I Won't Be a Nun - Michaela Francis

Everything these days is online – including how a woman is meant to meet Mr Right. But, Sonia wonders, as she joins up to the dating app, how can someone decide simply by looking at somebody’s face that they’re the right person for her? And as she swipes with little to no matches, her self-esteem crumbles, her confidence affected as she wonders “What’s wrong with me?” 

Past history meets present as she continues on the carousel, emotions building up and tearing down, being used and discarded like an old sweet wrapper and the crushing knowledge that she’s in her late 30s and her clock is ticking. She needs to meet Mr Right right now. She turns to alcohol to mask the fear that she will never find him but refuses to recognise that her crutch is crippling her – until it’s too late. As the overall pressure of society, her addiction and her own fears weighs her down, will Sonia overcome everything that is expected of her or will she succumb to her choices and live a life half-lived?

Blurb taken from Netgalley.

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Rating: ✫✫

I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

I thought the idea for this book was really interesting, especially in the modern day and age. People, and dare I say especially women, feel under such pressure to find a relationship and make a worthy life for themselves. I thought this might provide an interesting social commentary on our current social environment.

I sensed within a few pages that this wasn't going to be the book for me. I didn't really take to the characters and I didn't find that the writing style gripped me. It was still an interesting read that touched upon quite a lot of interesting themes, but I can't really say I enjoyed it.

I felt like the story didn't really go anywhere, and the emphasis was really on aspects of the story that weren't really relevant. There's a lot of discussion about who showers first and what the characters eat, but what I really wanted to know was the emotional depth of what these characters were feeling. The point of this book was that the main characters go on a real journey together through a lot of different and very difficult things, and I wished there had been more exploration of these emotions. I think it would have helped me to connect with them better. 

I just found that I couldn't relate to the characters. I felt for them in many ways, but I remained detached. I also found that the narrative was quite difficult to read. It was unnecessarily long and not very personal. 

It's a real shame, because a lot of themes are actually very significant to modern society. Dating in the 21st century is tough, and the way Sonia attempts to deal with trying to figure out what path she was on had the potential to be very poignant. Unfortunately, I didn't really connect with the story enough for it to have that impact, which is a shame.