So book number 57 in my Goodreads Reading Challenge (yes I know I’ve smashed it *pats self on back*) is Giovanna Fletcher’s Some Kind of Wonderful.

When the love of your life says you’re not The One, who are you? Lizzy and Ian have been a couple since the first week of university. Now, after celebrating a decade together, everyone thinks they’re about to get engaged. Instead, a romantic escape to Dubai leaves Lizzy with no ring, no fiancé and no future. Lizzy is heartbroken – but through the tears, she sees an opportunity. This is her moment to discover what she’s been missing while playing Ian’s ideal ‘better half’. But how much has Ian changed her, and who should she be without him? Determined to discover who she is at heart, Lizzy sets out to rediscover the girl she was before – and, in the meantime, have a little fun… (Thanks Netgalley!)

I have (nearly) worked my way through all of Giovanna Fletchers novels (I still have to read Always With Love – exciting!) and I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t think anything could beat her first novel, Billy and Me.  I loved Sophie and Billy’s story, and I really believed that this was Giovanna’s best work.  Until I read Some Kind of Wonderful.

Lizzy is heartbroken.  She has spent 10 years of her life loving Ian, a man she believed to be The One.  She has also spent 10 years waiting for The Question.  Holidays and milestones have passed them by as she continued to wait for him to confirm her belief that they were meant to be together forever.  When the moment finally arrives however, Ian removes all her hopes and dreams for their future whilst waving a diamond under her nose.  Heartbroken, grief-stricken and direction-less, Lizzy returns home to her family to try to rediscover exactly who she is and who she wants to be post-Ian.

We follow Lizzy as she reminisces about who she was before she met Ian.  I particularly enjoyed her reminiscing about her nights out in Chelmsford and in Dukes, somewhere my friends and I spent many fun filled evenings in our late teens (most Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays to be precise!).

What I loved about this book is that it was not about a boy.  Yes, I appreciate that Ian ditched Lizzy, but that is only the beginning of the story.  This is a story about Lizzy the woman, a woman who needs to find out what she wants from life.  Discovering who she wants to be as a person, as a professional and what she may eventually want from a future relationship.  It is also about her discovering what she doesn’t want to be, and the breakdown in her relationship finally gives her some perspective about some areas of her life that she has stringently ignored due to her total focus on The Question.

This is chick-lit, but it is chick-lit that makes you consider your own position in the world.  It makes you think about what is really important, and whether you are really acknowledging your own needs as well as everyone elses.  Life is short, and everyone deserves to be happy.

I loved this novel, and it really does make me excited for what Giovanna will present to us all next.  I definitely recommend this thought-provoking, uplifting novel about self-discovery which really does highlight just how strong women really are.

Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin and Giovanna Fletcher for providing me with a pre-publication copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📖