Knowing You by Samantha Tonge

☆☆☆1/2
Kindle Edition, 233 pages
Published March 14th 2018 by Canelo
About the Book:
An abrupt change; a new friendship; a dark secret. Kind-hearted Violet has never fitted in, but despite being bullied at school is now content. She is dating ambitious Lenny, has her dream job in publishing and runs a book club at the local retirement home. However, when her relationship with Lenny begins to falter, Violet, hurt and alone, seeks the advice of her new flatmate, Bella. She changes her image and with her head held high aims to show that she doesn’t need Lenny in her life to be happy and successful. Her long-term friends Kath and Farah worry about Bella’s influence and slowly Violet starts to distance herself from them. When she was a child, her closest confidant and companion was a boy called Flint. Her mother didn’t approve of their closeness and he suffered a terrible end. She won’t let the same thing happen to Bella, no matter what anyone says. Knowing You is about friendship and knowing who to trust with your deepest secrets; it’s about taking control of your life and not being afraid to stand out.

Then I realised the most attractive thing about a man was the width of his reading list.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved reading about how the relationship between Violet and Bella developed. They were both endearing and flawed which made them feel very real. Another reason I enjoyed this book is that the author has male characters with personalities that are interesting, sensitive and yet strong. Often male characters in other books are unable to express their feelings and reluctant to show weakness. It is refreshing to read about men that are compassionate and considerate, exposing in-depth insight into their thoughts. Even the ones we think are scum.
Any transformation will have its challenges.
Just because I don’t quite know who I am at the moment doesn’t mean I won’t soon.
It is well written and engaging. A story of relationships, friendship and honesty in relationships. Samantha Tonge portrays the characters and their relationships in a compassionate and totally relatable way. This story is told with such empathy and even a little humor, it makes the characters seem even more real.

I debated between rating this three or four stars but ultimately settled on 3.5 because I felt like much of the book was repetitive. I do recommend this book as a good beach read, or for a lazy Sunday. I was able to stay drawn into the story and read it in one sitting. It's a solid 3.5 stars for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Canelo and Samantha Tonge for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

#KnowingYou #NetGalley