Georgia Kostopoulou

 

Zoe, a chef in a local pub, is on her late 20s when she realizes that she is finally over her ex boyfriend, who’s girlfriend, Alice, is Zoe’s boss. At the same time she realizes that she is going to die alone, without a partner that is, having as her only company her ginger cat. So Zoe decides to takes matters into her own hands, as per her sous chef’s advice, and lands herself on Tinder. And as if that was not enough, she throws in another app, one related to zodiac signs and plans her Tinder dates based on their zodiac signs, trying to find the perfect match, starting from the one sign that seems to be the least compatible with hers, making her way up until she find Mr. Perfect.

Online dating can be a bit of a struggle. Dating as such surely is! But the kind of anonymity and freedom internet provides you with can be a real thing. So Zoe ends up with tons of photos of a particular part of men’s anatomy, while she tries to find actual men she would possibly date. Strange as it seems, she goes on various dates with people she would never do at any other chance. Sure, she get’s to see their picture alright, but photos are not enough to give you the image of that person. So she ends up having a date with a man that has prepared a romantic dinner on a hill, one that should be saved for wedding proposals I’d say, and who pretty much forced her vegetarian self to eat oysters and listen to his flat mate playing the violin while a number of spectators were filming them! And that was not even the worse of those dates, if you count the guy that showed up completely drunk, or the other own that brought his own kid on their date and pretty much told her that he is looking for a stay at home mother for his son!

I could really see where she was coming from. As she got closer to her thirties, she got all stressed up about ending up alone. But this was too soon in her life to react like this. It’s not something I would do, so I didn’t relate to her fear, but I could play along. Zoe went from one stupid decision to another, believing low of herself and taking decisions about her life based on a daily quote an app would give her. There were times that I wanted to tell her to wake up and stop wasting her life with people that do not treat her the way she deserves! Eventually, she did wake up and I was glad she took her own advice.

All the dating thing seems to be a big part of the book, so I could do with a bit more details or funny dating stories. It seemed that this part was a bit brief for my liking. I did enjoy the gym part and I liked that Zoe got this habit of daily exercising, as well as the fact that she made an actual friend there. Her life seems to be very lonely so a friend like Dani was a good addition to it.

Low self esteem was portrayed very well I have to say. The reader can easily see what Zoe is doing. putting up with a person she shouldn’t because she is afraid she would end up alone for the rest of her life. And I’m pretty sure many readers will relate to this part, while others will be on her back, asking why she is not following her own advice and dump the guy!

Overall, it was a fast and funny read, one that can be relatable to many!

 

Thank you to NetGalley & Bookouture for an advance copy of this book. The views expressed are my personal and honest opinion.