Review: 'The Choir on Hope Street' by Annie Lyons (2017)

The best things in life happen when you least expect them
Nat’s husband has just said the five words no one wants to hear – ‘I don’t love you anymore’.
Picture-perfect Caroline has to welcome her estranged mother into her house after she was forced out of an exclusive nursing home.
Living on the same street these two women couldn’t be more different. Until the local community centre is threatened, galvanising Caroline and the people of Hope Street into action. But when the only way to save the centre is to form a community choir – no one, least of all Nat, expects the results…
This spring, hope is coming!
When I saw ‘The Choir on Hope Street’ popping up on my NetGalley overview page, I just couldn’t stop myself from requesting a review copy of the book even though I am trying my very best to get my review book pile down to 0. I wasn’t familiar with author Annie Lyons before picking up this latest title of hers, but was definitely curious to check out this particular novel because the title, blurb and cover immediately got me excited. I just can’t ignore a promising chick lit read…! ‘The Choir on Hope Street’ was released by HQ on 6 April, and it was undoubtedly one of the April releases I was most looking forward to checking out, so as soon as I received my review copy I sat down with it….
Natalie is trying her best to pick up the pieces of her life after her husband Dan completely unexpectedly told her he isn’t in love with her anymore, even though she had the feeling things were going quite well between the two of them. Now, Nat not only needs to take care of herself, but also need to make sure her son Woody doesn’t get stuck in the middle of her problems with Dan. At the other side of Hope Street, perfect mum Caroline is dealing with some unexpected troubles of her own when she has to take in her estranged mother, who has been turned away from the nursing home she was staying at. Even though Nat and Caroline don’t seem to have a lot in common at first sight, their love for the Hope Street Community Centre is what brings them together. The local council has plans to demolish the centre, so the locals decide to get together and start a choir to try their best to save this important place in their community…
Oh, I’m such a sucker for novels in which communities get together to work towards a common goal, such as starting a choir to save the local community centre… I loved ‘The Choir on Hope Street’ and am so glad I got the chance to check out Annie Lyons’ writing. This really is a great chick lit read; one with some interesting characters at its core and even a focus on some quite serious topics (which I wasn’t expecting at first). The chapters in the books are told from the points of view of Natalie and Caroline, alternating between them. The two female leads couldn’t be more different: where Natalie is quite sarcastic and chaotic, Caroline is bossy and organised, but the two are thrown together due to circumstances, which ends up in some great reading material.
I really liked the idea of starting a community choir and loved how this brought different kinds of people together, all fighting for the same goal. I wouldn’t have minded if the choir had played a slightly bigger role in the novel, really adding that musical touch to the story, but I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The author’s writing flowed really well, provided a good mix of description and dialogue, and fit the genre. I know I will definitely look out for Annie Lyons’ name the next few months and hope she will be treating us to another read soon. All in all, ‘The Choir on Hope Street’ is an uplifting, hopeful and warm-hearted romantic comedy read which I’m sure any chick lit fan will enjoy just as much as I did!

Rating:9/10

  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.