Plot: We’ve been waiting for an hour. That’s what Audrey says. She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just bordering on cursive. That’s the thing I think first. Not: Audrey Hepburn is at my birthday dinner, but Audrey Hepburn is annoyed.
At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Rebecca Serle contends within her utterly captivating novel, The Dinner List, a story imbued with the same delightful magical realism as One Day,and the life-changing romance of Me Before You.
When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there’s a reason these six people have been gathered together.
Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, The Dinner List is a romance for our times. Bon appetit.
Review: I did not know much about this book going in except Sabrina shows up to her thirtieth birthday dinner party and is surprised to see several people sitting at the table, including her father, whom she has not seen since she was a child, and Audrey Hepburn. We have all probably answered the question, “If you could have dinner with five people, dead or alive, who would you choose?” For some unknown reason, Sabrina’s list actually happens and we are thrown in to the mystery of why all of these people are together.
I chose this book during my “Try a Chapter Tag” post earlier this month, and I was very surprised that this was the book I chose to read out of my choices. The story really just jumps right in with Sabrina showing up at dinner. Each chapter is an alternating timeline-you get a snippet of dinner conversation and then you are pulled in to the past to learn about Sabrina and her on-again, off-again boyfriend of almost ten years. There was a twist about two-thirds through the book and I had to put the book down because I did not, in a million years, see it coming.
Final Thoughts: This book would have been a 5 star read, but honestly, I felt like the chapters at the dinner party were the same conversation over and over, especially when Jessica, Sabrina’s best friend, would offer her opinions. I really hated Jessica because she seemed like a judge-y person that I would tell off in a heartbeat. But I also related so much to Sabrina and Jessica’s friendship because I have gone through similar changes with friends as we got older and wanted different things in life. There was also one character at dinner that I feel like the book never fully explained why he was there. I would have liked to have known more about this character and Sabrina’s relationship.
The best parts of this book are the background chapters about Sabrina’s relationship. I usually do not go for romance books, and honestly I didn’t know this was so romance heavy, but this was such a raw, real story about a relationships today and I loved it. I loved that the relationship wasn’t perfect because that is real life. There are some wonderful lessons to learn from this book, and I highly recommend it, even if you normally shy away from romance books.
At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Rebecca Serle contends within her utterly captivating novel, The Dinner List, a story imbued with the same delightful magical realism as One Day,and the life-changing romance of Me Before You.
When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there’s a reason these six people have been gathered together.
Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, The Dinner List is a romance for our times. Bon appetit.
Review: I did not know much about this book going in except Sabrina shows up to her thirtieth birthday dinner party and is surprised to see several people sitting at the table, including her father, whom she has not seen since she was a child, and Audrey Hepburn. We have all probably answered the question, “If you could have dinner with five people, dead or alive, who would you choose?” For some unknown reason, Sabrina’s list actually happens and we are thrown in to the mystery of why all of these people are together.
I chose this book during my “Try a Chapter Tag” post earlier this month, and I was very surprised that this was the book I chose to read out of my choices. The story really just jumps right in with Sabrina showing up at dinner. Each chapter is an alternating timeline-you get a snippet of dinner conversation and then you are pulled in to the past to learn about Sabrina and her on-again, off-again boyfriend of almost ten years. There was a twist about two-thirds through the book and I had to put the book down because I did not, in a million years, see it coming.
Final Thoughts: This book would have been a 5 star read, but honestly, I felt like the chapters at the dinner party were the same conversation over and over, especially when Jessica, Sabrina’s best friend, would offer her opinions. I really hated Jessica because she seemed like a judge-y person that I would tell off in a heartbeat. But I also related so much to Sabrina and Jessica’s friendship because I have gone through similar changes with friends as we got older and wanted different things in life. There was also one character at dinner that I feel like the book never fully explained why he was there. I would have liked to have known more about this character and Sabrina’s relationship.
The best parts of this book are the background chapters about Sabrina’s relationship. I usually do not go for romance books, and honestly I didn’t know this was so romance heavy, but this was such a raw, real story about a relationships today and I loved it. I loved that the relationship wasn’t perfect because that is real life. There are some wonderful lessons to learn from this book, and I highly recommend it, even if you normally shy away from romance books.