My Review
The Couple is a totally different book to anything I have read recently, set against the backdrop of government encouraging people to stay single and offering financial benefits this story took me a while to get my head around.
Millie is a strong level headed lead female character in this story and she has set her success against the goals she set herself in childhood and is working hard to achieve them within the set timescales. She works for a company who are embracing that normal is people not in a couple and when she gets asked to work on a proposal for a drug to stop you falling in love she knows this is her chance to achieve her dream job. Working alongside Ben for the project Millie starts to question who should take be offered the drug and whether taking something so final is really the answer, especially when Ben believes in couples and true love.
A story that is focused on creating a totally different normal to what we are used too, I found once my brain had shifted gear and was starting to see relationships as being against the norm I really enjoyed this book. Ben was a whirlwind character, full of life and vibrance and the polar opposite to Millie which created a wonderful contrast and many amusing moments as you read.
A concept that I had never even considered before that being in a couple isn’t normal, this book made me think both whilst reading it and drew my attention to think about it inbetween times as well. Thought provoking and mind blowing whilst trying to train your brain to think differently. A really enjoyable read, that is a bit like marmite and I love marmite!!
Book Blurb
Millie is a perfectionist. She’s happy, she’s successful – and, with a great support network of friends and family (and a very grumpy cat) around her, she’s never lonely. She has her dream job at a big tech firm and is on track to become the company’s youngest ever Innovation Director. The last thing she needs is romance messing up her perfectly organised world.
Besides, normal people just don’t have romantic relationships. Everyone knows that being in a couple is a bit . . . well, odd. Sure, everybody has that one coupled-up friend who messes up the numbers at dinner parties, but it’s a bit eccentric. You know, like having a pet snake or living off the grid. Why rely on another person for your own happiness? Why risk the humiliation of unrequited love or the agony of a break-up when you can do everything yourself? No, Millie is perfectly happy with her conventional single life.
So when Millie lands a new project at work, launching a pill that stops you falling in love, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. That is, until she starts working with Ben. He’s charming and funny, and Millie feels an instant connection with him. Is this the spark that science and society are trying to suppress?
Will Millie sacrifice everything she believes in for love?
Available to purchase here
Meet the Author
Helly Acton is a copywriter from London with past lives in Zimbabwe, the Middle East and Australia. She studied Law at King’s College London before following a more creative path into advertising. At 26, Helly took a career break to travel in Africa and Asia, before landing in Sydney. Six years and one life-affirming break up later, she returned home and threw herself into online dating in the city. Helly uses this experience as a single woman in her early thirties – torn between settling down and savouring her independence – as a source of inspiration.
Helly currently lives in Berkshire with her husband, Chris, their little boy, Arlo, and their little dog, Milo. Sometimes, she gets their names mixed up.
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Daisy, Jacks & Kel x
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