Reviewed by Leah on
Last year, It Happened In Paris was easily one of my favourite books of the year – possibly my absolute favourite. So to know it was the first in a series was really exciting and I couldn’t wait for It Happened In Venice. Hopkins has such an easy writing style, that’s so easy to read, so easy to enjoy and I saw the Evie Dexter series as a modern, globe-trotting Shopaholic series. It’s what it reminded me of. I was so excited to see Venice through Evie’s eyes as we saw Paris through her eyes previously. I was even more interested in how Evie’s relationship with Rob would progress especially after what happened in Paris.
Sadly, for me, It Happened In Venice was nothing short of a disaster. From start to finish, it just seemed like an entirely different series. First up, let’s start with the fact that Venice doesn’t even come into the equation until 320 pages in. In fact, Venice features so little that it should have been called It Happened In London with a little bit of Venice. Venice was sparse at best, spanning a mere 20 or so pages in what was a 400+ page book. I just kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting for Evie’s fabulous Italian adventure, and it just didn’t come. Even when it come, it still wasn’t all that. I felt cheated. Where was Venice? Considering the name, the cover, the synopsis, it all seemed geared toward Venice and it was just a bit strange that it wasn’t really there.
Now on to Evie and Rob’s relationship. I LOVED their relationship during It Happened In Paris. They clicked immediately and the sparks just flew. I stated in my Paris review that I hoped Venice wouldn’t screw it all up, and it did. Evie turned into a whining harpie. Yes, he cheated (which, by the way, it seems was the worst mistake Hopkins ever made, that effectively is what ruined Venice, that’s what started the downfall). Yes, she has a right to be indignant. But for the love of God, if you take him back and PROMISE TO NOT MENTION IT, then you should NOT MENTION IT. Otherwise you turn into a harpie. And Rob? What happened to Rob? He turned into a monster. A demanding, whining monster who threw his toys out of the pram whenever he didn’t get his own way. And then! Oh God. Just to make it worse, Hopkins then went and made it worse, revealing Rob to be something I never, ever saw coming and effectively ruining Paris. I can’t quite believe Hopkins went there. That she did that. As a reader I, again, feel cheated. I do not put effort into reading books and enjoying relationships for that to happen. I just don’t. In my opinion, Hopkins should never have put the cheating at the end of Paris. She seems to have written herself into a corner and she went a bit fantastical to get out of it. Rob’s character was ruined in Venice, ruined.
The book just did not work. Lulu was weird and her and Rob’s behaviour to each other was disgusting. Even Nikki and the bar staff across the road just weren’t as funny or as bright as they were in the first book. I just thought it was a disaster. What was so good in Paris was the chemistry and the fun between Rob and Evie and it just got blown apart for reasons I can’t fathom. The way the book ended was just peculiar, too. I can’t even really explain it without spoiling the book (not that that would be a bad thing, well, not for those who previously liked Rob, anyway). It just… you read a book and love it, you love the couple, love the dynamics and then it just gets ruined. I cannot think of a worse sequel that could have occurred, bar somebody dying. I won’t be reading It Happened In Santorini, because all the interest I had in the series has just disappeared. It disappeared as soon as the truth about Rob came out. Maybe it was meant to be a good thing, but I liked Rob. He was brilliant. I will just remember how good Paris was, because that WAS a good book, and that one is worth reading again and again.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 24 August, 2012: Finished reading
- 24 August, 2012: Reviewed