The Years of Us by Gemma Roman #Review #TheYearsOfUs @GemmaRomanBooks

I am delighted to take part in the blog tour featuring  Gemma Roman's debut novel, The Years of Us. This contemporary novel was first published in 2016 but deserves to have the spotlight back.  

Five friends. Life, love and a night that will put their friendship to the test. 
Following University, a group of friends plan to stick together, but will they survive distance, career changes and lustful love triangles? 

Life throws unexpected realities their way, and one fateful night brings their lives into harsh perspective. Minor mistakes result in them questioning who they are and who can be trusted. 

Can they rebuild the foundations of friendship and move forward or will the test of time finally set them adrift forever?

My Thoughts

The Years of Us follows the lives of five friends as they adjust to life post University. They drift in and out of each other's lives and find that at different times, their closeness ebbs and flows. Some of their actions push their friendships to the brink. The story is structured through short chapters which follow one of the friends. I found the rhythm of the story telling difficult to get into as you jumped from character to character. However, a third of the way in, I relaxed into the book and was able to keep up with the threads.

    This fractured feeling must have been what some of the characters' lives felt like, especially Luke and Kate. They are all quite different characters so it is a difficult task to find a distinct voice for each one. The character who I felt stood out and who I wanted to find out more about was actually a little on the periphery of most of the story, Millie. I would love to find out how her future pans out. Friendship, in different forms stands centrally in the novel. It is what supports some and what draws others to each other. It also drives people apart when they want different things. Its invisible threads link people over time.

In short: Can friendships all survive as the years go by?

 

About the Author

“I'm Gemma Roman.

I have pretty much always been a bookworm.

I always loved reading, writing and the creative arts, and also enjoyed dancing which led me to study for a degree in Dance Studies when I was at University. Following graduation, I worked in retail and became interested in the wealth of characters that I came across daily while working in customer service. 

I'd had a few ideas rumbling around in my head for a while, and so spent a few years writing my first novel in my spare time. I finally managed to release it in June 2016, and am now planning for the release of my new book 'All At Sea', which is due out in 2019.

Follow me on the social media links below to stay updated on all of my bookish news, and even subscribe to my blog  (www.gemmaromanbooks.co.uk”

Twitter  |  Facebook

Book link: Amazon UK 

Thanks to Gemma Roman and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours  for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.

                                                          Follow the rest of the tour!