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Created page with "{{infobox |title=These Days of Ours |author=Juliet Ashton |reviewer= Sophie Diamond |genre=Women's Fiction |summary= Warm and sincere, this book can't fail to go straight to y..."
{{infobox
|title=These Days of Ours
|author=Juliet Ashton
|reviewer= Sophie Diamond
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary= Warm and sincere, this book can't fail to go straight to your heart. Perfect reading for any season.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=416
|publisher=Simon & Schuster UK
|date=April 2016
|isbn=978-1-4711-5505-5
|website=http://www.julietashton.com
|video=
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471155056</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1471155056</amazonus>
}}
Not everything that looks like love is love. Kate and Charlie were childhood sweethearts, so what went wrong? How has he ended up marrying her wayward cousin and Kate marrying her wayward cousin's pretentious ex-boyfriend? How can they still be four friends? Follow Kate through her life where she experiences all kinds of love in all kinds of places and learns that not everything that looks like love is love, but that just sometimes what looks like love might be the real deal.

I loved this story. It's bursting at the seams with wonderful vibrant characters and heartbreaking and heart-warming stories. This is the story of Kate's life. She's a cracking protagonist, strong, smart, sometimes frustrating but eternally good. Becca, her beautiful cousin and foil, is selfish, indulged but entertaining and grows as the story progresses. The male loves, Charlie and Julian are also multi-layered with complex motivations. This story is not your typical chick lit. The novel spans 20 years and has a beautiful depth with twists and turns which you won't see coming.

I found that Ashton consistently changed my mind about the characters and what I wanted to happen - and I really enjoyed that. Each character shows such growth and change which is not an easy feat and has been brilliantly accomplished.

I wanted to fall into the pages of this book. I wanted to be Kate's friend, I wanted to strangle Becca and I wanted to give Charlie a big kick on multiple occasions. This is a story which made me feel that I was right there with them. I can't think of higher praise for a writer than to make a reader feel like that about their story and their characters. I laughed, I cried and I didn't want it to end.
I hope Ashton writes another book soon, can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Thank you to the Bookbag and the publishers for my review copy.

If you like this, you will love [[One Day by David Nicholls]]

{{amazontext|amazon=1471155056}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=1471155056}}

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