4.5 stars, rated up

Okay, I’ll admit that for the first 5%, I totally had Friday I’m in Love running in my head.
Then I just really got into this story.

This Bird Has Flown was delightful from start to finish. I loved Tom Hardy (Oxford professor Tom Hardy, that is, and Christ, what bookish classics-loving woman hasn’t fantasized about an Oxford professor, who just happens to teach the romantics 😍) I loved Jane, who was so vividly real. Susanna Hoffs has written a debut novel with warmth, humor (I cringe laughed out loud during a certain scene with Tom’s housekeeper), beauty, and, l imagine, love for these fictional characters (I’m absolutely including secondary characters as well) who just jump off the page, so realistic and evolving are they. I utterly adored this novel.

I am already looking forward to reading what Ms. Hoffs writes next.

I truly enjoyed my reading of this and definitely recommend.

Some of you may know Susanna Hoffs from the Bangles. That's what drew me to this book, as well as the premise. Early 30s has been pop singer/one hit wonder meets cute an Oxford professor and hits it off.

I had a lot of problems with this book. First of all, have you seen the Steve Buscemi meme? "How do you do, my fellow kids?" That kept popping in my head as I read this book. Susanna Hoffs is not in her early 30s and that's ok. I'm not in my early 30s either! But Jane Smart, her heroine is, yet all the cultural references she's popping off are probably flying over the heads of someone who is actually 30. Sure, you could play it off that since she was a musician, she would know all these old songs, but Tiger Beat? Who even reads that anymore? Is Tiger Beat still a thing?
Things move quickly between Jane and the Professor but never really develop. There's the mysterious ex-girlfriends that Jane doesn't want to know about but she does. There's the enigmatic Jonesy, who is partially responsible for her one hit wonder (she covered one of his lesser known songs). But in the end, I really didn't care about any of the characters and it was a big yawn.
Sorry, just not for me.

Susanna Hoffs' This Bird Has Flown has a cute title and cover art and is a quick and light romance read. The plot felt similar to several books I've read before (older woman down on her luck, returns home to live with parents, falls in love; woman is despondent when boyfriend cheats on her with a younger woman, two female colleagues are also besties, etc.), and the author uses many cliche phrases (Ex. In Chapter One, "Fake it till you make it."), which is off putting. The characters are one-dimensional and are not well-developed, which flatlines the romance. I would not recommend this book to readers who enjoy a meet-cute romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance reader copy for the purpose of providing an unbiased review.

I’m whistling “Walk like an Egyptian” and performing the song’s famous moves right now! As I’m preparing myself to embrace the upcoming hazy shade of winter and keep listening more Bangles songs, I have to admit Susanna Hoffs is not only brilliant singer, guitarist and songwriter, she’s also promising book writer. ( so normal, she’s Capricorn: she can achieve anything she puts her mind into! )

First of all: I cannot make a choice which man is the best? The actor Tom Hardy or Hoffs’ fictional professor Tom Hardy! Hoffs knows how to create a book boyfriend make all those female readers drool!

But it would be unfair if I didn’t mention about the main character: I loved Jane a lot! I loved her quirkiness, her struggles, her suffer for creating something from scratch, something unique and extraordinary, her insecurities, her sarcastic mind!

I guffawed and sighed so many times during my read. It entertained me and emotionally destroyed me! I definitely recommend you to read it! The characterization is amazing. It’s unputdownable addiction! You shouldn’t miss this feel good reading!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Written by Susanna Hoffs, from The Bangles, this book is at turns, funny, clever, and romantic. Recommended for readers who enjoy a "beach read" in the middle of fall. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.