I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

My thoughts




Narrative and Plot






Told from multiple points of view, The Lonely Hearts Trivia Night explores the theme of finding community while feeling isolated in the busy modern world. This theme is relatable and sets you up to root for the characters.

The plot unfolds slowly as the main characters participate in a pub quiz contest. The quiz means something different to each of them, allowing us a glimpse into their lives and what has shaped them.





Characters and Conflicts





Bryony, Harry, Jaimie, and Donna are the central characters of the story. Since they are introduced one after another, the beginning can feel a bit overwhelming. However, once you become familiar with the characters and their individual journeys, the narrative captures your attention.

I’m not well-versed in trivia or American pop culture, but I found myself invested in the quiz aspect of the story, rooting for the team to win. As this is a character-driven narrative, it needed individuals with distinct personalities, and the story successfully accomplishes that.

The book also addresses mental health topics that I am not deeply familiar with, but from a layman's perspective, it seems to handle these issues with the tenderness they deserve.






Conclusion



Overall, this was a heartwarming, feel-good read that tackles delicate subjects while maintaining a light tone. You can’t help but hope that these lonely hearts come together to find camaraderie and friendship in one another. Although the story takes its time, it eventually gets to where it needs to be.

Lot of characters right from the get go. Almost felt like a take on those movies, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, etc. Honestly wasn’t my cup of tea but can see how following the various characters could be appealing. Little too much for me as at times I was confused on whose perspective we were reading from. Also definitely felt like it dragged on. Thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book.

Admittedly this story was hard for me to follow. Too many characters, and couldn’t find a way to relate to any of them. It’s not a bad read just more of that it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A group of strangers join together to form a pub quiz team and find their lives changed forever.

This was a cute story but my biggest problem was the writing style. The dialogue especially felt very choppy.

I only made it about halfway through. It was pretty unremarkable. I had just finished How to Age Disgracefully and it was done so well, so it was hard to not compare.

Five lonely strangers come together as a team to participate in a local pub trivia challenge and they end up becoming friends and actually help each other in their persona lives with some big decisions that they make to change their lives. This was a really heartfelt story and each character had their own backstory that they brought to it. I liked the writing, it was easy to follow along as they had conversations and tried to figure out their way in a world full of craziness.

This book was such a great read! The mental health representation is absolutely amazing (as a woman with bi-polar disorder and borderline personality disorder i feel very strongly about this subjext!) I truly wanted to punch Luke in the gut, such a humbug!

REVIEW: The Lonely Hearts Trivia Night ⭐⭐⭐

Before having kids, my husband, our two friends, and I used to go to trivia night at our local bar once a week. I was excited that this book would feature bar trivia as a large part of the story.

Donna’s friends don’t want to do trivia night anymore, so she puts out an ad to find other players. Bryony, Harry, Jaime, and Luke decide to join in and become the Red Hot Quizzy Peppers. I like how the characters start as strangers, just doing trivia to grow together as good friends. It was so much fun watching their connections grow and how much they cared about one another. I also really liked that there was a good variety of characters, each with struggles. The diversity made it more interesting. I thought it was really neat that there were trivia questions at the beginning of each chapter that related to something that happened in that chapter. Listening to this as an audiobook, I loved the narrator. She did an excellent job with her expressions.

There were a few things that I wasn’t a big fan of. First of all, the book seemed so much longer than it needed to be. Some elements were drawn out too long. Also, it was difficult to keep track of whose POV it was in because it would just change by paragraph between the five main characters. It may have been easier to follow if each chapter was focused more on one character. Lastly, a lot of the book was quite negative with very little hope. It was frequently a downer, and the positivity didn’t come until closer to the end.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy The Lonely Hearts Trivia Night as much as I hoped to. I did like the pub quiz aspect and the variety of diverse characters and problems, but it just wasn’t a book for me.

Thank you, Netgalley, Alcove Press, and Dreamscape Media, for the free advanced copy for my honest review!

Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me. I tried pausing, then going back to it to see if I can somehow connect with the characters, but sadly it didn’t happen. I was looking forward to reading about a group of friends in a trivia group, but I think there’s too many POVs that it was challenging for me to keep up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest feedback.

Definitely not a light read here. No comedy or romance, just drama and trauma. But you know what? In the end it all worked well together. And it’s nice to read about flawed characters for once and not just perfect people with perfect lives and no problems whatsoever. In the end the drama and trauma flourished into friendship and support. Who could ask for anything more?

I wish I had liked this more but the characters were unlikeable and frustrating. The only parts I liked was when they were in the middle of their trivia matches. The rest was of the focus was on humans behaving badly and expecting things to turn out OK.

I enjoyed reading The Lonely Hearts Trivia Night by Lauren Farnsworth. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

I must say I was pleasantly surprised by The Lonely Hearts Trivia Night. I’ll admit when I first saw the cover and the title of this book I thought it sounded like a straight up romantic comedy, but then I read the blurb and was surprised to see that wasn’t the case. This is a story of five strangers, each with there own issues, coming together as a pub trivia team. While I thought it took a little bit for the story to get going I must admit I thought these characters were well fleshed out, totally believable, and I found myself caring about them. (Most of them anyway.) Lauren Farnsworth is a new author to me and I enjoyed this one enough that I’d be more than willing to check out whatever she comes out with next. 3.5 stars. Thanks so much to Alcove Press and NetGalley for allowing me access to an ARC.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lonely-hearts-trivia-night-lauren-farnsworth/1144113099?ean=9781639108299&bvnotificationId=d3ddeda4-2dd7-11ef-8845-0e34ac6a9a25&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/312319818

Big thanks to Alcove Press for providing this eARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and freely given.

"The Lonely Hearts Trivia Night" by Lauren Farnsworth is a heartwarming debut that dives into the ups and downs of adult friendships and the surprising ways we can find connection. The story follows five lonely Londoners—Bryony, Harry, Jaime, Luke, and Donna—who join forces to form a bar trivia team called the Red Hot Quizzy Peppers. They start out just wanting to answer trivia questions like "How did prosecco get its name?" but soon find themselves on a much deeper journey.

At first, the book took a bit to get into, but by the halfway point, I was hooked. Each character has their own unique trivia strengths and their own personal struggles. Farnsworth does a great job of slowly revealing what makes each character tick and why they’re so lonely. There were definitely moments when I wanted to scream at them for their choices, but those frustrating moments made them feel real and relatable.

The relationships within the Red Hot Quizzy Peppers are messy and often a bit sad. Farnsworth doesn't sugarcoat the difficulties of making friends as an adult. Sometimes, it was tough to see the characters not taking control of their lives, which made their eventual growth even more satisfying. The trivia nights become a way for them to slowly change and start taking small steps toward happiness.

One of my favorite parts of the book was the trivia bits at the start of each chapter. They were fun and added an extra layer to the story. Even though the book isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, it ends on a hopeful note. "The Lonely Hearts Trivia Night" is a heartfelt read about finding friendship and connection in the most unexpected places. If you enjoy stories about real, flawed people finding their way, you’ll love this one.

Overall Rating: 3.75 stars

This book was so lovely! Cozy, strangers meeting, going on a pub quiz. I loved the vibe, the writing style is so well- written!

A heartwarming debut women's fiction story about a group of British strangers who come together to compete in a pub quiz competition for a big cash prize. I liked each of the characters who each had their own life problems (some money, some marriage related, etc). There was a bit of romance too and I thought it was good on audio. Recommended for fans of authors like Clare Pooley or Freya Sampson. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

A fun read about found family- a trivia family. Bryony, Harry, Jaime, Luke, and Donna become friends and then a team- and you'll find yourself rooting for them. I learned a bit thanks to their contests (always a plus) but mostly I just enjoyed the characters and the story. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This was a really nice read. Five strangers become a bar trivia game team. I enjoyed how we got to know them and how they got to know each other. It took a bit for me to get into and I enjoyed some of the characters more than others. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

I liked it. It was very well written and the plot was interesting. The descriptions of the characters were good. It felt a little slow to start but was good throughout. I also think the cover is really well done and connected to the story wonderfully. I recommend this for anyone looking for a good fiction read.