I let the hype about this book get to me and I had to read it. I didn’t fall madly in love with it but I enjoyed it a lot. (This is why I normally stay away from buzz books until I feel that my expectations are reasonable. I think I would have liked this even more a year from now.) It’s a solid read that I completely recommend. I wept and I laughed. What more can a reader ask for?
Deception! Secrets! Frenchiness! If you’re a fan of historical fiction you should put this book on your list. The lack of communication between the characters irked me at certain points. On the other hand, communication during war time is sketchy at best. The twists and turns were exciting. I gobbled this book up in one day.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
I nearly put this one aside after reading the first chapter. The slangy young dude language was driving me to drink. I’m thankful that I kept reading! This turned out to be a book that I won’t soon forget. It made me revisit some of the feelings I had at the beginning of the war in Iraq. It made me uncomfortable and angry, but in a good way. A fantastic book.
The Relentless Reader 
I just put The Confidant on my Powell's Wish List. Thanks for the recommendation!
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I just got Me Before You in from the library. Bad timing, though. Wish it had come in last week when I had time to read. Not sure when I'll get to it.I really don't think Long Halftime Walk is going to be my kind of read, despite the rave reviews I've seen. I get very annoyed with dude talk, too.
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You're welcome Melinda, I hope you like it!
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It's a lovely read, I hope you'll have the time to get to it!Thankfully there was less \”dude talk\” as the book went on or I wouldn't have been able to handle it 😉
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I'm kind of afraid to read Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, but maybe that means I should read it. Most of the things I've read about it have been really good!
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If you felt the way I did 10 years ago this will piss you off all over again. It made me want to smack some people up. If it wasn't for that whole pacifism thing I have going on…lol
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I also wept and laughed when I read Me Before You. I had only read a few reviews before I read it so the hype wasn't so strong when I picked it up. I just added The Confidant to my TBR list.
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Glad to hear you enjoyed it as well. I hope you like The Confidant!
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From the 3 books I would most likely pick up The Confidant. Apart from loving historical fiction, I also love anything that involves mystery, secrets, deception and revenge. Oh and everything French 😉
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Glad you liked The Confidant. The communication issues were problematic, but then it helped add to the ickiness of it all. My expectations of Me Before You are still pretty high, too, so considering what you've said I'll leave it a bit longer.
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Yea, I'd wait a while. Wait until you barely remember the fuss 😉
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I don't blame you one bit 🙂 Frenchy! lol
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I loved Me Before You – such a great read!! And I had written down The Confidant as a must-read after I read Beth's review – so, you giving it a good review as well, means that I should move it up on the TBR list 🙂 As for Billy, well, that one is a book I'm not so sure about – although after what you wrote about it, I think I'm leaning more towards reading it.
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I'm super glad that I ended up reading Billy. It wasn't one that I normally would have grabbed and at first I thought I wasn't going to like it. Color me surprised 🙂
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I felt the same way about Me Before You; although, looking back, I think I gave it like 4 stars on Goodreads. I thought it was well-written and made for a good story, but I fall madly in love with it and name a top for 2013. I'm so glad you read & ENJOYED The Confidant. It's interesting because I didn't really think of the lack of communication between characters. Well, I did with Annie and her childhood friend, and then, of course, the couple. However, I did think that the secret relationship came out of left field in the story (not to the reader if that makes sense). I did really enjoy it though!
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You are making me add to my wish list. Isn't it great to not give up on a book, and then to have it turn out really great?
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You know what? I don't like rating books! It's awful, lol. I want to go back and change them all the time! I really did enjoy The Confidant. I loved the time and the place AND the story. All good 🙂
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I'm a bookish enabler! 😉 Yes, that is great! I love when that happens!
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Both Me Before You & Billy's were books that were a little overhyped for me. I buckled down and got Me Before You from NetGalley, and I'll eventually get to Billy's!
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I was lucky that I didn't hear a whole lot about Billy before I read it. I knew it was a critical success but I hadn't seen a lot of bloggers reviewing it 😉
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Glad you enjoyed Me Before You, it's on my tbr stack and I'll be sure to go in with realistic expectations. Love anything French and adore historical fiction so I'll just have to add The Confidant to my wishlist … thanks for that … I think lol
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Haha, you're ever so welcome 😉
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