You Can't Fall In Love With Your Ex (Can You?) - Sophie Ranald

I finished reading You Can’t Fall In Love With Your Ex (Can You?) by Sophie Ranald about an hour ago now and I’m still not over it. I can still feel tears in my eyes now, that is how brilliant this book is. 

You Can’t Fall In Love With Your Ex (Can You?) tells the story of Laura. On the surface Laura appears to be living the dream life for a thirty something year old, she has a husband that she is completely in love with, two adorable children and live in a swish area of London as they’re quite well off. It all changes however when in the space of 24 hours Laura is made redundant and her husband, Jonathan gets a promotion somewhat forcing her to make the decision to become a stay at home mum. Jonathan’s new job means he has to work insanely long hours at work and it makes Laura question her life and reminisce about the past. Then through a bizarre twist of fate she bumps into her ex boyfriend, Felix and ends up recapturing her past. Laura ultimately needs to make the choice between whether going back to what is the past is worth sacrificing her marriage and family in the present day.

The book itself flits between Laura’s past and present. At the beginning of the book I found it a little confusing but it really adds to the story. To understand Laura’s present and to see why she stopped dancing and to fully understand just how much in love she was with Felix you need to visit the past. Felix appears in the book just as Laura’s relationship with Jonathan is strained. Felix brings back the old Laura; he awakens part of her that she’d forgotten existed. One of my favourite parts of the book is when Laura meets Felix again at a play of a Midsummers Nights Dream. The play is an immersive one where you wonder around and interact with the actors and sets, Laura is just visiting the play and Felix is a dancing in it. The descriptions of the play are simply wonderful. 

I've read mixed opinions on what people think of the characters but personally I really enjoyed reading about them. I found Laura likeable and I can truely see the attraction she still has about Felix which is exactly what the author wants you to do. Felix and Jonathan are both completely opposite people but that just makes it all the more enjoyable to read.

The only reason I didn’t completely love this book was due to the end. I wanted different outcomes and the end chapter in particular annoyed me a little. However, as I really enjoyed the rest of the book I can forgive the fact I wasn’t so sure of the ending!  

This book gets you completely emotionally attached to all the characters so when it blows up in the book it hits you as a reader hard too. Personally, I absolutely loved reading this book so I will definitely be checking out the authors other books. As for this one, I would certainly add it to your reading pile.