I've just finished reading this book, it took me about 3 days, and usually that means I have thoroughly enjoyed the book because I couldn't put it down. But in this case I think it means that I found it quite dull, and just wanted to get it over and done with.

Will Kelly is 26, and an English teacher, but more importantly he is an ex-boyfriend - his beloved girlfriend, Aggi, dumped him 3 years ago - yes that's 3 whole years ago; and he still hasn't gotten over it, his heart is still very much in two pieces. He lives in a grimy bedsit with only himself and the telephone for company. He doesn't seem to have any friends apart from Alice (who sounds very nice but who is also in a long term relationship), and Simon (a wannabe rock star who is also a self obsessed idiot). One other person features in the book, and this is the girl (Kate) who used to reside in the flat where Will now lives.

The book starts on a Friday evening, and ends on a Monday, so as you may have guessed the entire contents of the book are based upon one weekend, and most of it is spent in Will's flat. To begin with I found Will's character tiresome, I thought the prospect of reading about some broken hearted slob was going to be very dull, especially since his heart was broken 3 years ago and his wounds were still fresh. To me Will seemed like a complete idiot who was wallowing in self pity; I had no sympathy for him and could well understand why he had very few friends. Most of the book was based around his grotty flat and the fact that he couldn't even be bothered to make himself a sandwich, never mind get himself washed and dressed.

Kate, the girl who used to live in his flat rings him to check for any post that may have been left for her and then by chance, a telephone relationship begins between these two strangers. I found this quite hard to believe because if I had found Will on the other end of the telephone I would have told him to get a life, and long since hung up, but their phone conversations lasted hours, and were usually nondescript; but nonetheless a fledgling relationship develops. In his conversations with Kate, you realise that Will is in fact some sort of self hater, and probably needs clinical help.

Over the course of the weekend you begin to understand Will's relationship with Alice (his best friend) and Simon (his other best friend), and these are two very different people and while he seems to be unable to live without one of these people, he could more than definitely live without the other, but these two characters play quite a small role in the book, and only pop up every now and then, although they both do play quite major roles in life changing events for Will.

As the book draws to a close there is a very neat conclusion which I had already kind of predicted but nevertheless found it satisfying, if not a little bit obvious. But what ever happened, I was pleased to have finished the book.

To be honest, the book was okay; it was easy to read and didn't boggle the mind, and I did laugh out loud once. But some parts I found confusing where Will is daydreaming about the past, then all of a sudden you are back in present day, but the transition is not obvious and sometimes I was left wondering whether I was reading about the past or present, but this only happened a couple of times. But I just couldn't shake off the feeling that men like this don't really exist...do they? He had spent 3 years wallowing in his own grief about the fact that he'd been dumped, and he seriously could not get over it. Who spends 3 years pining for someone who dumped you?! It just doesn't make sense; perhaps I'm just heartless...

ISBN 0-340-71816-1
352 Pages
RRP £6.99
Currently £4.74 on Amazon (May 2011)