Review... Nine Uses for an Ex-Boyfriend - Sarra Manning

Nine Uses for an Ex-Boyfriend - Sarra Manning
Corgi, 2012
ISBN: 9780552163286













My rating

From the back cover:

"Hope Delafield hasn't always had an easy life.
She has red hair and a temper to match, as her mother is constantly reminding her. She can't wear heels, is terrified of heights and being a primary school teacher isn't exactly the job she dreamed of doing, especially when her class are stuck on the two times table.
At least Hope has Jack, and Jack is the God of boyfriends. He's sweet, kind, funny, has a killer smile, a cool job on a fashion magazine and he's pretty (but in a manly way). Hope knew that Jack was The One ever since their first kiss after the Youth Club Disco and thirteen years later, they're still totally in love. Totally. They're even officially pre-engaged. And then Hope catches Jack kissing her best friend Susie...
Does true love forgive and forget? Or does it get mad... and get even?"

I'm a little conflicted over this book, I'll be honest. Coming from my new-favourite-author, I knew it was going to be a) superbly written, b) deeply gripping, and c) brilliant... And it certainly was all of those three things.

I think it deserves a better title, and cover, but that of course that doesn't have any effect on my overall enjoyment.

The heroine of this story is really put through the ringer - she's chewed up, spit out, then put through it all over again. But she never loses herself totally, and eventually becomes stronger because of it.

The book captures everything, warts and all, that people go through after infidelity and when a relationship ends. Mistakes are made, even from the heroine, and the author holds nothing back. I was never sure where the author was going to take us next and the story has so many twists, turns, and unexpected happenings.

That's what makes this book so brilliant. I enjoyed every page, wanting to either cheer out load, sob, or scream in frustration! It is, at times, painful reading.

Then I got to the last few pages... The epilogue left me feeling sad. The heroine had been treated appallingly by some people and they were still a part of her life, I feel after everything she had gone through she deserved so much better.

Because it was the last thing I read, this sticks in my mind, but the rest of the book is simply wonderful so I can forgive these last few pages!

Gritty and real, and intensely moving. Read it!

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