Two Doors Away - Elle Spellman

AUTHOR: Elle Spellman

GENRE: Contemporary Fiction, Romance.

RATING: 2.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: Unlike what the cover and the blurb suggest, this book is quite intense. It clicked only to some extent with me, partly because I had very different expectations from it.

Story:

Steph has moved to a new city after her breakup and is desperate to show everyone through her Instagram that her life is on perfect track. The reality however is that she is lonely and broke.

Eric is battling a relationship hangover ever since his breakup with “Perfect Clarissa” almost a year ago. As all his friends are married, having kids, and in their own homes, Eric feels left out as the bachelor still living in a houseshare.

What Steph and Eric don’t know is that they are only… … “Two Doors Away”. Their homes are on either side of house number 26, from where dulcet piano melodies can be heard playing every night at 10pm. All of a sudden, the music has stopped and number 26 is dark and silent. What happened? Can Eric and Steph bring the music back in number 26, and thereby in their lives too?

The story comes to us in the first person perspectives of Eric and Steph.

Broadly speaking the story has three elements: Steph’s story, Eric’s story, and their joint story, which includes their search for the mystery behind number 26’s sudden silence.

Steph’s story was the most irritating to me. A part of it could be because of Steph’s obsession with Instagram, an app I simply can’t understand the appeal of. But even otherwise, Steph comes across as very impulsive and shortsighted, and even shallow, none of which made her very likeable to me. Steph’s arc has very few redeeming parts, mostly in the second half.

Eric’s story arc is somewhat better. While his character also lives in the past and he doesn’t seem to figure out how to move on, his emotions come across as far more realistic.

The best part of the story is where the two characters intersect. Their connection, their repartee, their friendship, all make for an enjoyable reading experience. If only the rest of the book matched up.

I was not very fond of the writing style, which is very meandering and takes its own sweet time to proceed with the plot. The initial 30% or so just drags. Things start moving faster only once the lead pair meets, but still not as fast as I would have liked. In addition, there are way too many characters in Steph’s and Eric’s lives and remembering them all is a tedious task.

I must give credit to the author for this: For a change, the male lead works in a routine low-end banking job rather than being a high-flying businessman or top-level corporate honcho like in almost every other chick lit. Yay for a regular guy!

Because of the cover and blurb, I assumed that this would be a light, happy read. But it turned out to be much darker and intense. Both Steph and Eric carry a lot of regrets and guilt about the past, and this weighs down heavily on the story. Unfortunately for me (and for the book), I was not in the mood for a sombre story. (The topic itself would have been okay but the rambling writing drove the final nail in the coffin of my expectations.)

My heart wants to give it a 2 star rating but my head is pointing out that it was also picked up in the wrong mood and with the wrong expectations. So I’ll let go of my usual stingy self and give it 3 stars. Okay, 2.75. The Rating Scrooge in me doesn’t want to compromise too much.

My thanks to Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for the DRC of “Two Doors Away”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.