Blog Tour : The Unfinished Symphony of You and Me by Lucy Robinson - Review + Exclusive Content

I am so delighted to be a part of the blog tour for Lucy Robinson's new book, The Unfinished Symphony of You and Me! Here's my review of the book and a tour exclusive piece from Lucy! It's a lovely post about the incredible Brian Hurst!


Title : The Unfinished Symphony of You and Me

Author : Lucy Robinson

Publication Date : 19 June 2014

Publisher : Penguin

Source : Sent by the publisher (Merci!)

Overall : 5/5

Sally is an outstanding singer and – with the possible exception of a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake – she loves singing more than anything else in the world. Unfortunately, she only loves singing in her wardrobe where nobody can hear her: she’d rather cut her head off than sing in public.

For years she’s managed to hide her prodigious talent and has worked as a wardrobe mistress at the Royal Opera House. But then a wild, heady summer of love and loss in New York changes her life and she returns to London having made a promise to audition for Opera School...and to her utter horror, she’s offered a place.

The night before term starts, a tired, beautiful-looking man turns up on Sally’s doorstep with an old hand-written message in his hand and a nervous smile on his face. With him come the best and worst memories of Sally’s life and she is stunned speechless...Although she still manages to attack him with a piece of pork belly.

How did he find her? Why is he here? And, with him back on the scene, how can she possibly fulfil her promise to train as a singer?

The Unfinished Symphony of You and Me is definitely my favourite book by Lucy Robinson. It’s her best work so far! The design of this cover remained simple like her previous book covers, which I adored greatly. I didn’t expect to receive a limited edition proof copy but the Penguin team is always very lovely. I was really surprised and very happy, of course.

Sally, the female lead in this story loves opera and she’s really talented in singing. She kept her talent from the world for years and the wardrobe is her only safe place. After a bittersweet summer trip to New York (NEW YORKKKKK!), she might have to face her greatest fear ; to audition for Opera School. An audition that would change her life and remind her of the worst days but she has to keep her promise.

I became Robinson’s fan since A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger and I have been waiting for something new from her and tah-dah, she revealed her third book. My eyes were glued to the book from line one and I really felt that I have known Lucy for ages. Her hilarity and impeccable writing style made the whole four hundred and a bit pages an easy peasy read. Indeed a balm my stressed, overworked mind and it’s worth all the sleepless nights. Before reading this book, I watched a video of Lucy on YouTube and she’s truly fabulous. Love her so, so much!

Sally’s such a strong heroine with great personality and she really captivated me. Her character was pretty reader-friendly and just so real. She’s really funny and lovely, definitely a great combo and she's one of the best heroine of the year for me. Sometimes she’s dramatic and I would be like “My twin sisterrrrr!”. Her confidence level is at zero at times and I totally could relate to that. I had a really fun time reading about Sally and her Opera School friends as well as Sally and JULIAN (dream-man) Jefferson-slash-Bell. I personally prefer Julian Bell because the name reminded me of an actor I love (you might hate him, so I better not mention). Julian has dazzled me with his voice (not that I heard him sing but through Lucy’s words) and can you imagine what the REAL voice would have done to me? My heart race, race, raceeeee….eeed a mile and I would run across continents for him. Oh, I just died because he is so damn perfect. Save me, Carrot! So, I can proudly say that characterisation of this story couldn’t be more perfect. I like crazy people a lot and I definitely love Robinson because she writes adorable, funny, entertaining books with out of the world swear words. This book gave me a really good boost of confidence and it eroded a little of my lack of confidence-ness. Now, I appreciate my talents a bit more and feel hell lot better about myself. Massive thanks, Lucy!

People who dislike funny characters just let me down because they might think I am weird. Haha. The blend of past and present events didn’t affect my great love for this book and certainly they gave the story a bit more texture. I revisited Sally’s past and understood the story better and the whole past-present events thing just illuminated the story. I loved this book (and Lucy) even more because it’s set in NEW YORK! A New York fairytale, yayzers! I don't think I would ever get bored of reading about New York in books because the place is just blooming magical! At one point, I was sooo...ooo unsure if the story would turn out like how I hoped and some parts had me crying out loud. That’s when I decided to sacrifice sleep. Let me assure you, this story is worth staying up late for.

For a few days, I was immersed in the fictional pool that was set by the brilliant Lucy and now, I suffer a serious book hangover. I want to read it again till summer ends. A five star summer read that sings to your heart and injects you with laughter! It deserves to be in your luggage bag. I read it by the pool, what about you?

Tour Exclusive Content - Brian Hurst

I’m recovering finally from publication week and watching reviews come in. Always a nerve-wracking time but fortunately I have some lovely friends down with me in Bristol this weekend and we are going to go on some ADVENTURES, which’ll stop me worrying. And probably eat a lot of food. Hurrah!

But I’ve still got time to pop over to Eve's Chick Lit Reviews for a chat. Thank you very very much for having me, Eve, it is a bloomin’ great pleasure to be here.

So, to recap. During this tour I am talking about two things: MAD PEOPLE and FEAR.

The MAD PEOPLE are my cast of main characters from The Unfinished Symphony of You and Me. During this tour I’m revealing them to you, one by one.

And then I’ll talk briefly about FEAR. Facing your fears; seizing the day, just being brave is a major theme in this novel and at the end of this blog tour I’ll be facing a sizeable fear of my own and showing you a video of the results. ARGHHH. So, here we go. Feel free to butt in with any actor suggestions for the blockbusting film that will surely follow. Or indeed with any fears of your own!

BRIAN HURST

Oh HOW I LOVE BRIAN! Brian, in my head, is a cross between my Dad and a tutor at University, who was also called Brian; a delightful man who used to watch us kindly over his spectacles as we bullsh*tted our way through his seminars.

My Brian is a middle-aged man from Huddersfield who likes fish and chips, laughing gently at mental people and Sally Howlett. He is a big fan of our star and it’s partly down to him that she gives in and agrees to train at Opera School. Brian is stern when he needs to be but also quite ridiculous. Around a third of the way through the book, we see him sitting in a pitch-black wardrobe with Sally, singing a duet, beaming his little socks off.

Brian is like Sally, in that he loves singing and is fantastic at it. And his background is similar to Sally’s, so he knows all about how it feels to be moving in Opera circles with a strong regional accent and a working-class upbringing . But as he shows her, it’s not all large posh people with country estates and butlers . . . Watch out for the scene with the mars bar and the piano.

MY favourite Brian Quotes : ‘Well now.’ He chuckled. ‘Finally. There is life in there. It’s been like talking to a catatonic toad, Sally. You rehearsed everything you’ve said to me so far.’

Brian’s greatest fear : Brian is actually quite fearless. He’s one of the most relaxed, chilled-out people you’ve ever met – he personally couldn’t give a flying b*llock what people think of him when he’s singing. But having consulted with him I can reveal that he is slightly afraid of retiring. He’s already tried it once and can’t quite bring himself to do it. Hence he’s ended up teaching at Sally’s opera school.

Thanks for spending time with me, Lucy! Love you! xx

And before I sign off, here's the gorgeous blog tour badge! Check out the participating blogs and do not fall in love with Julian for he is mine!


Thanks for reading, carrots! xxx

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