BOOKS & MORE BOOKS: THE CUT, A BOOK I DIDN’T EXPECT TO REVIEW

Richard Armitage - credit Kaitlyn Mikayla

 

I didn't really know whether I was going to write about this book. It was a gift from a very good friend living in England. It is autographed by the author. And the author is Richard Armitage.

Now, if you have been reading FLY HIGH! for a long time, you will understand why this is not quite an ordinary book for me.

I have been following Richard Armitage since he was John Thornton in BBC North and South back in 2004. I watched almost everything he did as an actor, read books he recommended, wrote countless posts about him and his work, and even flew to London to see him on stage.

And, let's be honest, a large part of FLY HIGH!'s success in the past was connected to him. I wrote about him regularly, people came to the blog because of him, and some of the friendships I made through FLY HIGH! began with that shared fascination.

So yes, when he became an author, I was obviously going to read his books.

SCREEN STORIES - THE EARLY SPRING: WHEN CHEMISTRY ALMOST MAKES YOU FORGET THE RED FLAGS

 

There is no doubt that The Early Spring has made quite an entrance.

The Chinese workplace romance, starring Jing Boran as Luan Nian (Luke) and Sun Qian as Shang Zhitao (Flora), premiered on 26 August and immediately attracted a huge international audience. In its first week on Netflix, it reached No. 2 on the Global Non-English TV list, with 2.4 million views and 21.5 million hours watched and it entered the Top 10 in 22 markets.

The premise sounds simple enough. Flora arrives in Beijing and begins working for a prestigious advertising company, where she meets Luan Nian, a brilliant but demanding creative director. He is her boss. They clash, they are attracted to each other and eventually they begin a secret relationship which becomes much more complicated than either of them expected.

And this is where my problem begins. Because I have spent a good part of this drama thinking:

I HATE HIM. WHY? WHY?