The Saturday Supper Club...A really good read

Title: The Saturday Supper Club
Author: Amy Bratley
ISBN: 987-0330519687
Rating: 8/10
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Fiction
Book: Audiobook

This is an audiobook which I have actually enjoyed. It has been a little while since I have enjoyed an audiobook which I have received from the library for a while. I was in two minds about whether to read it because I had not enjoyed the last couple of books I had as an audiobook.

The book starts with us finding out that Eve and Ethan had been in a relationship together before Ethan's impromptu departure. Eve has been lumbered with competing in the Saturday Supper Club after someone dropped out. Eve has always been interested in cooking and likes to make meals with different ingredients and to experiment with the food she has. The competition is between four different people, a different house every week and a different meal, the winner gets a £1000. A bit like Come Dine With Me for those who watch it.

I started off liking Eve at the beginning of the book, I liked how she has made a life for herself once Ethan had abandoned her and moved to Italy. She was still wondering why he had left, and what had happened but she was starting to move on. She was now going out with Joe, a lifelong friend. They have known each other since childhood as Joe and Eve lived next door to one another.

Eve has decided she does not want to work in the usual mainstream office or a job that she does not like she decides to go after her dream of opening a cafe. She works along with her best friend Isabelle to get the cafe up and running before Isabelle moves to Dubai with her husband to further his career. In order to help Eve along with the cafe, Joe does what he can when Eve needs more money. However, she cannot get Ethan out of her head, now he has returned and turned up at The Saturday Supper Club, Eve is now questioning everything she knows. Does she love Joe? Does she still love Ethan? Why has Ethan suddenly turned up?

Eve is very close to her Dad and her sister, Daisy since their mum died years ago. Both Eve and Daisy were young when they lost their mum but Daisy has never been able to move on from this and is very resentful to Eve for being able to adapt her life following their mum's death. I was not keen on Daisy and the more I got to know Eve I started to dislike her. The character that I thought was strong, independent and resilient is actually a naive, silly, really annoying person! She is so hung up on Ethan she can't see anything else but what her life "could have been like". She is so annoying! Did not like her. I wanted her to stand up to Ethan and tell him where to go and realise what she has with Joe, or even to realise if she doesn't want to be with Joe then Ethan is horrible. He is creepy and slimy and big headed and if you haven't guessed I don't like him. Eve has these unresolved issues with Ethan but thinks her own family are perfect and ideal. Before she goes trying to change other people and making their lives better she needs to look at her own family and the phrase, "those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones comes to mind".

One character I really liked was Maggie. Eve meets Maggie as one of the other contestants at The Saturday Supper Club, along with Andrew who I also liked. Maggie is fun, exciting and adventurous. I was unsure of her to start with as I thought she was going to be shrill and high maintenance. In the end, she could quite easily be my favourite character out of everyone. She is insightful, informative and down to earth. I would like her as my friend. Although, she is very beautiful and that can be intimidating sometimes I suppose.

The story is engaging and interesting, there are twists and turns throughout and things which I definitely did not see coming. The decisions Eve makes, I initially agreed with and then she decides against them and changes everything, however, sometimes she realises she doesn't want her life to go a certain way so changes it again. All of these twists and turns were great throughout the story and kept me focused and wanting to read more. I found myself listening to the story on a morning on the way to work which I never do as I find I can't always concentrate. It did help that I became stuck in traffic in the snow and it took me an hour and a half to travel a 5-mile journey to work. I became particularly engrossed in the story on this day.

Penelope Rawlins reads the story and she has a nice voice to listen too. It is relaxing and she has good dexterity in her range. However, I was not keen on her boy voices. I rather wished she had just continued to talk normally when being male. She sounded a little silly when being male as this is obviously not a voice which comes naturally to her.

Overall I really enjoyed the story. It was funny, engaging and had lots of twists throughout. I would definitely recommend this story to others and would like to read more by both the author and the narrator.
Rating 8/10
10-Word-Review: Definitely read it but try not to shout at Eve.

I have also recently finished All The Light We Cannot See by Antony Doerr. I was reading this at the same time as Poppy Loves Book Club were reviewing it. This post will be coming soon with my opinion of what I thought about it.

I am now currently reading a book which was recommended to me by the children at school. The children in my school are currently undertaking the
Stockton Book of the Year competition and they have told me to read Cogheart by Peter Bunzl. I am finding it a very easy read and will hopefully have a review to post to you soon.

Thank you again for reading this review, I hope you enjoyed it and let me know if you recommend anything...Steph xx