Plot:

Tilly was a bright, outgoing little girl who liked playing with ghosts and matches. She loved fizzy drinks, swear words, fish fingers and Catholic churches, but most of all she loved living in Brighton in Queenie Malone’s magnificent Paradise Hotel with its endearing and loving family of misfits. But Tilly’s childhood was shattered when her mother sent her away from the only home she’d ever loved to boarding school with little explanation and no warning.

Now an adult, Tilda has grown into an independent woman still damaged by her mother’s unaccountable cruelty. Wary of people, her only friend is her dog, Eli. But when her mother dies, Tilda returns to Brighton and with the help of her beloved Queenie sets about unravelling the mystery of her exile from The Paradise Hotel, only to discover that her mother was not the woman she thought she knew at all …

Mothers and daughters … their story can be complicated … but it can also turn out to have a happy ending.

Review:

I tried to really like this book given the location and cover I will say that.

At first this novel comes across as normally written however we are then introduced to child Tilly who has very bad grammar and I was a bit confused as the novel seemed like it was going to go back in time however it just jumps and you aren’t sure of what is going on exactly. It seems like it’s from a reflection point however it doesn’t seem like it so I found it oddly written at the start. Is the main character supposed to have very poor grammar as an adult who had over 10 years of ‘excellent education’? Because I find it very irritating as it’s difficult to follow. On the bright side Tilly has a colourful way of looking at life, in a child-like view. Every single movement and breath she takes is noted. This is not how I read novels and it does not seem like a real book.

I really liked the cover and the idea that it’s in a seaside town. The ideas of the book are what I like. The writing, the characters and everything as I am reading this makes it very difficult to finish.

Tilly as a child is very disobedient and annoying. Yes we were all children once before however I’m 100% sure that a lot of children including myself had a lot more sense! Everyone seems to have such high praises for this read however I do not agree with a lot of it personally. It was an entertaining read however I was annoyed by the main character.

I really wanted to enjoy this novel however at time’s I got very annoyed by how the main character thinks.

2/5 Stars