Ellie Center

I think my main issue with this book is that it's simply marketed wrong as a rom-com. Once I got over that disappointment (at 60% through there was still no romance) I began to appreciate it for what it was; a dramedy. The reader spends most of the book listening to Kat's inner musings about her anxiety and her break up with Sam. I didn't understand why she felt that she was better off without him...he was definitely better off without her at the beginning of the book.
There is humour in the book and Kat is quite droll. She's an Eleanor Oliphant kind of character. I loved how she grew as a person and was more likeable as the story progressed. I really liked Sam and I thought it would have made a better rom-com if they had reconnected at the gym, got jealous of each other over all the flirting with other people there and eventually wind up back together. After all, they spent five years together and had been crazy about each other. However, the story does end in a satisfyingly uplifting way.
The audio production of this book is excellent. The narrator does a great job of performing Kat and made my enjoyment of the book that bit more heightened.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy provided by the publisher.… (meer)

Come Here Often by Ellie Center
Contemporary women’s fiction.
Kat goes to the massive health club for the first time ever. While she’s there, her boyfriend dumps her over the phone and then she losses her job. In the same day. She tries to leave but she can’t make it to the exit door. She has a panic attack and retreats back into the gym. Kat finds herself living in the gym, making friends and trying all the amenities including all the various workout classes. Anything to avoid the exit door.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook narrated by Kate Hanford. The performance was well crafted. The listener can clearly hear and feel Kat’s anxiety as she tries to approach the door and her introspection as she remembers different issues and self-diagnosed missteps. Her switch to the daycare children is brief and sounds more like baby talk but it’s clearly not an adult voice so acceptable. I listened to this at a speed of 1.3 which is my preferred rate for a conversational pace.

Kat is clever is finding resources to both keep her busy and sustaining her daily needs of food, drink, and keeping her phone charged. The overall tone of the book is on the depressing side. She makes friends and learns about herself but it’s really only the last portion that includes any hope. It does end on the positive side which is what makes it worth the drama for me.
I did have an issue with Kat’s self-soothing shopping and drinking in the mega club. I kept thinking of how she’s going to pay the credit card bills once she is actually able to get home. Maybe that’s just the accountant in me.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Hachette.… (meer)