Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Saving The Day By Katie Fford
- Quick Reads
So, I decided to give one of the 'Quick Reads' a go whilst waiting for delivery of my next book - however, it was a far 'quicker' read than I'd bargained on, therefore I think I'm going to have to join the library or have a rummage through my partners books (we have very different tastes but you never know), so if you see a review on here of a book that hasn't been my usual sort, that's what's happened. Variation is good though right?!
This book contains 85 pages & 17 chapters of story, & then 5 pages of baking recipes. The reason for which will become clear.....think I'll stick to the reading.
Allie lives with her father. Her mother, part of a band, left them some years ago & lives in Canada. She works in her local supermarket & has a boyfriend, Ryan. They've been together for years, he doesn't treat her well & she has come to the realisation that the relationship can't continue. She sees a card in a cafe window advertising for staff. She has always wanted to work here & decides to go in & talk to the manager. She discovers that her culinary skills don't quite meet the required standard but makes it clear to Mac that this is a job that she is passionate about. He agrees that if she can gain the skills to make some of the baked items sold in the cafe in a month, he will give her a job.
When she returns home, she gets talking to her next door neighbour Cherry, who agrees to teach her what is required. This takes her on a journey of confidence boosting self discovery that turns out to be life changing in more ways than one....& not just for her.
This book felt rather simplistic, although I guess the story would have to be kept simple in order to meet the criteria of a 'quick read'. With its big bold typeface, I felt rather like a child learning to read. The reason for this I would think is to fill the book out. In the standard typeface, the book would be much thinner.
I liked the fact that our heroine was setting out to better herself & took steps to achieve it. This made it a very positive narrative. However, the women at her last workplace & her boyfriend were most definitely negative. He was selfish, controlling & lazy. The women sounded typical of the sorts of women that you might expect at any workplace, opinionated, back stabbing & gossipy. Jealous of Allie having what it took to move on, & of her age.
I love that Allie's drive to improve her life seemed to instantaneously have a positive effect on her father too, not to mention both their love lives. Allie's new workplace seemed too good to be true with no difficult colleagues or rivalry & considering she couldn't cook & hadn't done any cafe work, she seemed to adapt to it very quickly. I'm not sure how true to reality that is, but it was nice to see her get where she wanted to be at last!
I would consider a 'quick read', if I needed a fill in between novels like now, but bear in mind that they don't take long to read. On balance, I prefer the fuller novel. However, it was a pleasant enough read.
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