book review: the oyster catcher by jo thomas

Every now and then, I start a book that I find myself unable to put down. I'm a fairly busy person - university keeps me occupied from the hours of 6am until 7pm during the weekdays (including travelling time, getting ready to go uni-time, etc) and I also try and work part-time too; so if I'm purposefully finding time to read a book, this means it must be good (at least if you're into the same genres of books as I am).

The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas is one of those books. When I read the first few chapters, I did question if I could ever really get into the book properly and thinking back - it was such a stupid thought.

The Oyster Catcher follows Fi as she seeks a new life and Sean - a misunderstood individual who has kept his heart and home locked up for various reasons. The more I read, the more I wanted to know what would happen next. There are just the right number of characters in the book - not too many and not too few - so the plot was easy to follow and whenever someone was mentioned, I didn't find myself thinking, 'who is that again?!' which does happen with books that have too many characters.

Having lived in London for the last five years of my life, this book made me want to head back to the countryside (where I had lived previously) - the seaside and salty air sounds like heaven but the thought of slipping on a pair of wellies still leaves me a bit nervous. I have an irrational fear of them! Anyway, back to The Oyster Catcher...

I would describe this book as a chick-lit book but not one that is overly slushy. It is an easy read and is very well written and has drama at all the right times with likeable characters (but there are some others who aren't too!) and will appeal to most people who enjoy a feel-good book.

Overall, this is probably one of the top 5 books I've read so far this year (and this is the 24th one I've read) - I would rate this book a 9/10 and I am a harsh critic when it comes to books but it definitely impressed me more than most of the other books I've read in 2014.