Book Review: The Plus One by Sophia Money-Coutts
I feel a little undecided about this book. On one hand, I enjoyed it at times and laughed now and then. On the other hand, it had a lot of faults which I’m sure will put many readers off.
One huge fault is that its plot is not very original. Helen Fielding could almost sue for plagiarism if she had not plagiarised from Jane Austen in the first place. There’s also shades of Four Weddings and a Funeral and maybe a few other Richard Curtis favs.
One thing I did like is that it’s all very English with very English humour (which, maybe, US readers won’t appreciate at all, if their popular comedy shows etc are anything to go by). However, not everything was funny and occasionally Money-Coutts might have crossed the line.
Usually the line crossing involved sex. Sorry, an Eyes Wide Shut type party with married people wearing masks (and basically nothing else) and having sex with randoms whilst others watch on is not really that funny (or something I’d want to read about in a magazine, tbh). Leaving your best friend’s engagement party after five minutes to have sex with your boyfriend of five minutes is not funny (or okay, especially when you are Maid of Honour!). And said boyfriend wanting to experiment with certain sexual positions without your consent is not funny (or okay when the message conveyed was everything was all good as things ended with an orgasm after all – wtf).
Whoa, I’m making this sound so bad but it’s not all bad. Polly, our leading lady, was likeable enough although I will say she lacked chemistry with all her potential suitors but especially one which makes the ending quite odd.
Overall, I think it would depend on the reader’s personality with this book. There’s quite a lot that is not particularly politically correct but if you don’t look too much into it, take it as a bit of escapist fun, and you enjoyed Bridget Jones’s Diary, I think you’d enjoy it. 2 1/2 out of 5
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