In brief: Susie finds a divorce certificate when renovating the house left to her by her aunt, but it's dated in the future and relates to her and the best friend of her ex. Never going to happen.
The good: Very light.
The not-so-good: Not my favourite Kylie Scott novel.
Why I chose it: Enjoy Kylie Scott's books.
Year: 2023
Pages: 304
Publisher: Piatkus (Hachette)
Setting: Seattle, USA
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
I've enjoyed Kylie Scott's novels previously, and End of Story takes a new direction, being more light hearted with an unexplainable element. While it was fun, I felt there was some depth lacking in the subplots and the mystical element didn't really work for me.
The story centres around Susie, who has recently inherited her aunt's house. She's still smarting from a very public breakup and it just adds to the hurt when the best friend of her ex, Lars, turns up to do some renovation work. If that wasn't awkward enough, they find in the wall of the house a divorce certificate. Specifically, the divorce of Susie and Lars, a decade into the future. There's distrust, blame and then a grudging truce as they try to work it out. Susie doesn't do marriage, and while she and Lars were friends before the breakup there couldn't be any romance. But as she and Lars spend time together, they become friends and later lovers. But what's the point if they are going to break up?
Of course, the story is mainly about Susie and Lars but we also get to meet Susie's best friend Cleo, who falls for Lars' brother Tore. There are also some subplots about the messiness of families, culminating in a great finale. But overall, the focus is on the relationship and not that much else. I also found Susie's descriptions of what she was wearing a little tiring after a while. The story is much lighter in tone than the Stage Dive and Dive Bar series with more of a romantic comedy feel but it just didn't quite work for me. The initial distrust over the divorce certificate and the methods to authenticate it were interesting, but it took a back seat as Susie and Lars developed their relationship. There are hiccups along the way, but they don't have long lasting effects. I would have liked a firm conclusion to the reason why the certificate appeared, but that's more about me than the magic realism subgenre. Susie and Lars are great characters, but a lot of the plot seemed to be the same back and forth.
I appreciate Scott writing in a different subgenre, but this isn't my favourite novel of hers. I liked the angst and drama of her previous series and I'll still have a go at whatever she creates, but this one just wasn't for me.
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