Michael Joseph The Idea of You

I've been reading books for 40 years...I loved this book...the story is predictable to some extent, but it's a great read, keeps you guessing till the end, will they, won't they? A great summer read, sexy, thrilling...a good ride...daydreaming+++, haha....

Received in Good condition. Easy laid back book with Good font size.

So I read the book after loving the movie... and I think every fangirl of any popband should read this. It was written so well i felt like I was actually experiencing it.

I loved this book, it took me by the storm. If you are considering it after having seen the recent movie, I highly encourage you to buy the book (and Audible, which is narrated by the author herself). This is not a story about May-December in reverse, it’s a story of a woman smashing the stereotypes of the society and reclaiming her life and her essence, it’s a manifesto of a woman on the cusp of 40s, who is so much more than the society suggests her to be. It’s also an ode to emotional maturity of a younger male character, oh to be loved by Hayes:)In a nutshell, it’s a beautiful albeit heart wrenching book that will stay with you long after you finished reading it.

This is a very well written novel but there is a limitation that needs to be addressed. First the title sums up the Hero. It is the IDEA of the hero that is presented here and not a fleshed out characterization. This is because there is no shifting point of view and so the reader does not acquire any sense of the romantic hero's interior emotional life. Nor does the novelist provide anything but hints as to this character's psychology. so if you want a truly fleshed out characterization of the hero this is not the book for you and you would do better reading works by C. Elyana Brooke, Barbara Delinsky, etc. This is not a deep psychological study of a hero who definitely has a "Mommy-complex." A shifting point of view would have given us a deeper understanding of the motivations of this character, but it would have undercut the artistic decision of this author to emphasize the idea of the hero in the gaze and perspective of the heroine.That being said, the characterization of the heroine is extremely well drawn, her motivations, psychology and interior emotional life are explained and detailed. It is probably one of the best characterizations that I have read in a contemporary romance/woman's fiction in a long time. The reader feels that she knows Solene and in the end it is that knowledge that makes the novel so gut-wrenching, when Solene after a lot of psychic pain and soul searching has to make a very mature decision. I have noticed that some readers have considered Solene a coward-- but that is not how she should be seen. She is very brave and also unselfish in her decision, protecting her family, her lover, and her emotional and psychological well-being, even when she knows that this decision will have consequences and long reaching ramifications that she does not want to experience. She finally acts like a mature adult after indulging her fantasy of youth. This shift in her world view brings her full circle shows her maturation and development as a character.The novel traces the poignancy of an impossible love in the glare of celebrity. In the end, this book will stay with you for days-- it is that provocative in its ideas. This author has raised many issues about women and power, the cost of fame, the choices that one has to make in one's life, the tension of maturity and youth, that make this book well worth reading. This one is not just fluff; it is a thoughtful exploration of the female condition.