Cute little romance but also gave very strong Fleabag vibes

2.5 stars--I'm rounding up

This was a re-read of a book I had enjoyed several years ago. I needed something lighthearted to hold my attention just now, and I had always meant to re-read this because I generally quite like Marian Keyes.

Unfortunately this one didn't hold up to my memory of it. Lucy Sullivan is told by a psychic that she's going to be married in less than 18 months. At first she shrugs this off as nonsense, but when her friends' psychic predictions begin to come true (albeit in some unconvincing ways) Lucy starts to wonder if the next man she meets is going to be 'the one.' Unfortunately Lucy has a history of dating losers: alcoholics who take advantage of her money and generosity to the point where the relationship crumbles. And the next man Lucy meets is no different, although the stakes are higher now that Lucy has marriage on her mind.

I found the book to be heavy-handed and almost lecturing when discussing co-dependent relationships and the root (or at least one root) of codependency. In the second half of the book especially I kept feeling like we stepped out of the narrative and into an Al-Anon brochure or a self-help book. And Lucy's problems seemed to resolve themselves way, way too easily. She suddenly and within a single night was able to perceive the pattern of everything that had gone wrong in past relationships and (eventually) fix her life. Again, it felt like I was reading a self-help success story rather than a novel about a real (fictional--I know, I know) character. And the dialogue...normally I appreciate Marian Keyes' witty dialogue but this was stilted and hard to picture. The characters would call each other by name with almost every change in speaker, for one thing:
'Lucy, do you think...'
'Yes, Daniel, and I want...'
'Okay Lucy, but have you...'
'...for doing this Daniel.'
'Thank you Lucy.'

It seems like someone told Keyes that her dialogue strings were too long and it was easy to lose track of who was speaking. So she made sure we didn't lose track, but who talks like that?

Anyway, 3 stars because I finished the book and wanted to know what happened although on the whole I found it more annoying than entertaining. I normally like Marian Keyes when I want chick lit, but I didn't think this was her best work.

2,5
Bastante flojito
No pude creerme que una mujer de 26 años se comporta como una adolescente, aunque la lección se agradece.