Yours Truly
Kirsty Greenwood

Your bum does not look big in that dress.

Mmm, it tastes delicious!

Of course you’re better looking than Jon Hamm.

Newly engaged Natalie Butterworth is an easy-going girl. She’ll do anything for a quiet life and if telling a few teensy white lies keeps her friends and family happy, then so what? It’s not like they’ll ever discover what she’s really thinking…

Until one night, thanks to a pub hypnotist, Natalie’s most private thoughts begin to bubble up and pop out of her mouth. Things get very messy indeed, especially when some sticky home truths offend her fiancé.

Natalie must track down the hypnotist before the wedding is officially cancelled. So along with bad influence bestie Meg, Natalie finds herself in the Yorkshire Parish of Little Trooley – a small village bursting with big secrets, nosy old folk and intriguing Wellington-wearing men.

When the girls get stranded in the village with no means of escape and no way to break the hypnotist’s spell, Natalie is forced to face the truths she has been avoiding her whole life…

While hunting for books to take away on my summer holiday, I sent out a tweet asking for suggestions – and quickly received a reply from Kirsty Greenwood offering me a copy of her debut novel, Yours Truly. So I jumped at the chance.

For those that don’t know, Kirsty Greenwood is the Founding Editor of chick lit website Novelicious, and with a ton of reviews under her belt I couldn’t wait to start reading her own addition to the genre. I’ve often thought that reviewers are in an excellent position to cross the threshold into writing their own books; I suppose once you’ve considered the pros and cons of so many novels, you start to get a good idea of what works and what doesn’t.

Yours Truly is the story of newly engaged Natalie Butterworth. She’s the sort of person that doesn’t tell people how she’s really feeling… so she’s pretending to love her fiancé’s bland cooking, and pretending she’s perfectly satisfied in bed, and pretending that the hideous wedding dress chosen for her by her family is just beautiful…

All the little white lies add up to an easy life, until Natalie is accidentally hypnotised during a show at her local pub. And now she physically can’t lie. Even when she really, really wants to. So whenever she is asked a question, her true feelings tumble out of her mouth before she’s even had time to think. Natalie’s attempts to track down the hypnotist leave her stranded in a Yorkshire village called Little Trooley, where the eclectic mix of locals do their best to help her get her life back…

I really enjoyed Yours Truly. The plot is original and works really well – it creates some real comedy moments, as you don’t realise how often you really need to lie to avoid upsetting someone / looking like a crazy person. The supporting cast are an amusing mix of quirky, strong personalities (Natalie’s sister is a real gem) and the descriptions of Little Trooley are particularly lovely.

Natalie wasn’t my favourite chick lit heroine at first; I was a little irritated by her lack of confidence to say “actually, I hate it” in moments where I really would have to put my foot down, but I loved seeing the changes in her character as a result of the hypnotism. I also thought I knew how the story would end, but I wasn’t quite right… and I love it when that happens.

While reading the book I kept thinking that Greenwood’s writing style was similar to Sophie Kinsella, and it seems that other reviewers have made the same comparison: the narrative is entertaining, light and perfect for reading by the pool. If you’re a fan of Kinsella, you’ll love this – definitely a chick lit author to look out for.

Thanks to Kirsty for sending me her book to review.

Rating: ★★★★★