Skip to the End by Molly James

My enormous thanks to Team Bookends and Quercus for sending me a copy of Skip to the End by Molly James in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today.

Skip to the End is published by Quercus and is available for purchase in ebook and hardback here with paperback released on 22nd December 2022.

Skip to the End

Three kisses. Two break ups. One happy ending…

Amy Daniels has a pretty nice life. Her career is on the up, she loves her friends, and she’s about to buy her very own flat. On a good day, Amy could be described as a catch – so why is she perpetually single?

The trouble is, Amy can see something no one else can: the end. As soon as she kisses someone, she knows, in intimate, vivid detail, how their relationship will end. A screaming argument in the middle of the supermarket over milk. An explicit email sent to the wrong address. A hasty escape through a bathroom window on the second date. At the altar – runaway-bride style. There seems to be no end to the unhappy endings.

After years of trying, and failing, to change a pre-written future, Amy has given up. But then she drunkenly kisses three men at her best friend’s wedding and sees three possible endings: two painful, one perfect. The problem is, Amy can’t really remember who she kissed, and worse, what ending belongs to which person – the only thing she knows for certain is that she’s determined to find out…

This novel will have you swirling with first date butterflies, crying with laughter and finally, brimming with joy. The perfect summer read for fans of Lindsey Kelk, Mhairi McFarlane and Sophie Cousens.

My Review of Skip to the End

Amy is looking for The One.

What an absolute treat of a book. Skip to the End is, quite simply, pure unadulterated joy and I loved it.

As an aside, I think Skip to the End would make an ideal study for any aspiring writer of romantic fiction as well as being a wonderful read for lovers of the genre. Molly James achieves the perfect balance of wit and humour, depth and levity, romance and friendship making it absolutely sparkle with pleasurable elements. I finished Skip to the End feeling my life had been made happier by reading it.

The characters are wonderful. Obviously it is Amy, through her first person narrative, who is the most rounded and developed, but I thought every single one from the most minor, to the group of friends at the heart of the story, added something. In fact, whilst Skip to the End is light and entertaining, through the range of characters Molly James adds sufficient depth of theme to enhance reader satisfaction without slowing or marring the sheer pleasure of the narrative. Amy’s Mum, for example, illustrates how, despite her premonitions, the future is never entirely knowable and Jay’s flamboyant nature hides some profound understanding of human nature which is displayed through his perceptive comments to Amy.

The plot is smashing. Of course there will be a happy ending, and of course the reader grasps way before Amy with whom that happy ending will come about, but that just adds to the pleasure of the story because the journey getting to the denouement is charming, pacy, funny and brilliantly entertaining. In fact I finished reading Skip to the End with an enormous, contented sigh and a huge smile on my face. Molly James’ writing lifted my spirits, taught me a couple of things about how I might live my life, and washed away the cares of the world as I was reading. What could be better than that?

Skip to the End is sheer delight in book form. Don’t miss it.

About Molly James

A former magazine journalist, Molly James is the author of 12 escapist novels including multiple bestsellers. Excited to take her writing in a new direction, Molly now brings a twist of magical realism to her heart-based humour, creating worlds the reader will want to return to over and again…

For more information, find Molly on Instagram.