Move out, move on

‘Just the Way You Are’ – Beth Moran

A novel about friendship, romance and learning to love yourself – just the way you are.

When Olivia Tennyson – or Ollie to her friends – was sixteen, she wrote a Dream List of all the things she wanted for her life, including a happy marriage and a family. But at twenty-nine, Ollie is single, living at home with her over-protective and manipulative mother, and is feeling like her dreams are getting further out of reach.

It’s time for a change.

It’s time to take matters into her own hands.

Without telling her mum, or more importantly, asking her permission, Ollie finds the perfect place to start her new life. End Cottage has a duck-egg blue front door, a garden that leads to acres of forest, and definitely counts as her dream home.

Now all Ollie has to do is complete the rest of her list and find out who she really is, before she can imagine any romance coming into her life. After all, how is she going to find her dream man in the middle of a forest…

This book was definitely one of my favourites so far from Moran. I liked the different subplots, although do think that some worked better than others. The characters were likeable and I really got a sense of Ollie trying to strike out on her own, once and for all.

Ollie, at nearly thirty years of age, is still living at home. But not in a good way. Her hypochondriac of a mother does everything in her power to ensure her daughter never leaves: faking illnesses, getting herself to hospital, emotional abuse… anything to guilt-trip Ollie into sacrificing everything. Single as a result of her mother’s interference, Ollie realises this toxic relationship cannot continue. I was shocked by how far her mother would go and was pleased when Ollie makes plans to remove her mother from her life, move on, and move out.

Cutting out her mother was quite an extreme response but it was definitely needed! Readers get to see Ollie blossom into a confident individual who is able to make her own choices, without reporting back to someone else. Coinciding with this life-changing decision, Ollie also sees it as time to finally complete her Dream List – a list of challenges and wishes that she wrote when she was a teenager. For me, I thought this was the weakest part of the story because the subplots of Ollie’s work at the library and her neighbours were far more interesting. Plus, working through a sort of ‘bucket list’ has been done so many times before and I didn’t think Ollie’s choices were particularly memorable.

Instead, I loved reading about the “Library Lady” Irene, the Frea-K Three-Ks and Joan. Not to mention the mysterious ranger and Ollie’s immediate neighbour, the cast of characters added so much flavour to this story. Joan’s story was a more sobering element to the plot, counterbalanced by Ollie’s growing friendship with Sam. I definitely wished he featured even more in the story, growing frustrated with Ollie’s “No Man Mandate” where she has promised to stay single whilst the Dream List needs completing. In my opinion, this just holds her and the story back a bit.

This is a light-hearted story that has a lovely forest setting and a warming community. Even though it takes place over several months, it certainly felt like a summer read and I think this helped by the lovely characters. There’s plenty going on in this story so it is less than predictable and I enjoyed watching Ollie blossom from a down-trodden daughter to an independent woman who is happy with life once more.

With thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.