pages: 276
heard: 2/14-15/19
rating: possibly my favorite book of 2019
book: 14 in 2019
"sometimes it is impossible to move forward without understanding what happened."
“We’ve been waiting for an hour.” That’s what Audrey says. She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just bordering on cursive. That’s the thing I think first. Not: Audrey Hepburn is at my birthday dinner, but Audrey Hepburn is annoyed.”
At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Rebecca Serle contends with in her utterly captivating novel, THE DINNER LIST, a story imbued with the same delightful magical realism as One Day, and the life-changing romance of Me Before You.
When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there’s a reason these six people have been gathered together.
Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, THE DINNER LIST is a romance for our times. Bon appetit.
MY THOUGHTS
SHORT VERSION
YES!!! I LOVE THIS BOOK SO FREAKING MUCH. YES!!!!!
LONG VERSION
this freaking book man!
thank you library audiobook section!!!!
i have been wanting to read this book since it was released. mostly because of the cover and mostly because of the premise but as all, it fell to the back.
luckily, it was available for immediate listen.
AND I AM SO GLAD THAT I GOT AROUND TO IT!!!!!!
i don't know what i was expecting.
i mean, who would you invite to dinner? everyone's been asked this since the beginning of time. and after reading this book, i have to genuinely think about who my 5 would be. tbh, prior to this, i've never really thought about who my 5 would be.
i don't know man, this book was something else.
it gave me more than i thought it was going to.
and to this day, i beat myself up that i didn't physically read this book and instead listed to it. this is one of those books that I NEED TO OWN for my own personal library.
i think im a sucker for sappy love stories where it doesn't work out no matter what you do because i feel like i can say that i've been in the position where maybe "the one" did get away and, so, yea,...bah! *cue Katy Perry*, so they hold a special place for me.
tmi maybe. i'll leave it at that but yea.
tmi maybe. i'll leave it at that but yea.
Sabrina has dinner with Audrey, her best friend Jessica, her father (whom she didn't grow up with) - Robert, her favorite professor Conrad and her ex Tobias.
and at first, i was like *head scratch* okay....odd choice? well, not odd just, i had no idea where this was going.
and it's going good. you delve into her life and how she meets Tobias. how her friendship with jessica is. how her relationship with her father was....and then BOOM!!!!!!
it hits you.
i did not see that twist coming.
i had to stop playing the audio real quick and mentally take in what i had just heard and even write it down to make sure that if i forgot it, i could look down at it and get back to it. but you don't forget something like that.
you can't.
you can't.
and OMG that shit killed me internally.
i felt that.
"the most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said."
the story then takes you into what its about and everyone has their little bits to add to the story to make her realize. and you learn so much about her relationship with everyone at the table.
you get to see how adulthood shapes her relationships (i mean more specifically hers and jessica's in this instance.) how their stubbornness affects their relationship (hers and tobias'). how her father leaving at a young age and then building another family affects her as well.
and then the end.
it was closure.
it's all about closure.
and there's stubbornness but you can see her coming to her senses.
you can see her accepting it for what it is. and she makes her amends where she needs to for peace of mind for all those involved.
honestly, i need to physically read this book because just doing the audio doesn't do it justice. it doesn't do me justice.
i think i'll get a better grip of it. i feel like i'd understand it more.
i think i can see why Audrey was there but i still feel like she slipped from under me.
i think reading this book again will give me even more understanding than what i got from it the first time.
i absolutely loved this book.
and that cover! not even the cover so much but the yellow! i love the yellow. and it's made me realize i need more yellow books in my life.
i will re-read this and ill give it a better "review" next time.
for now, i'll just do the main spoiler.
once i re-read this, i'll take better notes and give a more in-depth spoiler.
thanks for reading!
SPOILERS
Tobias is dead.
and the story is basically just a recount of how their relationship played out.
they were on and off and on the night of his passing, he was running to her to propose to her.
he had already proposed to her and they had a ring but the original ring that they both liked and wanted was too expensive so they settled for the second one they chose.
he was on his was to say sorry for the break up and to re-propose to her with the first original ring when he was hit by the car that killed him.
even then, now that he's dead, he sees that he was still wrong. the ring that they picked out together was the one that was meant to be (the second one). he was still putting his feelings first.
the story is about finding closure with him and accepting that he's passed away and that, even with all that love, he will most likely still not be the greatest love of her life.
and about her friendship with Jessica and how its suffered throughout adulthood and how she also needs to give.
as always, there's still a lot i left out but like i said, i need to give it another go. i loved this book so much.
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