BOOK REVIEW: Mr Make Believe by Beezy Marsh

I was excited to hear about Mr Make Believe, the newly-released novel from journalist Beezy Marsh (who took part in the Q&A recently!). I've been on the lookout for some funny reads over the past few weeks and this one was just perfect.

Marnie Martin, formerly an ambitious, hard-hitting journalist, is now a stay-at-home mum and food columnist whilst husband Matt, a successful barrister, is at work. However, when Marnie - who probably isn't the best person to be in charge of a food column - loses her job due to a paté fiasco - she feels as though she's hit rock bottom.

With Matt being out all hours, and going to events with his hot protegee, Marnie has turned her attention to Maddox Wolfe, gorgeous movie star and object of her desires, and finds herself glued to his movies at every opportunity. With Matt away and having nobody else to vent to, Marnie begins an anonymous blog, on which she writes about her life as a stay-at-home mum and her love for the super-hot Maddox...

Little does she know, the blog is about to take off, landing her the role of Mrs Make Believe, columnist and spokeswoman for mums everywhere. But when fame takes hold, Marnie's life begins to get that little bit out of control. And when she releases a bit of gossip about Maddox, she doesn't expect him to turn up at her office, let alone take her out for dinner.

As Marnie's marriage is slowly beginning to fall apart, her life as Mrs Make Believe is starting to take over. Sure, she may be famous - and not to mention close to her one-time crush, Maddox - but is it making her happy? When her mistakes are suddenly broadcast to the entire world, Marnie's new celeb alter-ego, Mrs Make Believe, is also at risk of crumbling.

This book is a fantastic read, one I struggled to put down. The plot is...well, to be honest, it's a bit outrageous. And that's exactly why I loved it. As Marnie goes from stay at home mum to celebrity, her life becomes a whirlwind, complete with celebrity romance, and it was very hard to stop reading. Nothing about this book was predictable.

The only issue I had with this book was Marnie's attitude towards Matt; I did feel that she overreacted a lot, and I did sympathise with him in quite a few places. For example, her anger at him having watched porn (even though she openly fantastises about Maddox whilst watching his movies), her reaction to him not wanting another child, even though he gave good reason as to why he thought it was a bad idea. I got the feeling that Matt was deliberately painted as a villain for these things, and I just couldn't see it.

That said, Marnie does change throughout this novel. And aside from the above, it is a fab read. It's witty, funny, romantic and with a wonderfully wild plot about the reality of love. I do hope that Beezy Marsh writes more like this, because Mr Make Believe is a brilliant novel.

Rating: 5/5

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

No comments