Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

“It’s very awkward, dating while disabled. People can be quite awful. And you know I don’t have much energy to spare for social nonsense.”

The fact that this book exists and so many readers love it, gives me hope that the world we live in could one day shine brighter ! And when did I start falling in love with slow-burn romance books ?

This year, I read some amazing rom-com’s, but this one is hands down one of my favorite’s ! This is my first book by Talia Hibbert, but it won’t be my last.

I just copied the blurb/plot, because I want to focus on characters and the author’s writing.

Chloe Brown, a chronically ill website designer almost got hit by a car, and she realized that she hadn’t really been living her best life at all, so she made a plan and a list (she was really great at those) of things that she wanted to do so she could get a life.
Red, the superintendent of Chloe’s new flat and a sexy artist, seemed to like everyone but Chloe! After they both make incorrect assumptions about each other, they got off on the wrong foot, but could he help her with her list?!

Ummm, yes ! Definitely ! Red in fact helped her with her list and he did so much more on an emotional level.

The characters & their relationship:

These two together were earth-shattering, but these two alone, as individuals were special. Red and Chloe both had such distinct and lively personalities. Even if Chloe had some very bad days (because of her chronic pain), you could still see that she had a great personality. She was such a fighter,  I loved the way Talia Hibbert wrote her chronic pain, she didn’t gloss over the illness, it was there and it was present. At the same time it wasn’t her entire personality, Chloe was her own person and she wasn’t succumbing to her pain, she wasn’t even only ‘living’ with it. She was actively fighting it(with her crazy list) and at the same time accepting it.

Red was too good for this world! He was not only the sweetest person in this book, he was an artist afraid of showing his work because of his abusive ex girlfriend. He was also hurting and has been hurt several times before, but that doesn’t mean he hates the world and he doesn’t take that as a license to be a bad person. Many will think that his issues were solved with love, but they weren’t ! Because Talia Hibbert is a fantastic author ! He went to therapy and started tackling his issues there.

His role with helping Chloe with her list is crucial. Not only is this where they start falling love, it’s also where during their actions, he gets to know Chloe more and to understand her pain more and more. He was always conscious of Chloe, thinking of ways to subtly help her. Even if he did lash out (because he is a normal character) he was so self-aware all the time. He took the time and effort to apologize, he made amends. He always thought about how to be a better person and that made him thoughtful and 99% better than many humans I’ve met in real life.

The writing:

I cannot express how much I actually enjoyed the author’s writing. First of all, many thoughts and conversations were dripping with sarcasm (a trait of characters I most definitely enjoy). Another thing is that the whole book was written with a lot of fun and wit, one could clearly see that the author was British.  Redford riling up Chloe on purpose made for some great banter. Paired with their inners thoughts (dual POV) and bickering , the whole thing was entertaining to say the least.

I love the diversity in this author’s books, but also the unexpected emotional depth. To all the romance author’s out there: Diversity and a healthy relationship with lots of communication is what we readers need !

To sum it up: I truly want to thank the author for writing an inclusive book talking about chronic pain, how it affects one’s life and how one can still fall in love and be happy despite it. I want to thank her for the diversity of the characters and for simply writing this book.

I know there’s a second book coming and I cannot wait to read this one. This was easily one of my favorite books of the year and I highly recommend this book to every reader out there.