Review: 'The Singalong Society for Singletons' by Katey Lovell (2016)

Monique and Issy are teachers, housemates and lovers of musicals! Their Friday night routine consists of snacks, wine and the Frozen DVD. So when Monique’s boyfriend moves to America for a year and her sister Hope moves in because of her own relationship woes, Friday nights get a new name… ‘The Singalong Society for Singletons’!
It’s a chance to get together, sing along to their favourite tracks from the best-loved West End shows, and forget the worries of work, relationships and love (or lack of it). But when Issy shares the details of their little group further afield, they get some unexpected new members who might just change their opinions on singledom for good….
Sometimes you come across books that immediately seem to jump off the shelf into your lap, calling your name; you don't even need to read the blurb to know this is the kind of read you'll enjoy, purely based on the book cover, the title, or just the author's name. This is what happened to me when I first saw Katey Lovell's 'The Singalong Society for Singletons', which was released by Harper Impulse on October 6th. I was lucky enough to get a review copy of the book via NetGalley and I couldn't wait to check out my first Katey Lovell read. I have to admit I already had pretty high hopes before starting the novel, so I just hoped the story would manage to live up to those expectations...!
Monique's life as a teaching assistent is pretty uneventful, until her longterm boyfriend Justin suddenly decides to move to America to work there for a year and her sister Hope, who is having some relationship troubles, moves into the apartment she shares with colleague and friend Issy. When they're once again spending their Friday evening eating junk food and singing along to the soundtrack from the film 'Frozen', Monique comes up with a great idea. The Singalong Society for Singletons is born and the group decides to get together each Friday evening to watch a musical and sing their hearts out together. Especially as new members are added to the group, things start to change and more than enough is going on in all of their lives to make those cozy Friday evenings even more important...
This is without a doubt one of my favourite 2016 book releases so far and a novel I just never wanted to end! The book kicks off with a list of musicals that will take on a role in the story, and I was already really excited as soon as I saw that list since I'm a big musical fan. However, while great films such as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Fame and White Christmas are discussed, the novel is mainly about friendship and love, and has a great story at its core. Monique is a wonderful main character and I loved joining her and the other members of the Singalong Society for Singletons, such as Issy, Hope and Connie, on their Friday nights to discover what was going on in their lives and how they dealt with certain issues and supported one another along the way.
Katey Lovell has really come up with a fabulous idea for a chick lit novel and luckily she also executed it in a great way. I really enjoyed her comfortable writing style and thought it was a good mix of dialogue and background/setting information. I'm already looking forward to hopefully reading more of her work in the near future! I don't really need to use up more words to explain how I feel about this novel; I loved it from start to finish and definitely deserves a 10/10. 'The Singalong Society for Singletons' is a heart-warming, fun, feel-good read that will leave you with a smile on your face; this is chick lit at its best and especially a title you can't miss if you're a musical fan!

Rating:10/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.