Billy and Me, Giovanna Fletcher’s debut novel, is quite simply a romance novel. It focuses upon a small town / village girl Sophie May and Billy, a famous actor. The basis for the story line is pretty much ‘can these two total opposites successfully be together in a committed relationship?’ Alongside this though, the reader is teased with a secret that Sophie May is anxious to divulge to her love interest, Billy.
I enjoyed this novel, but only to an extent. I liked the concept behind the story, the idea of exploring whether two opposites can really be happy together. I liked the exploration of family bonds and relationships that Fletcher uses alongside the main story line. I liked the contrasting worlds that Fletcher presented between Sophie May’s life and Billy’s life. And I liked the first half of the novel – maybe a little less than that though. Harsh? Maybe. But I just could not stomach the character of Sophie May. At the beginning of the novel I was optimistic for her character but as time went on I just felt this huge dislike for her build and build. Now, if this dislike in the main character had been built on purpose, I may have been able to accept it. However, I do not believe that this was Fletcher’s intentions. To me, it appears Fletcher was desperately trying to make the reader feel sympathy for Sophie May and her situation, but I feel the intense effort in trying to accomplish this let the character down.
A big part of the story line in Billy and Me is the secret that Sophie May holds from Billy. This is built up for some of the novel, however Sophie May soon divulges said secret to the reader (Billy still being unaware). Although this story telling technique is often very effective, I felt this to heighten my dislike for Sophie May. This is because I was aware of her secret and why she was panicking at times, however I just could not justify her responses and worry over the said event. Maybe I’ve read too many crime and thriller novels, but I wanted the secret to be far more gripping, and a little less underwhelming.
I tend to pick up romance novels as a break from the intense reads that I am required to read on my university course. I find the romance genre to be full of easy reads, something I can just relax with, both mentally and physically. So, I did not pick up Billy and Me thinking it would be a world changing piece of work, I was simply hoping for an ‘easy read’. However, due to my complete dislike for the main character I found this novel to be far from an ‘easy read’. I was constantly rolling my eyes at the character’s actions and thoughts, and crying for the women everywhere, because of the way the novel portrays us.
Billy and Me is therefore a novel that I would struggle to recommend to a friend. However, if you are somebody who does not get too irked by characters in books maybe you’ll have some luck with this novel. Although I have been disappointed with the novel i would love to hear what you think about Fletcher’s story and characters. Maybe you’ll help to open my eyes and heart to Fletcher’s creation…maybe.
