I went into this book thinking it was a romance but quickly discovered it’s much more of a story about finding your way back to yourself.

I enjoyed the myriad of different marriages that were showcased as learning opportunities on Ava’s post-divorce tour, and the emphasis on the healing nature of reconnecting with friends and family. (Although, as a woman in my 30s I did have a few instances of thinking, “Are there people out there with deep connections to THIS MANY PEOPLE?! 😂)

Overall, I’m not sure this book would be a fit for everyone, but it was a quick easy beach read and I’d recommend if you’re on a journey of self-connection!

Uncaged Summer

2/5 Stars

Ava is a recently divorced 39-year-old, looking to find herself again and hoping to start by couch surfing at the homes of her friends and family.

I’ll admit I took a while to get into the flow of this. I’m struggling with books at the moment where everyone is gorgeous, rich, fabulous and amazing!!! (gah!) and every man is cute and rich and instantly flirts with you. There’s a LOT of that in this book. I’m not excited by the whole money thing,

I loved the concept of a 39-year-old, divorced Persian heroine and the couch-surfing journey of self-discovery was an interesting concept. The absolute best parts of the book was where we got some insights into the relationships with Ava’s Persian family. I do feel a bit misled by the couch-surfing concept - all her friends are rich as hell.

Aside from this feeling like a total fantasy world where everyone is sexy and successful, and everything all works out wonderfully my other issue was with the dialogue. It felt juvenile, stilted and unrealistic. Do 39-year-olds say “barf” when describing someone? And then there’s dialogue like this...

“He happens to be the baller kind of rich. Sick rich. As in sick, wet your panties rich.”

That’s just all kinds of ick. Perhaps I’m just not that into rich people?

Also, I'm not sure about Ava herself, if you told me she was a 20-something trying to find herself, fine, but she’s a 39-year-old who has lived a fair bit of life? I didn’t get that from her, or any of her friends. She doesn’t seem to have any personal ambitions, skills or a real history.

The book is interesting and has a few fun moments, it is just a bit… shallow. I wanted to see more of Ava’s vulnerability, her story and some REAL characters.

I hate to put anything negative because this is my first review from an ARC via Netgalley and I am so appreciative of the chance to read it, but I am compelled to be honest. I’d love to see something deeper from this writer.

Lish x

Great story of finding a network of people to unconditionally support you after all of your other life experiences. This is a story woven with rich descriptions and interesting characters. Loved it

Emotional and delicious - the love of family, of the one you thought was always for you, the one you fantasized and idealized and maybe is the one. To have a network of well set and loving friends, family that supports you, and you learn who you are and appreciate what you have. A delight