Book Review: Wilde Like Me

By Becky Gulc

‘You'll never forget the day you meet Robin Wilde!

Robin Wilde is an awesome single mum. She's great at her job. Her best friend Lacey and bonkers Auntie Kath love her and little Lyla Blue to the moon and back. From the outside, everything looks just fine.

But behind the mask she carefully applies every day, things sometimes feel . . . grey. And lonely.
After 4 years (and 2 months and 24 days!) of single-mum-dom, it's time for Robin Wilde to Change. Her. Life!

A little courage, creativity and help from the wonderful women around her go a long way. And Robin is about to embark on quite an adventure . . .’ (Synopsis courtesy of Zaffre.)

I found Wilde Like Me to be immediately engaging. It managed to be extremely funny with some great observations of motherhood. It was also sad, optimistic, and raw; a great combination. Robin is a great character. She settled down when she was quite young, but ended up finding herself as a single mother when parenthood changes her relationship dynamic with her childhood sweetheart Simon. Robin has been somewhat hiding from the world, not acknowledging the ‘emptiness’ that swarms her every once in a while. To be honest she’s lost her sense of self since becoming a mum, could now be the time to change things?

I found Robin’s attempts at dating hilarious at times. (What could possibly happen if a child accidentally opens your Tinder app?!? Swipe, swipe, oops!) Robin is out of practice, a bit naïve at times, but it’s a good journey to go on. The women in Robin’s life are fantastic: her Aunt Kath, her best friend Lacey, her new school-mum friends and of course her daughter Lyla. Whilst Robin might feel lonely, she has these great people in her life and with their support they are going to get her through difficult times. It certainly felt like quite an empowering and inspiring novel and I loved this about it, particularly in terms of Robin embracing the work opportunities she’s presented with.

I only have minor niggles. I felt the early part of the book was a little repetitive in going over Robin’s sense of ‘emptiness’ in the same way in the first 100 pages or so, things could have got moving a bit quicker. There were also some quite long sentences that could have been edited better. I had to read a few things twice as the sentences were sometimes a bit clunky. However these were very minor gripes, all in all.

I enjoy following blogs of mothers who ‘keep it real’ and this book felt very contemporary in this respect. (It didn’t surprise me to learn that Louise is also a blogger, one I’ll now have to follow!) This is the reality of what parenthood can be like, warts and all. I loved this book and it’s great to hear there will be another adventure for Robin and co. soon!

Thanks to Midas PR for the book in exchange for an honest review, and for including us on Louise's blog tour.

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