About Books #103: My Great Ex-Scape

Is it a rule that I have to read at least one cruise-based book at the start of every year, or just an accidental tradition? Either way, My Great Ex-Scape fits the slot for this year – and luckily, it went above and beyond just that!

I was offered an ARC by Book Sirens in exchange for a review. All opinions are strictly my own.

The story

Rosie Jones has been dumped by every boyfriend she’s ever had – most recently by Dinosaur Dave, live on TV, during the ‘phone-a-friend’ segment of a quiz show.
After the footage goes viral Rosie receives a bunch of flowers with a message: I love you, I should have never let you go, I want you back x

But who sent them?

At a loose end and with £50,000 prize money in her back pocket, Rosie decides to take a trip down memory lane, visiting each of her ex-boyfriends to see not just if they are the one who sent the flowers but if they are the one.

Her journey takes her back to the house she grew up in and on a transatlantic cruise to New York, but can Rosie figure out which ex-boyfriend is the love of her life, or should the past stay in the past?

The opinion

C – characters A – atmosphere W – writing P – plot I – intrigue L – logic E – entertainment	6 7 6 7 7 6 8
Total score	7,7

Honestly, during the first third of this book, I was kind of stuck on how the author would make this plot work. After all – Rosie has 5 serious ex-boyfriends, and 3 out of those 5 are dealt with at an alarmingly high rate. Or at least, I felt like maybe it was going just a bit too fast. What story would be left for the majority of the book?

However, Portia MacIntosh then switched to a completely different gear – where Rosie’s life in Manchester was a male-storm, her week on the cruise to New York was treated at a much more leisurely pace. I found it really interesting as well, how My Great Ex-Scape shows that sometimes people might be meant to be in your life, but not quite the way you had cast them to be.

Combined all of that with some wacko co-cruisers (the fellow table guests are everything you could’ve dreamt of and more) and a very real main character (who will make a fool of herself, because that’s just what happens in a book like this)? And of course: some unexpected twists and turns that – while you may have seen them coming, you probably hadn’t figured out would come into play here? This book was a really enjoyable, albeit somewhat predictable read!

The rating: 3/5

There certainly wasn’t anything wrong with this book, but it stays fairly steady within its lane: it’s a fun read, that’ll let you vicariously live your cruise dreams through its main character. Exactly what I was in the mood for, and if you are as well? You’ll certainly get a kick out of My Great Ex-Scape! (Goodreads)

-Saar