I would first like to thank Ultima Press for allowing me to have this ARC copy of Seeing Other People. I found Helen, Charlie and Eleanor's tale unputdownable. The sisters Charlie and Eleanor were both so instantly recognisable as siblings, with the way they knew each other through and through. I think the author did a wonderful job of interweaving their individual stories through the book which kept me turning page after page.

This book has shades of Sally Rooney and focuses on the relationship between 2 sisters. I didn't particularly like either of the characters which made it a more difficult read for me. Not really my kind of book although I'm sure many people will enjoy it.

I liked this book and enjoyed the relationship between the two sisters but found them incredibly frustrating! Recommended as a slightly different kind of read.

This book was such an easy read but I found it engaging but a bit boring. The characters are messy and not really engaging in my opinion.

A Sally Rooney-ish tale of two sisters. It’s character driven and not a lot happens so it wasn’t really one for me but I think certain readers will love it.

An engaging, easy read with messy characters and messy relationships.
I found myself flying through it. Enjoyable but I don’t think it’ll be all that memorable.

Diana Reid's debut novel, Love and Virtue, made ripples in Australian publishing as a fresh new voice arrived on the scene. Compared to Sally Rooney for her quiet examination of conversation and non-communication, Reid excels at portraying the often questionable ethics of gen z. Seeing Other People is her second novel.

Seeing Other People follows two sisters, Eleanor and Charlie, as their respective relationships draw to a close. Eleanor, financially stable and recently broken up with her boyfriend; Charlie, a young actress searching for work and having an affair with a theatre director.

The characters are incredibly frustrating as they lie to themselves and to each other to avoid presenting anything other than the image they have of themselves as the perfect victim, devoid of agency. Unwilling to engage in conflict that truly communicates their feelings, they weaponise "therapy-speak" against each other in order to absolve their consciences; to pretend they do indeed have the moral highground. This inability to admit failure, to admit guilt or blame, to take responsibility is captured remarkably by Diana Reid. Her writing style is very easy to read, making Seeing Other People a great choice for summer reading. However, the characters are extremely unlikeable. Despite racing through the prose, I couldn't honestly say that I enjoyed the novel. Additionally, I would have liked to have seen the queerness of the central queer characters shine through a little more, as this felt neglected to me: there is myriads to speak about being a queer woman self-sabotaging a sapphic relationship to then re-enter a relationship with a man.

I'll be continuing to keep an eye on Diana Reid's works as her writing career continues, for her keen observation and easy prose.

Thanks to Ultimo Press and Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled a bit with this story. Probably more suited to a younger reader. I didn't like any of the characters and just couldn't get into the story. I will not post this anywhere else as it is probably just me and I don't want to put other readers off.

Two sisters: very different but drawn to the same people. The book starts with Eleanor's long term relationship to Mark coming to an abrupt end. She seems contained and slightly neurotic, but using it as an excuse to move on. In order to console Eleanor during her time of 'grief', her sister, Charlie, invites Eleanor to a party. Eleanor is drawn to Helen, who has directed a play recently which Charlie was cast in. Unfortunately, Charlie and Helen have history and a relationship which reminded me of magnets attracting and repelling each other. The three=way relationship is murky and destructive, complicated by the revelation that Charlie has been communicating with Mark for years behind Eleanor's back. If it difficult to feel much empathy for either sister as they are not very likeable as characters and seem to betray each other over and over. Yet, somehow, there is a familial bond which flexes and stretches.

I really enjoyed that this was set in Sydney - a city I visited years ago. It felt tangible and was a perfect setting for their over-heated relationships. There were lots of plot twists involving relationships which I found made compelling reading.

Seeing other people is such a good read. If you like character focused novels as the main point then you will love this. I did feel at times similar style of writing to Sally Rooney but most certainly an author to watch out for in her own right.

Seeing Other People

Diana Reid

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the author Diana Reid for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a nice, easy summer read.
I enjoyed it but saying that it wont make my top books of the year.
It was very reminicent of Sally Rooney at times. I think it will make a great screen adaption and I could defo see it on the small screen.

I wasnt blown away by the storyline (or lack of) at times but I look forward to Diana Reids next project and fully intend to go back and read her previous book 'Love Virtue'.

She has an easy flowing writing style that I liked.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I couldn’t really connect with the main characters in this story. They came across as selfish, manipulative and only interested in themselves. The ‘sister’ dynamic left a lot to be desired, and was implausible, in my view. I skim read to about halfway, then found I really didn’t care what happened to any of them. A DNF for me, I’m sorry to say.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

A really good read that was full of turns and really relatable characters and situations, ran through it to find out a lovely open ending.

Overall, an enjoyable read.

I was very excited to read Diana Reid after seeing the hype on bookstagram. One can barely find a review that does not mention Reid is ‘the Australian Sally Rooney’ (and here I am!!). Readers will recognise certain features as Rooney-esque - setting, characters, tone. However, I think the comparison is a bit surface level and hampered my enjoyment of the novel on its own merit. I felt the characters in Seeing Other People were more stereotypical, less nuanced and the writing less political.

That isn’t to say the novel is bad, it held my attention and I thought the early dynamic of Helen and Eleanor was convincingly electric. Reid makes some astute observations, I would certainly pick up another of her books in future. It also made me curious about more Australian fiction.

Pick up this book up if: you can’t get enough millennial messy malaise

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Can see why there have been comparisons to Sally Rooney, but unfortunately I didn’t quite connect with this as I have with her novels.

Not for me this one.
I couldn’t get into it.
I didn’t care about the characters
Found myself speed reading just to get it done.
You can’t love them all.
I’ll obviously not upload this review to Amazon on publication day

I had high expectations of this book but I found it very disappointing. I didn’t care for the characters a, how self-centred they all were and how they all seemed to be using the others while appearing as victims themselves.

I am not sure why but this book was not for me. I just could not take to the characters or, in fact, the story. I am always sad to give a review like this especially as my explanation of the book is so vague. It may be because I was on holiday and therefore distracted. I will try to read it again in the future and will give a different review if I do

This is my first read by author Diana Reid and I enjoyed the novel.

We meet main characters Eleanor and Charlie who are sisters and struggling with life in their own ways. I found both characters to be strong female leads and found them interesting.

I have heard that people are comparing Diana Reid to Sally Rooney but not having read of her books I would not know, but if they are similar then Sally Rooney is now on my radar to read some of her novels.

Told from both sister's perspectives, the story is very much about relationships, partners and that of sisters and also friends.

I did find some bits a bit drawn out but it was a good read and I am going to try and read Diana's first novel as that has such glowing reviews.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and Diana Reid for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This book was not what I was expecting, firstly I was expecting a summer of fun following the hard times for two sisters, a time where they went out and found themselves again. What I was not expecting was what can only be described as pointless and unrealistic back stabbing, deceit and a self absorbency shallower than a puddle.

However with this said I would say that the writer is talented, I did find the word well written and I can see that her aim was to portray as an artist satirical novel. There were also a few moments that really made me laugh out loud, often centred around Marks hair or an out of character comment from Eleonor.

I personally would not recommend this book to my friends and family as I wouldn’t think of it as their type of read, however if you want a light easy read with a few giggles it’s written well enough to be worth a read.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc copy, I enjoy the opportunity to come across new writers, sadly this one wasn’t for me.