Book Review: "Not Quite by the Book: A Novel" by Julie Hatcher

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⭐ out of 5

If you've read any of my other recent book reviews, you'll already know that I start them all off in the same way:  each book I read and review starts off with the same library-load of 5 stars and I'm always hopeful that they will all still be stuck firmly in place by the time I close the back cover.  You'll also know that I'm not shy about removing stars if I feel it necessary and that I always give my reasons for doing so within the review.

Let's get going with the reading and reviewing shall we?

I've read the first paragraph and I'm already confused... who is Emily Dickenson?  Why is this about the poet?  What has the main character's mum's hospital got to do with anything?  Was the hospital stay vital to the story-line?  If not, why on earth is it in the first paragraph??

Now the main character is making a bold claim about being a world's youngest xyz which is a bold claim to make.

The third paragraph fast forwards 20 years so I'm even more confused now which is making the first star wobbly on the first page... I hope it significantly improves so that this isn't another DNF for me!

I'm on page 3 and it's such a dull book that the first star is coming off at only 1% and it's already got the grounding for being another DNF which is a shame.

Oh dear.  At only 2% another star is coming off for use of a famous publishing house potentially without permission, which is a huge no-no for me, so at only 2% of the way through, we're already down to 3 stars which isn't promising for a 300 page book.

What a dull book!  I'm gonna skip forward a few pages in the hope that it improves...

I'm at chapter 3 now and it's suddenly about sport!  The theme seems to be jumping around all over the place, so at 7% the third star is coming off and I'm skipping forward again already!  There's only 1 more star to lose before I give up... will I get to chapter 5 in this book or will it be another DNF already?

Now there is pointless arguments about the running of the bookshop and all the admin behind it... there hasn't been a single positive in the 9% I've trawled through, so I'm taking off the final star and making it another DNF - there was so much potential from the description but it didn't go anywhere near achieving what it promised.