Review ~ F*ck Love by Tarryn Fisher

Book Description:

Helena Conway has fallen in love.

Unwillingly. Unwittingly.

But not unprovoked.

Kit Isley is everything she’s not—unstructured, untethered,

and not even a little bit careful.

It could all be so beautiful … if he wasn’t dating her best friend.

Helena must defy her heart, do the right thing, and think of others.

Until she doesn’t.

Buy Links:

Amazon UK:  http://amzn.to/1OwrJhz

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1mnHbqe

Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 stars

“The best kind of love is the love that isn’t supposed to happen.”


So, my first five-star review of the year goes to Tarryn Fisher and what a way to start 2016.

It was great to get back to original Tarryn, while I love her other contemporary standalones that have been on the darker side, it was like coming home when presented with an Opportunist type read. While the title makes you think that this is not going to be a happy story it actually turned out to be so much more.

The writing as ever was flawless with some fantastic quotes that I spent the majority of the book highlighting. This is one hell of an emotional and angsty ride and I have to say this book reduced me to tears many, many times which is testament to how attached to these characters I became, especially Helena.

Helena was a fantastic character, she was selfless and her dry wit and honesty and demeanour were humbling. She was a pleaser and always tried to do what she thought would be better for others with little regard for herself or her own happiness. While she always tried to make the right choices, sometimes you have to do something for yourself, even if it means upsetting some people along the way.

Helena was in love with her best friend’s boyfriend and having seen what it would have been like to be married to him she does the only thing she can do…runs away. She has to get away from the nightmare playing out in front of her eyes, it hurts too much. She has always got on really well with Kit, real buddies but this has always been through her best friend. She respects her too much to tread on any toes so to minimise her pain she puts herself first and flees.


“You shouldn’t have to convince anyone to choose you. There is no real choice in love.”


I loved Kit, but he was incredibly frustrating at times. Like Helena, he was a pleaser. He always tried to do the right thing, even if deep down he knew that he was doing the opposite. He was charming, he was witty and he was adorable. He was comfortable in his own skin and didn’t think he was anything special, he was just…normal. It was this that made him so endearing.


“The day I fell in love with you was the first day you found yourself. You weren’t even mine yet.”


Tarryn Fisher certainly ramps up the angst in this book and it wasn’t until I was reading I realised just how much I missed this side of her writing. The Opportunist series put me through the emotional wringer and as I read, I knew F*ck Love was going to do exactly the same.

This was a book I burned the midnight oil reading, in fact 2.30am to be precise, surrounded in bed with plenty of soggy tissues Tarryn Fisher really brought this book and these characters to life with that forever present emotional pull. That will they/won’t they tug that drove me absolutely batty at times. It was stressful, it was heart breaking but it was a phenomenal read.

I love Tarryn’s style of writing, her prose as always was perfect and so incredibly deep. This was a book that left me thinking about my highlights, going over words, sentences and paragraphs that touched me in so many ways. Her talent with words is astounding and I cannot wait to read what comes next. Some peoples writing just hits you in the heart and soul and it seems Tarryn Fisher hasn’t lost that talent for me.

I very rarely give a long quote, but this one was perfect...

“If each of our lives represented a page in a book, happiness would be the punctuation. It breaks up the parts that are too long. It closes off some things, divides others. But it’s brief – showing up when needed and filling tired paragraphs with breaks. Being content is a more attainable constant state. To love your fate without being drunk on euphoria. Brave, determined acceptance removed of bitterness. Be gentle with yourself. Embrace the lows so that you can effectively enjoy the highs. Love the fight. Love it so much, and let it save you when your emotional muscles have become soft.”