Series in Review #13: The Note

Sometimes, I feel as if half of the things that live in the book world, tend to completely pass me by. Apparently, that’s also what happened with The Note. So when I came across its sequel, The Postcard, I just knew I had to read both of them!

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

The Note

One very ordinary day, Maya Flowers sees a new commuter board her train to London, and suddenly the day isn’t ordinary at all. Maya knows immediately and irrevocably, that he is The One.

But the beautiful man on the train always has his head in a book and never seems to notice Maya sitting just down the carriage from him every day. Eventually, though, inspired by a very wise friend, Maya plucks up the courage to give the stranger a note asking him out for a drink. Afterall, what’s the worst that can happen?

And so begins a story of sliding doors, missed opportunities and finding happiness where you least expect it.

The Postcard

A year after the kiss that brought them together in a snowy train-station doorway, Maya and James are embarking on another journey – this time around the world.

The trip starts promisingly, with an opulent and romantic Indian wedding. But as their travels continue, Maya fears that ‘love at first sight’ might not survive trains, planes and tuk tuks, especially when she realises that what she really wants is a baby. Trouble is, James doesn’t feel the same. 

Meanwhile Maya’s best friend Nena is struggling with the reality of being a new parent, little knowing that her friend risks losing the love of her life over her dreams of motherhood.

Can Maya and James navigate their different hopes and dreams to stay together? Or is love at first sight just a myth after all…

Opinion

Here’s the first thing that you should know about Zoe Folbigg: she doesn’t really do linear narration. If you want a book that goes from a to z, neither of the books her The Note series are for you, probably.

Instead, she takes her reader, across time and space. In The Postcard you start in the present, go to the past, and then jump back to the present. Oh, and in the mean time, you get at least two parallel story lines, where you only really know who one of them is about while reading it. There’s a similar thing going on in The Postcard – although the “unknown” storyline isn’t quite as happy as it was in the first book.

It’s honestly kind of hard to explain exactly what she does, but you basically are offered a lot of information and then get to deduct what’s actually going on yourself. And I can see how that probably wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it.

Another thing I really enjoyed? The realness of much of the characters’ stories. They were imperfect. They didn’t say what they wanted to say when they should’ve. Or they just did the wrong thing at the wrong time and it made me want to shake them through the pages. In other words: they were human, and I could see myself in them.

Finally, the descriptions in both books are amazing – but especially so in The Postcard. The characters, the descriptions, although I still don’t know what that famous postcard actually is!

The rating: 3.5/5

This is one of those series that you kind of have to take your time for. Both The Note and The Postcard take you on a literal and a mental journey. If you’re in the mood for a book that will catch you in the feels and stay with you for a good little while? The Note (Goodreads) and The Postcard (Goodreads) are your books!

-Saar