Book Review: The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion

Today's review is for Graeme Simsion's latest book, The Life of Adam Sharp. You probable heard about The Rosie Project a few years ago. I loved that book and its sequel, so I couldn't not pick his new work. Here are my thoughts:

Title: The Best of Adam Sharp

Author: Graeme Simsion

Published: February 9th 2017 by Penguin

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Can you define your life by a single song?

Adam Sharp - former pianist in a hip Melbourne bar, now a respectable IT consultant in Norwich - can. And it's 'You're Going to Lose that Girl' . . .

On the cusp of fifty and a happy introvert, Adam is content. He's the music expert at his local pub-quiz and he and his partner Claire rumble along. Life may not be rock n' roll, but neither is it easy listening. Yet something has always felt off-key.

And that's his nostalgia for what might have been, his blazing affair - more than twenty years ago, on the other side of the world - with Angelina Brown, a smart and sexy, strong-willed actress who taught him for the first time, as he played piano and she sang, what it meant to find - and then lose - love. How different might his life be if he hadn't let her walk away?

Then, out of nowhere, Angelina gets in touch. Adam has sung about second chances, but does he have the courage to believe in them?

Review: I really enjoyed both The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect so I was very curious to see what that author would write next. The first I noticed about this story is that it is quite different to his previous books. It is less humorous, drier and less touching. The characters in this one are difficult to like and they usually take quite questionable decisions. It doesn't mean that it is not a good story, but I have to say that I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted.

First of all we have Adam, almost fifty with quite an easy even if a bit boring life. That is until he gets un email from his first love, Australian actress Angelina Brown. She stole his heart more than 20 years ago and they haven't been in touch since then. During the first part of the book, we get to know what happened back then and also how they interact now via email. There's a certain mystery surrounding their story so I was really curious to find more about them as a couple. This is definitely the part I enjoyed the most.

When they finally meet again, the story takes quite an unexpected turn that I am not sure worked that well. They were not their better self when they were together and I found the relationship between Angelina and her current husband plain weird. I then realized that I didn't like Adam and I even liked Angelina less, so I didn't care about what would happen to them next. But I guess, like in life, you cannot like everybody.

All in all, this is quite an interesting story that reflects on what could have been and long lost loves but also on how we don't appreciate what we have until it's too late. I was expecting something a bit more fun but it turned out to have quite a serious tone, which was OK as it was well written and engaging. But it won't be for sure a story that will stay with me. 

Rating: 3 stars

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book via NetGalley. This is my honest opinion.