The Full Share on The Flatshare

The Flatshare

Title: The Flat Share

Author: Beth O’Leary

Publisher: Quercus

Page Count: 400

Genre: Romance

Rating: ★★★★★

Tiffy and Leon share a flat.

Tiffy and Leon share a bed.

Tiffy and Leon have never met…

Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: night-worker Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want to feel at home you need to throw the rule book out the window…

I had hit a solid reading slump when I came across this book. My attention was caught from the first three lines of the book’s description and I knew this was just the type of book to get me back into the flow of reading in time for the new year to start. With the possibility of sounding cliche, this story is heartwarming. Tiffy and Leon are both lovable characters with strong distinctive personalities to boot. Part of the fun of reading this book is how different their personalities are and seeing their differences clash and combine. Even though the book description is what drew me to the story in the first place, it totally undersold the story that is inside the covers. I know that the purpose of the description is to intrigue and not give away the story, but the story lines of the “obsessive ex-boyfriend” and the “wrongly imprisoned brother” are so much more than that.

Tiffy is shaking loose from an emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend. Her self confidence is shot to hell and she is still in the trap of his making. This is a really difficult topic to cover in romance stories because a lot of people try to make the story too big. What I mean is they play everything way out of proportion by making the actions too obvious, the victim too naive, and, as a result, the situation unbelievable. Beth O’Leary did an amazing job of tackling an intense topic by having the reader come to the realization of Tiffy’s abuse right along side her. She begins the story still “in love” with Justin, her ex. She misses him, stalks his new relationship on social media, and is still living in his flat, granted without him there. It is only once she is out of the bubble that Justin built around her and living her own life again that the signs begin to show themselves. By allowing us to make the discovery only a little way ahead of Tiffy (and that’s only if you have some knowledge of what emotional abuse looks like) the actions that Justin takes and Tiffy’s reactions to them come across as more genuine and believable. O’Leary also handles Tiffy’s aftermath reactions well. This isn’t a story of how love heals everything, no professional help needed. It only takes a single conversation with a close friend for Tiffy to seek outside help and this is far before any love story begins between her and Leon. By doing this, O’Leary has given Tiffy independence in the story, if the romance doesn’t work out, at least she will still be getting better because she sought help. This also lends a hand in making the story more believable.

Then there is Richie, Leon’s wrongly imprisoned brother. This is another story line all together that could honestly use its own full length novel. Leon’s entire reason for being, up until Tiffy enters his life, is to make money and pay the shit lawyer who he hired to try and get his innocent brother out of jail. This is the catalyst to the flat share and thus to the rest of the story, but that isn’t the only thing it does. Focusing in on how Richie’s story plays into Leon and Tiffy’s, it is because Richie trusted Tiffy enough to tell her his story that the love story comes into play. Leon cares more for his brother than anyone else, including himself, so when Tiffy shows genuine care and interest in Richie it starts to break down Leon’s walls. I love that O’Leary played Richie’s story all the way out until the end. Like with Tiffy’s personal struggle, Leon had to work through his own obstacles before he could fully see all the good his relationship with Tiffy was doing him.

The thing I appreciate most about what O’Leary did with Richie and Leon’s and Tiffy and Justin’s stories is that they both existed in the opposite story lines, but any strong development points happened in the proper section. Like with real life relationships, there are things that impact one partner’s life more heavily than the other. That doesn’t mean they don't both have knowledge of the problem or are involved in the solving of it. I think this is one of the most realistic parts of this particular love story.

Two People, Two Voices

Of everything wonderful about this book, the one thing that I couldn’t get enough of was the distinct voices of Tiffy and Leon. Trust me when I tell you I have read many books with varying points of view over the years and nothing compares to how O’Leary made both Tiffy and Leon distinct people, not just in description, but in actual voice. It struck me hard when I first started the book. Chapter one is in Tiffy’s POV and her voice reads very much like a romance novel protagonist. She comes off as a little naive and overly bright and looks at everything in great detail because of her job as a crafting book editor. Then chapter two comes along in Leon’s POV and … BAM, the voice has completely changed. Leon’s parts of the story start out choppy. He is a nurse who is very dedicated and quite good at compartmentalizing his life so he can focus on his job. His thoughts are in shorthand like he is constantly taking notes, but has no time to write down everything, just hit the bullet points. This makes for a very interesting read because their voices are so different they almost clash next to one another. What O’Leary does brilliantly is show the growth in the characters in how their voices sound on the page. As Tiffy grows back into herself she becomes more bubbly and her inner voice seems to come out easier. As Leon learns to let go of his boxes and bring hope back into his life, his voice becomes less clipped and he adds detail to his thoughts. It is a fun and interesting way to show both character differences and character development that I have personally never seen done before.

Final Thoughts

This was an amazing read! I put off the last five pages of the book for about four days because I didn’t want the story to be over. I wanted to live with Tiffy and Leon and Richie and everyone else (except Justin) for a little while longer. If that isn’t testimony to how much I enjoyed this book, I don’t know what would be.

Now I want to hear your opinions! Have you read The Flatshare? How did you like the voice shifting? Did you enjoy it like I did or find it jarring? Would you read a book entirely about Richie if Beth O’Leary wrote one?

Thanks for stopping by and keep it Peachy!