*I was sent a copy of A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Laura Taylor Namey for my copy of the book.*
Synopsis:
Winchester, England, has always been home for Flora, but when her mother dies after a long illness, Flora feels untethered. Her family expects her to apply to university and take a larger role in their tea-shop business, but Flora isn’t so sure. More than ever, she’s the chaotic “hurricane” in her household, and she doesn’t always know how to manage her stormy emotions.
So she decides to escape to Miami without telling anyone—especially her longtime friend Gordon Wallace.
But Flora’s tropical change of scenery doesn’t cast away her self-doubt. When it comes to university, she has no idea which passions she should follow. That’s also true in romance. Flora’s summer abroad lands her in the flashbulb world of teen influencer Baz Marín, a Miami Cuban who shares her love for photography. But Flora’s more conflicted than ever when she begins to see future architect Gordon in a new light.
Review:
A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak was my first book by Laura Taylor Namey and it definitely won’t be my last. I’ve wanted to read A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow for the longest time, but never got around to it, that will be changing soon.
The way that loss and grief were handled was actually quite beautiful. Flora was definitely a destructive character and she doesn’t handle her emotions well, but the fact that the ‘heartbreak’ part of the title wasn’t related to romance was completely unexpected but in the best way possible.
I’ve already mentioned that Flora has destructive tendencies, but I did really love her. She constantly found herself in the most ridiculous situations, but it was so entertaining.
My favourite thing about her is when she talks about the spiders in her room being able to stay as long as they stay away from her bed. This is my exact attitude towards spiders. They can stay living as long as they don’t come anywhere near me.
As a photographer, I absolutely loved all of the camera talk. I’m not sure if the author knows about photography or not, but they definitely did their research and I feel like even if you don’t like/know anything about photography, you will understand these sections.
This cast of characters was amazing. I think the Reyes family are my new favourite people. I’m not sure to what extent all of these characters are in A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, but the way they treat Flora like a member of the family is so cute.
My biggest issue with A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak was the use of American English in a book with a British main character. I get that the majority of the book takes place in Miami but it feels wrong.
A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak was a very good read. I got so invested in the characters so quickly that it felt like I finished the book in no time at all. There are moments of grief, joy, drama and love and it’s all incredibly written. I’d definitely recommend you pick this up when it is available on September 26th.
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