Don’t Want To Miss A Thing by Jill Mansell - Book Review

 

In my opinion, Jill Mansell is a great writer, she will be put in the top three of my favourite authors. My first book I read by her, An Offer You Can’t Refuse, when I was thirteen. It’s her books that have made me want to write romance, and novels revolved around strong women. 

The novel: Don’t Want To Miss A Thing came out in 2013. It is about Dexter and Molly, and although everyone can tell by the blurb that these two characters will end up with each other, it is the story that blossoms between these two that hook any reader to learn how they end up with one another. Dexter moves next door to Molly, after having to become the full guardian of his sister’s eight month old daughter, Delphi, after his sister sadly passes away. 

The book takes around five months. During this time, Molly and Dexter become closer as friends, and both ignoring their feelings for one another. Doing this leads them both into other relationships with different people. Throughout these months we learn the secrets of the other characters of this book, for example Frankie, who is Molly’s closest friend. I won’t say what happens to Frankie, as I don’t want to spoil it. But by the end of the novel, everything is resolved with every character, and like any romance, there is happiness all around. 

I can only guess that you all can tell that I liked this book, due to me loving Jill Mansell as a writer, and I did really enjoy this novel.  One of the main things I liked about this book, is how it made me feel confident with my writing when it comes to my novels. By this I mean: the blurb mentioned the main plot about Molly and Dexter. Whereas in the novel it had around three to four other subplots. Did they affect the main storyline? I don’t really think so, but it doesn’t mean they weren’t needed. Like I mentioned one of the subplots affected Frankie, who is a close friend to Molly. Therefore, when Frankie tells Molly, we see another layer to one of the main characters. As well as this, at the end of the novel, all of these characters from these stories are involved in the scene, which makes it end on a nice strong point.  The reason I really liked this, is because I do this as well for my novel. Sometimes, I worry that doing this is in a way bad writing, but Jill Mansell’s books show you can do this, and so many other published authors do this too. It is the beauty of writing in third person, as we as writers can dive into other character’s storyline. Doing this also helps us show different characteristics of our protagonist, making them realistic. Jill Mansell does this really well and she should be applauded for doing this.  I also really liked how well the slow burn romance was done. Jill Mansell dropped different elements to show the emotions between Dexter and Molly throughout the novel. Even when they both rejected their feelings for one another, it was done cleverly which made it realistic. 

However, there was one part that I was a bit iffy with. I do believe if Jill Mansell wrote this book now in 2021 that she would either take this scene out or change it slightly. There is a scene where Molly and Dexter believe that Delphi’s father is coming round. Worried about this, they ask a friend if they can take their boy toddler, telling them the social worker is coming over and it would be nice to show them how well Delphi is getting on with other children.  Of course, this is a lie. Instead, they put the toddler in a dress (which is totally fine). The man finally leaves, after they learn he isn’t the dad. Molly jokes around saying how they should take the dress off their friend’s toddler, otherwise if the boy grows up being a transitive it will be their fault. 

There are a few reasons why I didn’t like this. One: it suggests that people who are born as men, if they dress up in traditional women's clothes, it means it’s not right. Also using the word ‘transitive’ can be seen as offensive, as this term has been linked to a medical disorder, when it never should be. You can find out more about this on: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/03/19/transsexual-transgender-transvestite-what-should-you-call-trans-people/ 

Overall, I did really like this book. Yes, that scene wasn’t my favourite but everyone is always learning, and I know things I wrote in my teens I would write differently. This book did remind me how much I like Jill Mansell’s writing, and how she makes a story flow. Remembering this definitely makes me want to buy more of her books and read them.