Book Review: Don’t Get Me Wrong by Marianne Kavanagh

Format: Paperback

Pages: 352 pages

Published: August 25, 2015

Publisher: The Text Publishing Company

Genre: Fiction/Literature, Women’s Fiction

 

 

 

Synopsis:

For fans of Jojo Moyes, David Nicholls, and Sophie Kinsella, here is a Pride and Prejudice for the modern era: Londoners Kim and Harry can’t see eye to eye…until the life of the person they both love most hangs in the balance.

Kim and Harry are total opposites who happen to have the same favorite people in the world: Kim’s older sister, Eva, and her young son, Otis. Kim has never seen what her free-spirited big sister sees in a stuck-up banker like Harry and has spent her childhood trying to keep him out (must he always drive the most ostentatious cars and insist on charming everyone he meets?), while Harry’s favorite occupation is provoking Kim.

Both Harry and Kim are too stuck in their prejudices to care about what’s really going on beneath the surface of each other’s lives. They’ll never understand each other—until the worst of all tragedy strikes. Faced with the possibilities of losing the person they both love most, long-buried secrets come to a head in ways that will change both Harry and Kim forever.

As in her “hilarious, poignant, and profound” (Daily Mail) novel For Once in My Life, Marianne Kavanagh tackles the bonds of family, friendship, and love through sophisticated storytelling. Don’t Get Me Wrong is a witty and heartwarming book that will charm readers everywhere”

I was interested in this novel with the Pride and Prejudice connection made with this story. Of course it was a marketing ploy, nevertheless I was intrigued. Let me just be clear: this is not a Pride and Prejudice modern retelling, far from it. Kim and Harry’s relationship slightly mimics Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy beginning courtship. And I do mean slightly.You will be frustrated with the main character Kim. She despises Harry but unfortunately for not very good reasons. You read and read and you try to find any justification for her feels and you find them lacking. You only discover that her feelings stem from jealousy because Kim has to share her sister, Eva with Harry. And because of this misguided hatred , Kim’s attitude can be insensitive, inconsiderate, and spontaneous with her comments. She does share some characteristics with Elizabeth Bennet but I didn’t want to slap Elizabeth.

I don’t see my frustration with Kim as a negative aspect with this novel. In fact, I was unable to put the book down because of it. I couldn’t wait to read more and find out how Kim really grows up and she really needs it. I like reading unlikable characters. You can’t wait for them to discover the mistakes that you as the reader already see in them. So yes you might want to strangle Kim but I suggest stick around for a bit. It is very interesting to see how she develops.

Harry, on the other hand, you will love. You’ll have so much sympathy for him that you will hard time understanding why Kim hates so much. He has so much devotion and compassion for those around him. He has like the opposite of what Kim should be. But we as the reader knows his back story while Kim is not yet privy to that information so which why this novel is full of misunderstandings and bad judgement calls.

The only issue I had with this novel and which caused me to downgrade my rating was the ending. I sometimes say that authors make books unnecessarily long but in this case, more pages would have been a huge benefit. It needed more pages not because I wanted it (which I did) but the ending was severely lacking. Maybe the author did this on purpose: leave an ambiguous ending and the readers can come up with their own conclusions. But I prefer to have a more complete ending with better understanding, wrapped up nicely in a bow.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It may not be as witty as Austen or emotional as Jojo Moyes’s works but it still packs a pretty good punch. Don’t be misled by the publisher’s tagline for the book. Just think of it standing apart from the rest and you will enjoy this funny novel full of romantic misunderstandings and family conflict.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Note: I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

 

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