Overall Rating:
“What if The One isn’t the only one?”
Open Minded is my first 5 star Book of the year and I am completely in love with it! If the sound of a hilarious romcom with female friendship and the trials and tribulations of open relationships and dating sounds good to you, then this is the book you need to read! It’s so clever and so fun and I just want to start it all over again! So happy to be sharing my review
About the book
After nine years of dating, Holly is sure Will is going to propose. Instead, he shocks her by suggesting they open their relationship and date other people.
For the last three years, Fliss and Ash have been in a happily open relationship. But now they’re turning thirty, he wants to close it, casting Fliss’s whole approach to life into doubt.
When Fliss overhears Holly crying in the toilet during her first date in nine years, they agree to teach each other everything they know about open relationships and monogamy.
But perhaps they’ll both learn that there’s no one size fits all when it comes to relationships…
The beginning
I genuinely loved Holly and Fliss immediately after their introductory chapters! Two very different girls living very different lives in very different relationships. Holly, expecting to get engaged imminently, is suddenly faced with the possibility of starting an open relationship. Fliss, who has happily been in a long term open relationship, has been asked for exclusivity. Why the change of heart? I was so curious about the reasons and whether changing something so huge would make or break their relationships. I really felt each character’s confusion as they question their futures and adjust to different ways of thinking. They felt so real and loveable, and the first couple of chapters alone had me desperate to follow their journeys, whatever they may be like. It was instantly clear to me just how much of a killer hook this book has, and tied with that perfect humour, it was already an addictive read for me. I couldn’t put it down!
“I think how nice it is to have him here on a Thursday, and what a huge step it is that he basically just asked for all my Thursdays.”
The conversational tone of the book made it so easy to read, and when Holly and Fliss met, it felt like I’d known them my whole life. The author’s character development was absolute perfection and I loved the contrast of the dual narrative. Fliss is the kind of friend you’d always want in your corner and the crutch that Holly needed to get her head around what Will was asking of her. The author delicately explores the difficulties both these characters face and the whole process of their changing relationships was so thought-provoking. Personally, the thought of having an open relationship weirds me out so much (and tbh, makes me feel ill) but hearing how it works perfectly for other people and their relationships was genuinely fascinating to me. A really neat little detail I picked up on was how the chapter titles were pieces of advice for relationships, some serious, some daft – super clever!
The middle
I became so immersed in Holly’s new experiences with different people and how much she was learning about herself in the process. I got the feeling that she wouldn’t think the experience was all bad once she met Liam, someone completely different to Will, the person she’s spent nine years of her life with. I enjoyed reading about the time they spent together; he brought out the more emotional side of Holly, something she hasn’t really explored too much until this point. I loved how both Holly and Fliss kept in contact throughout uncharted waters, giving each other advice and hyping each other up when they needed it the most. It was really beautiful! However, what wasn’t as beautiful was how things start to go wrong. Holly and Will start to face multiple hurdles. Fliss is finding her exclusive relationship with Ash to be suffocating. How much longer could they keep this up?
“I feel like my entire life has become The Ash Show. I wake up in the morning and he’s eating his cereal. I get home from work and he’s in my shower. I close my eyes and the vision of his face is imprinted on the back of my eyelids like a beautiful, monotonous mosaic.”
The sense of rediscovery was huge here for Holly in particular; she begins to question herself and everything she’s believed in her whole life when it comes to relationships. It was all so chaotic, stressful and overwhelming for her, and also for me! I felt like I was sharing so many of Holly’s feelings as she’s wading through the unknown and I was constantly thinking about what was going on in her head. Fliss’s lightbulb moment was also such a powerful and thought-provoking scene. I was heartbroken for her, I felt sad and deflated, but also immensely proud of her for working out what it is that she wants and making sure she prioritises herself and her needs. My emotions were all over the place and I had no idea what would come next. The author seems to effortlessly make you feel so much as you read, so be prepared for an absolute emotional rollercoaster!
The end
Things certainly go from bad to worse for Holly and Fliss. They go through so much heartache and uncertainty that I just wanted to jump straight into the pages and pull them both into a bear hug. Despite all this, I felt that they both needed to go on these paths to learn exactly what they wanted out of their futures, out of life, no matter how painful or how much they wished they hadn’t at the time. The author continues to hit us right in the feels at every turn, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how desperate I was for them to be happy. Scenes with Holly’s mother and Fliss’s brother almost brought me to tears for such different reasons. I just loved how we touch on so many issues aside from relationship struggles. There are also some shocking truths and moments of clarity, the whole balance of all this was just perfect. Like actual perfection.
“My feelings are not strange, or a burden, or something to hide – they matter and I need somebody who’s going to acknowledge them.”
The final chapters were EVERYTHING. There’s drama, tussles, new beginnings, rekindled love, lost love, new love and even fresh new friendships and opportunities. It had absolutely every ingredient for the most satisfying ending! I loved that we don’t see your typical ‘happy ending’ that romcoms seem to churn out sometimes; this felt so refreshingly different but filled with hope and so much goodness. So much is rounded up, but in a way that makes you think about a character’s future and what would (or would not) be in it. I’ll be honest, I felt a little bit lost after finishing that final page – the sign of an impactful book I guess! I adored these characters so much, there stories and experiences will definitely stick with me for life. It’s not often I find a new auto-buy author, but Chloe Seager has 100% earned that title! A huge recommendation for anyone looking for a fresh take on a romcom, or something a little bit different.
Overall thoughts
Open Minded is one of my new favourite romcoms for the simple fact it doesn’t follow the same blueprint of so many others before it. It’s a fresh, exciting, unpredictable and completely chaotic concept that worked so well! Seager’s characters are an absolute credit, their depth and personality shone through so easily and you can’t help but love them. Their experiences throughout the whole book emphasise that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to relationships and dating, and that’s it okay to not have everything figured out. It’s a story of hope, of loving yourself and being true to yourself, and trying things outside of your comfort zone (even if it doesn’t work out!) Such a fun, memorable and inspiring read, loved it!
A huge thank you to the author, Chloe Seager, and the brilliant team at HQ Stories for my copy! Open Minded is out on 15th Feb, please buy a copy from Amazon or wherever you buy your books and support the author if you like the sound of it! Make sure you’re following Chloe on Twitter/X and Instagram for more updates.
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