Member Reviews

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
A very good read and one I can highly recommend to others.
I could not put this down.
Thoroughly enjoyable with an amazing cast of characters that you cannot help but engage with.

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Yikes. This was a mess. The stuff about Manon was just so out of place, but ridiculous in the book. Maya was 100% unlikeable and James was not much better. This book was just full of messy characters. The only decent folk were Dee and Lenny. Would have much rather read about them.

Graphic details about colonic poos are included in this book as well. Not exactly relaxing reading. And the ending! All of a sudden James has done a 180, Maya has spent the whole book basically complaining about him and nearly cheating with someone who treated her worse than garbage in the past. In short I think they deserve each other. That is not a good thing.

I just can’t recommend this.

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"The Postcard" turned out to be so much more than I was expecting. I didn't read the first book to this sequel, but caught up fairly quickly enough with what was going on. I loved the character of James and how he was not a typical dark & brooding (read: emotionally abusive) hero that we have been seeing for sometime. Their dynamic was a breath of fresh air. I thought Maya's & James's story was more compelling than Nene's story, but I still enjoyed reading how she navigated though motherhood. I don't want to spoil anything, but I never expected those twists and turns during their adventures abroad.

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The Postcard is Maya and James, set out to travel the world for a year. The story does justice with capturing in words what goes on in the minds of a fairly new couple when they have all the time in the world for each other. It was surreal and interesting.

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After reading The Note last year, I was looking forward to reading this sequel to discover what happened next for Maya and The Train Man.

Having flown through the book in a day, I'm happy to report that this was a book I enjoyed even more than the first one.

The story follows Maya and James (Train Man) on their travels whilst simultaneously following her best friend Nena in London, who has just become a mum. I can't comment on the reality of the backpacking stories but the change to your life of becoming a mum was very relatable.

Definitely a good book to read whilst relaxing on holiday - just avoid certain spas (as the book will explain in full detail). There is a good mix of humour, sadness, friendship and twists in the story for the reader to enjoy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Aria for a free digital copy of the book in return for my honest review

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Maya has convinced James to leave behind responsibility against his better judgement and join her to explore the world for a year backpacking and adventuring. I really enjoyed The Note but this story felt disjointed and false. It’s as if the advice Maya was given in the story to inject some angst to balance the happy lovey dovey vibe and be more real actually happened. I didn’t feel it was worth reading though the painful episodes to get to the ending. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

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I didn't like the first book in the series, but I was willing to give this book a chance. Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the first chapter. I'm sure there will be people out there who will enjoy this... it just isn't me

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I was a bit unsure about reading this third book from Zoe Folbigg after having been disappointed with ‘The Distance. However, knowing that this followed the story of Maya and James that we met in her first book ‘The Note’, I decided to give it a go. I’m so glad I did, this had the same kind of magic that ‘The Note’ did and really absorbs you into their story.
The story picks up a year after we left them finally getting together and this time follows them navigating a new relationship whilst also travelling the world. They go on an around the globe trip that doesn’t always go to plan.
When I first started to read the book, the first chapter had me really confused; I even checked twice whether I was reading the correct book or whether NetGalley had sent me the wrong document. All is revealed, though, and that random first chapter is a story that interweaves itself throughout the main story. We don’t just follow Maya and James’ adventures; we also check in on Nena who has recently had a baby with Tom. The usually vivacious woman is struggling with her new role as a mother and without her best friend around to help, she feels completely alone and lost.
Maya and James have a lot of hurdles to overcome with backpacking around South Asia. It’s not all romance and fluffy hotels but real life-affirming challenges. It’s also getting to know the nitty-gritty of each other and what they want out of life. Is it the same, and can they get through what should have been a relationship-making trip?
The story certainly takes a very unexpected turn towards the end, and I would love to know if any of this is based on actual events like ‘The Note’ was. Unfortunately, in the NetGalley copy, there wasn’t an afterword from the author, so I’m still in the dark on this matter. It certainly added to the intrigue though thinking that some of the things and experiences may have been based on a true story?
A really uplifting, but at moments heartbreaking, book. I would definitely recommend this, and I am glad Folbigg went back to her roots with this book and gave us, the reader, what we so very much needed. To know what happened to Maya and Train Man!

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Thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review having read the first book was delighted to get an early copy an excellent summer read that is light fulfilling and most enjoyable can highly recommend.

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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...

I didn't know this was part of a series and found it extremely difficult to follow along because of that. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it much more if I had read the first book beforehand.

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Adorable! A worthy follow-up to the bestseller, The Note, even further elevating what works so well in THAT gem of a story. Folbigg has a talent for dialogue, sprinkling conversations with nuance and charm, and few writers are this spot-on with setting so that you can be right in the middle of it all. This is a stellar beach or poolside read, and time very well spent. A worthy escape.

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Cleverly written with intertwining stories, filled with heart warming characters, and an interesting plot.
Overall a great follow up to The Note and definitely worth that spot in your suitcase for your summer holiday trip, or top of your to read pile for when you are curled up in front of a fire, dreaming of warmer weather.

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I wasn't aware this was a sequel to Zoe Folbiggs other book, The Note! I will read the first and come back to this. I absolutely love the premise!

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The Postcard by Zoe Folbigg a five-star read that will want to write home about. This is the sequel story in the Note series and I loved it almost as hard as I did the first part the Note, getting to hear more from Maya and James just warmed my heart even when the story wasn’t warm, they just had something about them that gave you heart and courage. I have read and loved them both, but I would imagine that you could read them as stand-alone as they do have independent stories. Maya and Train Man aka James have a great tale to tell, it was so nice to go back and find out what happens next, usually after a novel we say goodbye to the characters and get to image they live happily ever after but the Postcard shows us that life doesn’t work like that. Zoe Folbigg is a great writer and one I love reading.

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Really powerful story!
The writing style and the descriptions was what kept me reading and that's a huge deal!
Totally recommend!

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Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I enjoyed this book even though I had not read the first book in the series the Notebook. Would not say it was brilliant but it was ok.

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This is the sequel to The Note and I didn't realise until I'd finished. It's a standalone but the start of the relationship is explained in book one so you might find it useful to read that first.

In the first book girl meets boy on a train. Well, she sees him, fancies him and then they get together...but it's a twisty turny path getting there! So this is the next step, they're off to India and Thailand travelling and attending a wedding.

Maya and her boyfriend James travel the world. he is a photographer and she writes a magazine column, describing the adventures they enjoy along the way. Well they are certainly adventures! Some good, others a bit dubious and even criminal! Ha there's some scrapes along the way as you can imagine. There's plenty of locations but they're mentioned rather than evoked. It's all about the story and the funny things which happen along the way.

Quirky comedy alert!

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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!
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 Postcard is your book!
-Saar

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I greatly enjoyed reading The Note, so I was excited to see what Zoë Folbigg had in store with The Postcard. I was not disappointed. Having just gone on a trip around the world with my partner, I could really empathize with some of Maya's feelings throughout the trip. Traveling with a significant other puts a relationship under a whole new set of pressures. One of the things that comes to light is where Maya and James fall on the baby spectrum. Will the trip bring them together? Or, will their love be torn asunder when their dreams won't hold up to the tests of travel and time? It's a great summer journey for readers.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

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I loved the first book and that certainly continued into the second. The books feel real from a relationship and emotional perspective and how hard life can be. Perhaps the next is Nena and Tom?

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