Review: Seven Exes by Lucy Vine

 Esther is out with her two friends, bemoaning her lack of relationship, when she finds a magazine from the noughties. Seeking comfort – and a laugh – she turns to the dating advice only to find an article that feels a little too close to home. According to the journalist, there are seven people a woman will date before finding the one:

The First Love, The Work Mistake, The Friend with Benefits, The Overlap, The Missed Chance, The Bastard and The Serious One. 

Her friends laugh but Esther realises each of her exes fits these roles perfectly. Deciding that she’s mistaken her true love in the reject pile she decides to contact each of her exes to find out which is the one that got away...

Review: Oh I loved this book and I knew that I would. I identified with Esther so much and the idea that she categorised her exes in the way that she did? Just genius! I also love the idea that she planned her whole life’s journey (for the time that we spend with her in the book) around a magazine article that she found stuffed into a booth in a pub. It is so very early 2000s and so I really feel her there. She is such a fun character because she wants to have her shit together and sometimes you feel like she is as far from that as she could be but then she’s holding down a job and a flat and friendships and so actually, she’s doing alright for herself!

One of the things that I love about a Lucy Vine novel is the unconventional characters. I like that not all of her main characters are in search of ‘the one’ that sometimes it is more about the friendships and the journey of self-discovery or simply more about having a good time. I also love that not all of Lucy Vine’s characters are conventional body types, or straight. I just love finding out more about her characters because I know they’re not going to be on-dimensional and Ether’s friendship group in Seven Exes fit’s this beautifully. I loved spending time with her friends and I felt like I was part of their group over the duration of the novel. 

I’ve seen a few people compare this book to the movie What’s Your Number which was also based on a book (that I have read) and I liked that comparison but in my mind, this book is much more than that. I think the fact that we have some British nostalgia in here, some more divers characters and also that solid friendship group just elevates this story. I loved what a quick read this book was. I couldn’t put it down, wanting to find out about each of the exes and thank goodness I read this with a friend so that we could discuss each funny moment and share our love of Esther and her friends. Highly recommend!

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