Zoe May’s debut novel, Perfect Match, is a lovely light read with a few unexpected laugh out loud moments – Japanese soup, anyone?
Perfect Match does suffer with debut novel syndrome in that at first the writing is a little clumsy and slow going. I urge you to persevere, however, as the author soon finds her stride and the book turns into an engaging story following the development of Sophia’s emotional maturity. At the beginning of the novel Sophia is immature, self-absorbed, and downright superficial! She is annoying, but that is what makes following her journey of personal growth so much fun.

The last half of the book is certainly the best. It is here that you can see the author finding her style and becoming comfortable with it. If you give Perfect Match a go, you may just be pleasantly surprised. Zoe May has shown potential in this, her first novel, and she is certainly an author I will be keeping an eye on in the future.

Perfect Match by Zoe May is a delightful romantic comedy about finally meeting your “perfect man” only to realise he’s not what you really want, or need.

This is a witty, intelligent, warm debut from Zoe May. Although social media/online dating based books aren't that uncommon now due to how the dating game has changed in the past decade, and how we are all now glued to our phones, this book is original and keeps you guessing throughout which I thought was really refreshing.

This isn't a novel of boy meets girl and everything fairy tale and whimsical happens under the London skyline, oh no, you need to buckle up and enjoy the ride. It is a raw, thought-provoking account of modern dating including all the perils of ghosting, dick-pics, harassment and dating site algorithms; however, it also covers friendships, family, careers, house-sharing, as well as providing an insight in to class differences and social expectations vs realities particularly well.

There are some very funny antics, but what I especially enjoyed was the way that the main character, Sophia, is written and how you experience her outlook and approach maturing throughout the story. At the start of the book there were quite a few aspects of her personality (being a bit of a slacker at work, judgmental behaviour, shallow expectations) that I felt were far from ideal and I struggled to relate, however as the story evolves and you chart her journey you see what insecurities underpin her actions and the growth she is going through.

I found the ending gripping and without any hints or spoilers it really doesn't disappoint, this is a very strong writing debut and deserves a lot of success.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for this advanced copy to review honestly.

This was a really sweet book. I liked the romances, and there were a few surprises, but what I liked most were the friendships.

This book was better than the standard plot of girl has no luck with finding a date and meets all sorts of losers in online dating until she meets the right guy. That’s the basic set-up and we’ve all read variations on that plot device before. However, there are some intriguing twists in this story that help it rise above other books with a similar plot. I can’t say much more without giving away those twists, but this was well worth reading. Stick with it and you’ll find it well worth your time.

I was given a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.