Book Review: Fourteen Days Later by Sibel Hodge

Book Description

Fourteen Days Later was short listed for the Harry Bowling Prize 2008 and received a Highly Commended by the Yeovil Literary Prize 2009. It is a romantic comedy with a unique infusion of British and Turkish Cypriot culture. Written in a similar style to Marian Keyes, it is My Big Fat Greek Wedding meets Bridget Jones.

When accident-prone Helen Grey finds a thong stuffed into the pocket of her boyfriend's best work trousers, it's time for her to move on. His excuse that he needed to dust the photocopier and just thought that it was a rag sounds like a lame excuse.

Helen's life is propelled in an unexpected direction after her best friend, Ayshe, sets her a fourteen-day, life-changing challenge. Helen receives a task everyday which she must complete without question. The tasks are designed to build her confidence and boost her self-esteem but all they seem to do is push her closer to Ayshe's brother, Kalem.

How will Kalem and Helen get together when she's too foolish to realize that she loves him? How can he fall for her when he is too busy falling prey to her mishaps and too in love with his own perfect girlfriend? How will Kalem's Turkish Cypriot family react when they find out

Is it really possible to change your life in fourteen days?

My Review

I have always loved Romantic Comedy flicks, and when I won an eBook copy of this story, I knew I would be hooked to it. And within the day I finished reading all the pages. From the first few pages of Helen's misery until her happily ever after, I had no dull moments. The whole book was filled with laughter and some romantic feelings which of course were just very light.

One of the reasons why I was drawn to this story was because I know how Helen felt when her cheater boyfriend left her. I see a lot of myself in Helen, who kept her world shut from the outside world just because of a broken heart. Having used to living alone because she became an orphan at an early age, she was used to having her boyfriend as her world, so when he left her everything fell apart. Good thing she has her friend Ayshe and her fiance, and her brother Kalem who then turned out to be someone she wasn't expecting.

Although stories like this are kind of evident in reality, it still feels good to somehow read a book that still assures someone of a happy ending. And although that happy ending might not be as fast as 14 days, but surely it will happen.

All in all, I had so much fun reading this book and I am anticipating to read its sequel. I hope I'll be able to score a copy soon because I am just as excited to read the next book as I was with this one.