Seven Exes Are Eight Too Many

by Heather Wardell

[Leah]

When author Heather Wardell emailed me and asked me if I would like to review her novel Seven Exes Are Eight Too Many, I took myself off to her website to check out more on the book and take a peek at the preview and I was intrigued. I absolutely LOVE books set in the reality world. I think there aren’t enough books set in the reality world (and any recommendations are WELCOME!!!!). I’m still waiting for a fictionalised Big Brother novel, which has not yet appeared despite the fact the show has been airing for donkey’s years by now, boo.

Seven Exes Are Eight Too Many is a little bit like the old T4 show Shipwrecked, where two islands compete to win a million dollar prize, but the twist is that all the contestants are actually exes of the two people chosen to be “Prince” and “Princess” of the island. In fact, I think MTV stole the idea and turned it in to Ex On The Beach. I hope Heather Wardell gets idea rights ;) It’s such a clever concept (Heather’s idea, not MTV’s ripoff) and I liked that not only did MC’s exes appear on her island, but it was another ex, Kent, who was her competitor.

I actually wasn’t sure which of MC’s exes I liked best. I think it was Sam, who was so sweet and so lovely and I was so disappointed when he left. That stupid bloody water run!!!! Aaron, too, was pretty funny. And Kent, of course! Although I always had high hopes for Sam. The rest I could have just left. Phillip and Dean were equally awful, and I didn’t like the way Michael was acting considering he was married and the other and I’ve forgotten the other two. I know one was called Greg. I have completely forgotten #7. OOPS. I’m sure it’ll come back to me eventually.

I really, really enjoyed Seven Exes Are Eight Too Many. I loved the reality setting (especially the islands), I loved the humour and warmth and I loved that MC was such a cool narrator. Anyone else would have just left the show immediately, 250k exit fee be damned, but I liked that she had her focus and her reasons for winning and just WENT for it. I loved getting to know her exes (as MC herself did) and I liked that most of her exes were pretty cool customers. Ex #7 was so cool I forgot his name! It was such a fun read and I’m so excited to have a new author to add to my list of authors I enjoy! I’m definitely going to be checking out Bad Will Hunting, which is the sequel (well, more like a companion as it’s not about MC again, but I’m sure we’ll see her again!). Seven Exes Are Eight Too Many is a great little read if you love funny books, or reality TV set books, or just books in general, I really, really enjoyed it.