Book Review: Thank You, Next by Sophie Ranald

I love a good chick-lit novel and you know one with a name matching a recent song from a pop diva it’s definitely going to be a lot of fun. And this one really is. I barely put it down.

Thank You, Next follows Zoe who having only recently settled down in one place. She lives above a pub called The Ginger Cat with her pet cat, Frazzle and works down in the kitchen. She’s only just gotten over her ex Joe and with the help of her friend Robbie, she decides to give online dating a go. The difference being is that she is going to try to date a man of every sign in the zodiac to see if she can find a man compatible for her.

It’s a lot of fun and unsurprisingly Zoe goes on a lot of bad dates but there’s a lot more of that in this book.

I’ve recently realised that the reason I prefer chick-lit to romance is that I love seeing the stories of the other characters in the main characters life. And this book certainly provided that. You had Robbie who is young and happily playing the field, Dani who Zoe befriended at the gym and Adam, who Zoe asks to be the DM for the Dungeons and Dragons meet up.

Yeah, you heard that, the main character in this plays DnD. She is a newbie to it, curious about playing it after watching Stranger Things. But the group that gets together isn’t just poking fun at nerds. And that was so fun to read about. Especially one of the scenes that happens near the end of the book. That was cute. I won’t lie, I wasn’t sure the DnD was quite accurate. I’ve not played it yet – though I want to – and I’m pretty sure the players are supposed to be doing the rolls not the DM. And the story they were doing was kind of dull. But I really did love this inclusion and it added something to it.

The characters were all varied and fun and I really felt for Dani. She meets a questionable guy and some stuff happens to her but she works through it. She has Zoe’s support and I think they were definitely my favourite friendship.

There were obviously a lot of dates and there’s two longer lasting relationships for Zoe in this. Obviously one doesn’t work and from the off I was like yeah, he’s using you. From the outside it seems so obvious but obviously Zoe is looking for someone to settle down with her. So at first it must have seemed wonderful. But yeah, he obviously didn’t really care. She does end up with a good guy and those last scenes of them getting together is definitely worth it.

There’s a little bit of smut. Not with the guy she ends up with and it’s certainly not long or descriptive but it’s worth noting there’s some sexual content. There’s a lot more talk of sex and definitely some kinks that can be a little risky but it’s talked about honestly. So I definitely didn’t mind the inclusion.

If you love animals there’s a lot of animal inclusion in here. You have the pet cat, Frazzle who is completely adorable though naughty. And there’s a lot of birds too and I learned you can leave bacon rinds out for birds. I think I’ll keep that in mind in the future. Animals being important is always a cute bonus and I love it.

This was an incredibly enjoyable book and I sped through it. I had to make myself put the book down when I needed to sleep as I wanted to read it in one sitting but it was late.

Amazing read and I highly recommend it to all.

5/5 Stars

BUY LINKS:

Amazon UK