30 July 2009

Book Review: Hens Reunited by Lucy Diamond

lucydiamondhensreunitedA good few years ago, Katie, Georgia and Alice were all at each others hen nights promising to be best friends forever and looking forward to starting their married lives. Fast forward a few years later and nothing seems to have gone to plan for the girls.

Katie's husband turned out to be Mr Wrong, and although she's now back in a loving relationship, she's determined never to get married again. Georgia is now a high-flying journalist but has sold out one of her friends along the way, leaving her feeling lonely and married to her career. Finally, Alice has just welcomed her baby daughter but has had to move to a new house to get over her cheating ex, who she is still in love with. With the hens lives changing and friendships being made and broken, will the hens ever be reunited?



Lucy Diamond is the pseudonym of children's author Sue Mongredien, and she seems to have branched out well into Women's Fiction. I have read and enjoyed her debut novel Any Way You Want Me, and I have Over You on my bookshelf to read. I was excited to read Lucy's third book when I was sent it by the publishers, and I really liked the premise of following a group of women years after their hen nights. I sat down for an enjoyable read, and I certainly got that! The books release date isn't until 7th August but I believe it is available now on Amazon.

With a group of female characters all taking the lead, you really have to like them all otherwise the book is going to fail. Luckily for us readers, Diamond has created 3 very normal and nice women who we can all relate to, and consequently I cared about what was going to happen to them. The book is written in the third person so it is easy to follow each of the three stories at once. The characters are all very different, as are their storylines so you have no problem making the transistion between them when the narrative changes, and I found this kept my attention and I was eager to read on to find out who I would be following next!

All 3 characters were lovely, but I have to admit having a soft spot for poor old Alice. I know what it feels like to have to cope with a newborn without any family around and to move somewhere new and not know anyone, so I did feel empathy with her. Georgia was the great one we love to hate, and you did see a different side to her as the book went on which I loved. Katie seemed to hold the whole story together and it is her we follow at the beginning and who really becomes the main character. There aren't all that many other characters in the book, it really does choose to focus on the three women, but I liked it this way because with 3 main characters, it could have ended up with way too many characters to keep track of!

The book does have little flashbacks all the way through to give the viewer the back story between the 3 women. I enjoyed the way the story was revealed slowly, and as things became clearer, it made the book more enjoyable to read for me. There were a few twists and turns along the way which I wasn't expecting and I enjoyed the direction that the book took throughout. It moves along at a good pace, and it felt realistic with everything that happened and how long it took things to develop.

This was a super book, and I thoroughly enjoyed the read. It is a book that will appeal to readers of all ages, and I am sure we will all be able to relate to something that happens to Katie, Georgia or Alice! The reading style is fun and easy to read, it's the sort of book you can dip in and out of during the day and get back into straight away. The unfolding histories of the women were well written and my favourite part of the book. Highly recommended for a fab summer read of finding love, and keeping friendships.

Rating: 5/5

Thank you to the publishers PAN for sending us copies to review!

You can buy the book directly from Pan here: BUY HENS REUNITED

4 comments:

  1. Great review Chloe - Looking forward to reading it! Over you was brilliant x

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  2. Sounds like a great read indeed - it's just a shame that the cover is horrible, I really don't like it, but that's just me. But the story sounds interesting, must check out the author's other books too!

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  3. Just been sent this by the publisher to review - looking forward to reading it!

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  4. sarah broadhurst23 August 2009 at 19:51

    this is an excellent summer read. i absolutely adored this book and read it in 3 days (quick for me). couldn't put it down, just had to read that one more chapter each time! i have now been and bought lucy diamond's back catalogue and hoping they are all just as good.
    the irish do make good chick lit authors.

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