Leah
Written on Dec 12, 2014
When I Met You was such an interesting read - I had a few issues with Marianne (see below for more on that) but overall it was a book I enjoyed. The plot surprised me - when Marianne's father, Ray comes back into her and her family's life, I was expecting Marianne to not only freak out, but also banish him. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that she (and her sister Hayley, and mother Allison) let Ray back into their lives. Yes there was anger, confusion, hurt etc, they let Ray in with their whole hearts, and it was lovely to see the family back together, and that Hayley and Marianne were willing to make a go of it with him.
There's a line towards the end of the book that says that Ray helped pull the family together, and having finished the novel I fully agree with that. When we first meet the family they're all over the place - Marianne comes and goes, travelling here and then and then coming back home when she's out of money and Hayley is angry at the world, but Ray's bluntness and honesty really helped both of them get their heads out of the sand.
I came to see the Baxter's as such wonderful people. Yes, they're crazy - Hayley's attempt to sing on national television proved they're completely crackers, but they loved each other, and again, they let Ray in to their family. Even Martin, Allison's husband, was so kind to Ray. It's amazing the power one man can have in one novel.
Marianne was a bit of a selfish character at times, and often quite mean, especially with regards to Andy. A fella she met in Thailand, extended an offer to to come to England and then when he comes, and isn't what he cracked up to be, she turns on him, not even giving him the benefit of the doubt. Pretty much, as soon as she saw him, she was done with him, and then proceeded to call him fat and chubby at every available opportunity which I hated. Andy never did anything wrong - Marianne invited him to England, Marianne got in to the relationship with him, and Marianne was too bloody scared to give him the boot and the way she treated him was appalling.
Considering what the novel ended up being about, Marianne should have just let things like that go, and thought of the bigger picture, because compared to the plot, seeing her whinge about how gorgeous Hayley was just got on my wick and spoiled my enjoyment of the novel.
Come the ending, When I Met You had me in tears. It really did. It was a really emotional read, with characters that I really took to heart, especially Ray, which I never expected when we first meet him. I loved the Baxter's as if they were my own (very annoying) family. When I Met You was a brilliant, absorbing read, only spoiled a little bit now and again by Marianne's selfishness and uncalled for meanness.
I really, really loved the novel. It surprised me how much I cared for the novel, once I had finished it, and When I Met You is definitely one of the more emotional reads you'll ever have the pleasure to pick up, but it's an emotional rollercoaster well worth being a part of.{Leah Loves} http://leah-loves.com http://leah-loves.com/books-met-jemma-forte/