Postcards from the Heart Book Review

Postcards from the Heart by Ella Griffin

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Blurb:

Life is looking up for Saffy. She has a great job, a gorgeous flat in the most desirable part of Dublin and - after six years - it looks like her boyfriend, Greg, is going to propose. Greg (just voted the 9th most eligible man in Ireland) is on a high, too - he's about to swap his part as a heart-throb in an Irish soap for a break in Hollywood.

His best mate Conor wakes up every morning with Jess, the most beautiful woman on the planet but, even after seven years and two kids, she won't marry him. He spends his days teaching teenagers and his nights writing the book he hopes will change everything, including Jess's mind.

But their happy endings are playing hard to get. It seems everyone's keeping secrets - one night stands, heartbreak, grief and loss are all in the mix. It's going to take some tough questions and even tougher answers before anyone's being honest - even with themselves.

Review by Brittany:

Ella Griffin is not an author I'm familiar with, but I picked up a used copy of her book in a local bookstore because I recognized it as a UK edition and I'm a sucker for UK imports.

The book opens on Valentine's Day, and Saffy is convinced that Greg is going to propose to her. When he doesn't, it throws her life and his into a bit of a tailspin. Meanwhile, Conor and Jess are floating along as they always have. Conor begins working more on his book and dedicating more time to that than he is to anything else.

The middle of the book got a little slow for me. It was during this time that Saffy and Greg were making some bad relationship choices, and things with Jess and Conor felt a bit stagnant. There was enough to the story to keep me reading, but I wasn't dying to find out what would happen next.

The character of Greg was totally obnoxious, which I think was the point. He's the dumb actor trope who messes up common sayings and treats his girlfriend awfully. Throughout the book I kept waiting for Saffy to open her eyes and realize that he was not a good guy for her! Even after the Valentine's Day debacle and the terrible choices they both were making, Saffy was still chasing Greg. The frustration I felt was similar to what I feel with my real friends when they are dating someone who is totally unworthy. Having that frustration made the characters seem more real to me.

The ending of the book surprised me a bit, not necessarily in how things worked out but in the events leading up to the climax. The author went about ending the book in a different way than I expected, which I appreciated.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read. It wasn't quite as good as I had hoped it would be, but I still found it be an interesting book.

Notable quotes:

"Making a child is the most amazing thing you'll ever do but here's the catch, you won't know that till you do it."

Her daughter seemed to have forgiven him, and wasn't that the whole point of marriage? That guarantee that, no matter what happened, you stayed together.

"It's just that I think there's one person for you and if you find that person, well, you know."

She understood the real reason why people had children. Because nobody really dies, not completely, as long as someone, somewhere, is still smiling or raising one eyebrow or shrugging a shoulder the way they used to.

This was what life seemed to come down to, she was beginning to realize. Losing things.