Book Synopsis:
What is love? Is it something spiritual or wholly physical? Can our feelings be explained and quantified? Or are we all actually two halves of a whole?
Ask Alice and Luke and you’d receive vastly different answers.
Despite her world having been recently dismantled by a messy break-up, Alice would tell you that love is the most important – albeit ineffable – human experiences. But when she once again crosses paths with her old school nemesis, Luke, he challenges this. Luke is a scientist and he’s certain love can be measured and explained – just like everything else.
So the two decide to make a bet: they’ll each venture back into dating and if one of them falls in love, Alice wins, if not, then Luke does.
But can anyone win when you’re playing with emotions?
My Review:
The Philosophy Of Love is another heartwarming, hilarious and relatable read from one of my favourite authors.
Firstly I absolutely loved Alice and enjoyed following her throughout the book. She’s such a lovely, relatable character that I found myself warming to her instantly, wanting to keep reading as I cared about what would happen to her next. Her family were wonderful creations and I loved the way they rallied around to support her, making her get out of the house to experience their interests with them. Her aunt Moira in particular was a very colourful character whose many outlandish sayings often had me laughing out loud and made me wish I had an Aunt Moira in my life.
The book is divided into 6 parts each dedicated to a different man that Alice tries to date to win her bet with Luke. Every date is a chance for Alice to find herself and to discover what she doesn’t like about a man. Some of her experiences had me laughing out loud while others had a poignant edge to them as we discover how much past dating experiences have affected Alice. It was great to see Alice slowly rediscover herself and grow in confidence as the book continues.
Overall I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read more from this author in future. There are some surprisingly serious subjects mentioned in this book which took me by surprise but which I think would make this book a great book club read as there would be lots to discuss. I loved watching the different relationships develop and it was fun seeing what would happen with Luke and Alice who I had quickly grown fond of. The ending was brilliant and I closed the book very sad to leave the wonderful characters behind.
Huge thanks to Sara-Jade for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. Having really loved this author’s first book I was a tad nervous to read more from her as I didn’t think I could possibly like another book as much but I was wrong as I absolutely loved this one too!
About The Author:
Rebecca Ryan lives in Bradford with her three young children. Although she always loved writing, it hadn’t really occurred to her that she could do it professionally. She recently left her job as a teacher to pursue writing full-time. She enjoys walking in the countryside and takeaways (if that counts as a hobby).
Over The Rainbow Blog 