Lessons in Laughing Out Loud by Rowan Coleman.

Lessons in Laughing Out Loud by Rowan Coleman.

(Arrow, July 2011.)

Review by Laura Parish.

Willow and Holly are identical twins and are everything to each other. They are alike in every way but one. Willow harbours a secret, one that makes her very afraid. It’s a secret that binds the sisters together but has meant that their adult lives have taken very different paths.
Willow feels that large parts of herself are missing – qualities she knows exist because she sees them in Holly.
One event, one moment in time has separated Willow and Holly and when it’s time to face her past, can Willow learn how to laugh out loud once more.

I loved The Happy Home for Broken Hearts and so I was looking forward to reading the latest from Rowan Coleman. This story didn’t unfold the way I thought it would. However, that’s not a negative point. It really pleasantly surprised me. Willow is a character I fell in love with immediately and a character I could really relate to in so many ways. Her story had plenty of twists to keep me interested and plot events that surprised me. The ending was not how I expected and the pace of the story was such that I couldn’t put it down. I was so easily drawn into the story.
In places, it had me happy, sad and laughing. Lessons in laughing out loud is a wonderfully warm and funny book and I totally recommend it.

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.