The Man I Never Met - Elle Cook - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Elle Cook

GENRE: Contemporary Romance-Drama

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A contemporary drama that gave me pretty good feels, though it is not perfect. Loveable characters. Good storyline. Emotional plot. NOT lighthearted. NOT a typical romance. Watch out for the trigger.

Story Synopsis:

When Londoner Hannah gets a call from an unknown number, the last thing she expects is that the caller – an American named Davey who misdialled her number while calling for a job interview – would soon become someone special. Davey, who gets the job, messages Hannah to thank her, and soon the two become friends, calling and texting each other regularly. Their feelings grow in due course, and both of them eagerly await the day Davey will land in London.

When the big day arrives after a month, Hannah is all excited, and waiting at the airport with a huge banner. But Davey never comes. The reason, once she learns of it, is devastating. What lies in their future?

The story comes to us in the first person perspectives of Hannah and Davey, with Hannah’s pov getting about 75% of the focus.

Bookish Yays:

😍 Hannah begins the book as a somewhat sheltered 27-year-old who is an easy pushover. Though it takes her long to become self-reliant, her growth is carved in a realistic way, rather than showing an almost instantaneous transition from under-confident to go-getter. Her character is flawed but relatable.

😍 Davey, on the whole, is a loveable person who struggles with what was happening. His emotional journey is one of the best sketched I have seen in this genre for male characters, who are usually shown as stoic and strong. Though there are fewer chapters from his perspective, they are more impactful.

😍 The development of Hannah’s and Davey’s relationship on the phone is charming. Drawn to each other by their connection of mind, the two of them share a healthy virtual correspondence. Their romance was mostly the kind of romance I like reading about, with more focus on the heart than on the body.

😍 Hannah’s elderly neighbour Joan, best friend Miranda, Miranda’s boyfriend Paul, and Davey’s best friend Grant – all are wonderful supporting characters in this book. I love how they had a vital role to play in the plot rather than just being there as add-ons.

😍 Don’t let the pastel cover fool you – this is no lighthearted book. I mostly loved the initial scenes where the relationship between Davey and Hannah blooms. But when the story shifted track after Davey fails to turn up at the airport, I struggled a bit to adjust to the change in emotions. Post this point, the content is a mix of heartbreaking and touching, which worked very well for me once I adapted to the switch in tone. I liked the realism of the characters’ feelings.

😍 Though an emotional story, there are enough moments of humour sprinkled here and there to lighten the situation somewhat. It’s not a romantic comedy though; don’t expect too much comic relief.

😍 There are some smooth coincidences and the mandatory happy ending – both of which are to be expected in this genre. But the predictability didn’t affect my enjoyment as the characters made it easy to root for them all the way.

😍 The depiction of the “issue” that made Davey miss his first meeting with Hannah is written so well! After I read the author’s note, I realised why the entire thing felt so authentic and touching. Well done!

😍 The author’s note at the end is so heartfelt and genuine. I loved her detailed note about the inspiration for this story. My best wishes to her family. (FYI, her name is Lorna Cook, and she writes historical novels under her actual name. Under the pseudonym of ‘Elle Cook’, she writes contemporary fiction, with this being her first contemporary work.)

Bookish Nays:

👀 George is one annoying character, which would have been fine had he been in a minor role. But a great part of the story has him involved with Hannah, who ignores all the red flags in his behaviour. The two together weren’t convincing as a couple, especially as George isn’t a layered character, but mostly clichéd.

👀 The ending is somewhat rushed. After that long build-up, I was hoping for a more extended meeting scene. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t satisfy as well.

👀 Hannah’s perspective involves a lot of talk about her weight. A part of this is because George is a fitness trainer, but even otherwise, she seems obsessed with staying thin either for her own sake or for George’s sake. The content was borderline fatshaming, though none of the characters were even close to being fat.

👀 I am stunned by how much mention alcohol gets in this story. Almost every alternate scene involves at least one glass of some or the other alcoholic drink. What’s worse is that none of the characters think that they drink too much.

👀 Am I the only one who felt awkward when Davey texted Hannah his shirtless photo on their very first virtual photo exchange? What good guy does that?!

Overall, despite some nags about the shortcomings, I quite enjoyed the story. I am not one for cheesy or steamy romances, so a story where romance plays a secondary role to drama always works better for me.

Recommended to readers who would like a contemporary romantic-drama with characters they would love to root for.

Note that Davey stays Hannah’s “the man I never met” for most of the book. So if you are the kind of reader who won’t be satisfied by the lack of an actual meet-cute, or you want the romance to feature in a major role, or you want steamy content, this book isn’t for you. There is steam but all of it is behind closed doors.

If you need to know triggering content, don’t forget to take a look at the tagged trigger because it is a major one.

My thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Man I Never Met”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

SPOILER AHEAD ABOUT CONTENT:

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Content warning: cancer, chemotherapy and its side effects.