Book Review: The Evolution of Kate by Alice B Ryder

The Evolution of Kate by Alice B Ryder

image taken from amazon.com

Type: 

Fiction. No strong language, small references of sexual nature, nothing explicit. 

Themes: 

Courage, Deception, Fear, Freedom, Love, Security. A novel of opposites.

General issues the book addresses: 

Main character has social anxiety and social phobia; with no way of overcoming it she has friends around her who help her to deal with it by accepting her for who she is.

Summary:
Kate is a successful author, selling her novel about a woman with social phobia. She has book signings all over the world, only problem is, she has major social anxiety. It is so bad, that for her to show up to her own signings she has to pretend to be Kate – the PA, to ‘Emma’ – the worldwide best-selling author of a novel about a woman with social phobia. And ‘Emma’ is an actress called Casey, employed by Kate to keep up the charade.

That is until one of Kate’s heroes, and the man she bases the main character of her book on, walks into one of her book signings, hot famous actor Luke Owen. He talks to Kate to praise ‘Emma’ for her work and forms a relationship with ‘Emma’ because of his love for her novel. Kate sees the relationship between Casey and Luke growing and pretends she doesn’t want to be with him, when really, she does.

Kate’s housemate, and agent, Rowen, pushes Kate to try and form a friendship with Luke but Kate’s social anxiety stops her. She doesn’t want to cause a fuss. But when ‘Emma’ aka Casey tries to make a pass at Luke’s brother-in-law, Luke is back on the market. Problem is, Kate can never tell Luke that she is really the writer of the book that he loves so much. As her relationship with him develops she finds it harder to keep pretending. But Luke is a lot more perceptive that Kate realises. He knows she is not good in crowds and finds it strange that ‘Emma’ could be so fine when her novel is based on herself and having social anxiety issues.

In a heated argument, Kate reveals everything and loses Luke. She is too scared to admit her feelings for him and when she finally does accept them her social anxiety pushes him and herself away from maybe the only true happiness she’s ever thought she could have. But now that Luke knows who she is and how he feels about her will he let her social anxiety get in the way of what he knows they both want?

Reactions to Book: 

(For purposes of the review I will only cover the few characters who stood out to me, there were other key characters that helped the plot line flow along but weren’t instrumental in my overall view of the book).

Kate’s character gives the reader a basic understanding of what it means to have social anxiety, showing that even true love can’t always conquer your worst nightmares/fears. But there is a lack of depth in explaining how and why Kate developed these anxieties. I think I would have had more empathy with her if there had been a little insight into her background.

Luke is your normal hot-blooded, good-looking, male who portrays most of the usual stereotypes of an actor – one difference being, instead of pushing to live in the limelight, he chooses to cosy away in a village with his family, where everyone knows him and respects his right to privacy. He has a relaxed and slightly sarcastic sense of humour, bringing quick-wit and small smirks to an enjoyable read.

Rowan, Kate’s agent is a flamboyant gay man. He is hilarious and really tries to bring Kate out of her shell by accepting her social anxiety but not letting her live her life on it. I like that he has a crush on Luke because it makes his time around Luke more amusing. 

The book delves slightly into the mindset of someone with social anxiety but realises that it is isn’t something you can just ‘get over’. Kate goes through all kinds of mental struggles due to her anxiety, battling with her inner self for what she wants, yet having an overwhelming fear of what will happen if she does. As someone who has a form of social anxiety I can see how the writer has tried to convey Kate’s social anxiety by the way she argues with herself in her mind.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5
Besides for the unfortunate formatting of the book, making it hard to read sometimes due to line spaces every two lines of writing, I thoroughly enjoyed most of this book. The characters were believable and relatable. The novel was an ‘easy read’ filled with romance, personal struggle, friendship and enough turmoil to keep you turning the pages.

I only had one issue with the plot/ storyline further on into the book. Luke seemingly gives reference in two different places to knowing about Kate’s identity as the writer of the book he loves, before she tells him the truth. At first I thought it was because Luke was trying to tell Kate that he knew her secret identity. But, he clearly does not know when she eventually tells him and he is outraged by the revelation. Up until this point in the story, I was really enjoying the book but this displacement in the plot really confused me. I had to go back through the story a few times to see if I had missed something. Since the revelation of who she really is, is so monumental in the disagreements in the book it would have been better to either go down the path of Luke secretly knowing who she was or cutting those displacements entirely. That said, I really did enjoy this read. I love nothing more than a good romance story and Alice B Ryder gave us all of that.

I gave it 3.5 out of 5 because of the formatting and plot issue. I felt like it didn't deserve a 4 because of these issues but I loved the story line so felt it needed to be awarded more than 3.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. 

About the Author:

Alice B Ryder is a self-published author currently living in Staffordshire, England. She has written other novels which can be found via the links below. One in particular is her sequel to The Evolution of Kate called Losing Captain Wentworth

For more information on Alice B Ryder please visit:
http://alicebryder.blogspot.co.uk/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alice-B.-Ryder/e/B00JE6W16M
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8120819.Alice_B_Ryder

https://twitter.com/AliceBRyder1