Hello everyone!
I am back with another book review, The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle. Thanks so much to Book Sparks for sending me an ARC of this book for an honest review, as always, all opinions are my own.
This book follows Sabrina, who has just arrived at her thirtieth birthday dinner party at a fancy restaurant. However, instead of being greeted by her best friend, Jessica, as per their tradition, she is met with a table full of people - the people on her "If you could have dinner with 5 people, living or dead, who would they be?" list she jokingly made back in college with Jessica. Audrey Hepburn, her philosophy prof, Professor Conrad, her estranged former-alcoholic father who left when she was a toddler, Robert, her sort of boyfriend/fiance, Tobias, and of course, Jessica. As the night goes on, Sabrina relives her life in New York, centred on what happened with Tobias.
I think that this is one of those books where the synopsis really doesn't do the book justice. You really don't need to know anything about the storyline to jump right in, in fact, I think it's almost better that way. Serle has a magical way of writing the story where you are aware that this dinner party can't really be happening, but you hold out your critique because you've become so entranced in the story.
I suppose, if you boil it down, this is the story of Tobias and Sabrina's relationship. But there's also elements of Sabrina's childhood, her work life and just her general coming of age in college. The relationship is a large part of the story and her life, but it is not the only part. Their relationship wasn't simple - it was crazy and hectic and hard sometimes. You didn't know if you wanted to root for one or both of them in it or if they should just call it quits.
I read this book in one sitting, it just has that almost magically enticing sort of quality where you don't want to put it down - not necessarily because of suspense, but because you are so invested in the characters and the story by that point, you might as well just keep going. This book really has it all. There were moments of heartbreak and despair, joy and laughter. I finished it and immediately wanted to go back and re-read parts of it again. I was on the verge of tears by the end of it, which for me, is a feat in its own right.
Overall, if you're looking for something a little bit different from your usual contemporary romance, definitely check this one out!