politics, I would love to tell you that it’s just a small part of the book, but it’s not. I completely understand why it has to be a running theme throughout because it’s such a huge political event that is still ongoing. I did try and push my distaste of politics aside and still ended up enjoying the book. However, if you have strong opinions about the referendum, especially if you voted to leave, it may be a bit troublesome for you to read as I feel it is very pro-remain.

One thing that I think is very well written and an obvious theme overall is an interracial relationship between Joseph and Lucy. What I love about Hornby’s take on this, is the minor things that people say in everyday conversations that could be deemed offensive. In Joseph and Lucy’s case they’re able to talk about their cultural differences and resolve the conflict that was once there.

Overall Thoughts
Overall, I did enjoy reading about and rooting for Joseph’s and Lucy’s relationship and how they got over being embarrassed by each other. It would have been good to warn the readers about all the political talk throughout the book so they aren’t as surprised as I was. But, if you’re someone who enjoys romance and doesn’t mind reading about Brexit, then I would highly recommend this book to you!

Rating: 3/5

Just Like You is a story about a couple which have lots of things against them. It's an interracial couple (he's black, she's white), with a 20-ish year age gap (she's 40-something, he's 20-something) and an education gap (he's a jack of all trades, she teaches in a school).

I requested this book from NetGalley because I've liked previous books from Nick Hornby (specially High Fidelity), and I was interested in the interracial couple perspective. It was a nice surprise to find out that there was much more than that in its pages.

Throughout the book there are conversations about politics, and specifically Brexit. I tend to say I live in a bubble in which I never saw Brexit happening, but through Hornby's characters I have gained a deeper understanding of what happened in the days before the referendum, how people different from me voted the way they did, and how we now are just a few months away from Brexit actually happening. I really appreciated this insight, and as a white woman in an interracial relationship, I found parts of me and my partner identified in the novel (minus the age and education gaps). I do not think this book shies away from fairly complex topics, and I appreciated that.

I think overall it is an interesting book that will give to people "just like me" a different perspective of the Britain we live in., and that was unexpected for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Viking for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy is 42 and a mother of two young boys. She married conventionally and then her marriage fell apart, now she is re-entering the dating scene. Joseph is 22 and looking for his way in the world, he lives with his Mum and has a portfolio of jobs including babysitting. When the two meet at the butcher's shop that Joseph works at, there is a spark. Lucy asks Joseph to babysit and the spark ignites but can two people from wildly different backgrounds make it work?
Hornby is a master of the 'everyday' modern novel. His characters could be your neighbours (if you lived in North London) and the setting is pure everyday. Here a star-crossed romance is pitched against the backdrop of the Brexit debate and so pulls in many extra strands. As ever the storytelling is great and the subtlety of the big themes is woven in well. My only gripe is that the romance didn't actually feel very believable.

In less capable hands, it would be impossible to write a sweet love story about a very improbable couple at the time of the Brexit vote in 2016, but Nick Hornby can. Not to worry, he hasn’t strayed from his North London roots, but he has expanded his world view to write a more accurate portrayal of a London neighbourhood, with all richness that brings. This was a gentle book with a happy ending, which is just the sort of novel that 2020 needs. I gulped it down and have already recommended it to others.

Now, before I start... I am a huge Nick Hornby fan. I have near on read every single book he has published and those books have adorned my bookshelves since my teen years.

So I was super excited to have the opportunity to read an ARC of Just Like You and could not wait to get comfy, settle in and read away.. and that's where the excitement ended.

Sadly this just did not do it for me at all.

For a start this was just way too political for my liking. Written in the timeline of 2016 with the run up to Brexit, theres an awful lot of major falling outs, high opinions and arguments.

In all honesty it just left me feeling quite down and disappointed.

On a positive note I did enjoy the fact that the topic of discrimination within society and race was prevalent throught, especially with what's going on in this day and age.

Thanks to netgalley and Penguin General UK for the ARC.

Really enjoyed this book.
It basically tells the love story of a couple who on paper are not compatible due to age, culture, education etc. They battle their own preconceptions about how their relationship should be as well as those around them. With the back drop of Brexit added in.
A great read with flawed but likeable characters. I would recommend

It took a while to get into this to the point that when I had finished reading the book I ended up going back to the beginning to remind myself how it had started. The story is set in 2016 in the run up to Brexit, when opinions caused major fall outs between people who might once have seen eye to eye. This is a different sort of romance between a young black man and a middle-aged woman. Joseph works primarily as a butcher, but also earns extra money as a babysitter and dabbles in producing music. He is mainly pro Brexit, based on how black footballers are treated in Europe, but is not particularly political. The other person in this romance is a divorcee called Lucy who has two boys. She is a well-educated teacher with deep political views. Added to this, she is forty something and white and a very strong Remainer, so in theory Joseph and are a very unlikely match in every respect. The story looks at the difficulties they face from every direction. His mother disapproves, and her friends look down on him. The only people who seem to approve of the relationship are her two boys, who think Joseph is really cool! Despite this Lucy and Joseph really hit it off. There is a strong physical attraction, but they are also comfortable in each other’s company.
In some ways there is not too much of a plot to this book, but instead the book has an interesting look at the differences in society and the way discrimination is still evident to the point where there are times Lucy thinks she has said something that could be misinterpreted so that she ends up walking on eggshells. She is clearly not racist but is concerned she might be considered to be by Joseph/ There is some lovely humour in the book and a real understanding of people and their behaviour. The characters are well thought through and generally likeable and an understanding that on paper couples may not seem to be right for each other, but in practice they may be perfect together.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me an ARC of this book in exchange for this review.

Unfortunately this book just didn't quite do it for me.

Just Like You tells the story of 40 something Lucy, who has split from the father of her children due to his ongoing alcohol addiction. On paper they were made for each other, they had so much in common, then look where it got her.

She meets the local butcher Joseph - who not only is a different race and a different age (almost young enough to be her son), but has very different outlooks in life. On paper it just wont work, so why are they so drawn to each other.

Whilst I really enjoyed reading about their developing relationship, some of the highs and lows and did find myself desperate to know whether Lucy forgave certain things (no spoilers here)., for me this book was just to political.

Whilst it was important to the plot, there was so much talk of Brexit and the reasons why people should or shouldn't vote to leave or remain, that it really turned me off. Life is too political all round at the moment, and this may be because at the time of writing I am fed up of breaking news updates and battling between the opposing parties that it didn't give me the ecsapism that i normally look for from a book.

An enjoyable book. but for me I'd be looking to tone down the political references.

A snapshot of Britain during the EU referendum as told by ordinary people from both sides. Lighthearted, warming, funny and true to life. I couldn’t put it down. If anyone can heal the rifts of the referendum it’s Nick Hornby.

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin General UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
I enjoyed this book, different and the writing style is quirky, the story is light and entertaining throughout. The characters are real, Lucy is forty, a schoolteacher, separated from her husband, has two young sons and a little bored. Joseph is 22, has never had a proper girlfriend and has a variety of part-time jobs.
Several topics are covered in the book, Brexit, race and romance. I like that the author feels no need to explain why a forty year old woman has fallen in love with a young man of 22, seize the moment, live for today, love who you love regardless of others opinions.
The story is told with tenderness and humour as Joseph struggles to see things from a more mature point of view in this new very adult world he finds himself in
Well done to Nick Hornby on this new novel, a clever, witty fun read.

I'm sorry to say I was quite disappointed with this book. The plot sounded really good and I expected to read something feel good, despite the trials and tribulations of their differences.

Unfortunately the relationship is very flat, with no real excitement or romance in sight. The plot is quite political, set before, during and after both the Brexit and Trump votes. It was far too heavy on this content and added nothing to the story in my opinion. It didn't show a difference between Lucy and Joseph's characters as Joseph was undecided and made, quite frankly, a stupid pointless decision on which way to vote.

The dialogue between characters I felt was quite confusing and depressing at times. They constantly misunderstand each other and end up having little arguments where one either leaves or asks the other to leave. They are both far too concerned with what other people think about them and there is just nothing between them for me to understand why they even bothered. They didn't seem happy and their differences made them almost embarrassed of each other.

I feel like this could've (should've) been a very different book if Hornby really wanted to promote a relationship with both big age difference and a Black man with a white woman. This could've been much more positive and emotionally rewarding to read but it fell hugely short for me. I felt Hornby gave more reasons for them not to be together and failed to establish the relationship well enough to truly overcome their differences.

I felt this book was quite long winded and not particularly enjoyable. I just wanted to finish it. I wasn't really bothered what happened between Lucy and Joseph because I just wasn't interested in the relationship.

Fans of Nick Hornby who are used to his writing may well enjoy this but it wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nick Hornby and Penguin General UK for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read as you would expect from Nick Hornby - throwing into thought some interesting relationship dynamics such as age and race differences.
The only thing I found slightly off-putting was the author's near-constant mention of his thoughts on brexit (as told by the characters).

Such a beautiful book, another classic from Nick Hornby. This is right up there with High Fidelity and About A Boy. It’s the story of Lucy, separated from her addict husband and living with her two boys. And Joseph, in his early twenties, still living at home and working Saturdays in a butchers while waiting for his music career to take off. Their union seems unlikely, but the spark between them is undeniable.
This is such a warm book, written with a background of Brexit that made me really remember the time of the vote and its immediate aftermath.

A really slow start that unfortunately didn't live up to expectations based on Hornby's previous books. Perhaps my tastes have changed and this just wasn't for me!

A good read from Nick Hornby but not quite as good as you would expect from him. It centres around Lucy a 42 year old white woman and her relationship with Joseph a 22 year old black guy. There's no fireworks or plots but the characters are interesting enough and it has a nice family feel.

Nick Hornby has written a great romance in Just Like You but it contains so much more than that. There is a lot contained within this small novel, not least Brexit and racial prejudices.

This seemed like an incredibly long book and I have to admit there were a few times where I wasn't totally sure I even cared what was going to happen to them but then something would happen to suck me back in again.

Just Like You is a novel about a relationship between two people who on paper shouldn't ever work together. Lucy is a fairly affluent white schoolteacher with two sons. She is 40 and in the process of a divorce. Joseph is a black man in his 20's who works a series of jobs in order to get by.

I felt that Hornby wrote particualrly well on the issue of brexit and presented its many nuances and pitfalls extremely well. All the arguements and viewpoints represented by him are all viewpoints I have heard from various people in my life.

With regards to the issue of racial prejudices in all its forms I felt that Hornby examined it very well. I thought he particularly captured the guilt that is sometimes felt by privileged white people and also some of the ignorant attitudes seemingly well educated people can present.

Hornby captured well the awardness that can occur sometimes in relationships when you aren't quite sure if you are on the same wavelength or even heading in the same direction.

Joseph and Lucy are both warm, engaging and well rounded characters and this is what helped the story along so well.

It's quite a long time since I read a Nick Hornby book but this one was excellent.
He delivers an engrossing, interesting and highly entertaining story where not much happens but you are kept hooked.
There's a lot of politics but there's also an interesting love story and two fleshed out characters.
i loved the great storytelling and character development and the humour.
It's interesting and highly enjoyable, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

3.5 stars.

This is a pretty typical Hornby outing without rising above many of his best.

There was one particular plot point that I just didn't think rang true and I do think he sometimes wrote around the big scenes.

There is a lot about Brexit though which I didn't mind but I can see how that could be annoying to some.

I thought this was interesting on the race stuff but I'm not sure how well this will be received by people who aren't white. It didn't seem tone-deaf to me but it's outside my lived experience and might feel that way to others.

A very readable novel but I'm not sure exactly how enduring a mark it will leave and I'm not sure it had quite enough meat on its bones.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Just Like You was the first book by Nick Horby that I've ever read. It wasn't really everything that I expected but it was definitely a good read. I have mixed feelings about the political themes in this book, I don't know if it's just me, but Brexit as a backdrop for a romance kind of makes me feel uneasy? Probably just me.

I liked how Brexit was portrayed from different perspectives, from leave and remain voters as well as people from different ethnicities and economic backgrounds.

For me, the romance felt a bit lacklustre due to how the characters in the relationship acted towards each other, the relationship has a large age gap but the characters make it problematic, without it being a real issue until one of them screws it up. The relationship felt quite toxic, the two characters liked each other but kept finding reasons to want to break up, without doing so because they wanted to be together and honestly I just didn't enjoy any of the characters.

How successful can a relationship be when there are age and cultural differences?
Lucy and Joseph are about to find out.

I found the characters and their differences really interesting.