A charming, quick read, which pulls you into the character’s lives, check out You’ll See by Jesse Bhaird.

The plot:

Life was supposed to be straightforward for Cass Wilkes. After finishing college she’d secured a job that most dreamt of, but never came close to. Her career as a surgeon would be her identity, her armor. Her rank would speak for itself so she wouldn’t have to. But what happens when a crack forms in the life you’ve built? When something completely out of your control, something you could never have planned for threatens to upend everything you’ve worked so hard for? What happens when you can’t touch the threat?

When the call for help comes from her best friend, Cass makes the easy decision to leave London behind for a while, holding out hope that things will be back to normal when she returns.

Expecting to find solace in a new project that’s worlds apart from the stress and responsibility of her normal job, what she doesn’t expect is to be presented with the prospect of a completely new start. She takes refuge in a big city thousands of miles from home, that unbeknownst to her, will show her real love, true loss, and fill her with utter hope. During her time in San Francisco, Cass will be tasked to overcome the things she never knew were chasing her.

Makes for a good holiday or beach read

This is a fun and realistic read, which meant I got into it very quickly. It’s not my usual type of read, although I was interested in the ‘refuge in another city to get away’ element.

This book came at just the right time for me – I needed something light-hearted but pacey, away from my usual crime and thrillers.

These characters were fantastic. The author’s written them incredibly well, and really only revolves around a small group, so allows you to settle in with them. It’s written in first person from the protagonist, Cass, so you get into her mind.

Now, whilst I enjoyed that it was short and quick, it just wasn’t long enough – I’m not necessarily saying this in a greedy way, it’s moreover that some aspects happened too quickly, or were brushed over, and was a constant ‘go’ – it felt like we just needed a second to stop, and the bouts of repetition could’ve been replaced by expanding on the content.

I also got attached to the characters whilst reading this (because they were so realistic!), but this did lead to a small disappointment on how the ending was so rushed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but it could’ve explored some of the themes better, and made a longer-lasting impact.

It has quite a few nice messages in it, and also a couple of small shockers, so makes for a good holiday or beach read – a week after reading this, the main character has stuck with me, but not necessarily many other elements of the book.

I’ve given this one a high 3-stars, only because it’s too short in my opinion to give any higher. Everything in here, the author does well, but I think you just don’t get enough time with the characters, and there are parts which could’ve been drawn out for more enjoyment.

You’ll See, Jesse Bhaird, RRP £6.99 (paperback); Amazon

Pages: 219

Independently Published

Genre: Fiction