Bitter by Francesca Jakobi #Review

Thanks for stopping by! I’m delighted to be sharing my review of Bitter by Francesca Jakobi today. I took part in a buddy read of Bitter with the lovely Zoé over at Zooloo’s Book Diary.

First things first let’s take a look at the description for the book…

ABOUT THE BOOK

It’s 1969, and while the summer of love lingers in London, Gilda is consumed by the mistakes of her past. She walked out on her beloved son Reuben when he was just a boy and fears he’ll never forgive her. 

When Reuben marries a petite blonde gentile, Gilda takes it as the ultimate rejection. Her cold, distant son seems transformed by love – a love she’s craved his entire adult life. What does his new wife have that she doesn’t? And how far will she go to find out? It’s an obsession that will bring shocking truths about the past to light.

MY REVIEW

Well I have to start off by saying that this was a different kind of story to what I was expecting. I went in thinking it would play out a certain way and I guess other books I had read influenced how I thought the story would go. However I soon discovered that Bitter had much more unique qualities to it.

I will admit right now that I love a flawed character. I guess they feel more real to me and after all don’t we all have flaws to some degree. When I was first introduced to Gilda I found her to be a character on the edge. Gilda is teetering very close to obsession and this is when the reader is introduced to snippets of her past. This way we get to see her struggles and how the past has definitely left its mark on her personality and life. Gilda is a character that will provoke many different feelings especially in her self destructive ways.

The short chapters were perfect at pulling me into the story as they alternated between Gilda’s past and 1969. I have to say I enjoyed seeing both sides to the story unravel. This way of telling the story showed the differences in Gilda’s life in both the past and her present life in the sixties. Which became even more important at revealing the woman Gilda had become. Gilda’s story was so easy to be caught up in. From her feelings and actions towards her son and his wife. To friendships and her ex husband this all combined to show you something that turns pretty thought provoking. Bitter really was the perfect name for this book especially as I reached the conclusion to the story.

I really enjoyed buddy reading Bitter with Zoé especially as our opinions on Gilda changed the more we read. Then add in a few surprises over some of her actions and it became pretty addictive. Bitter is the kind of book that left me feeling so many emotions from anger to surprise and even a little sadness. The ending may have left me with tears in my eyes but there was also a sense of hope too.