The Singalong Society for Singletons – by Katey Lovell

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

‘Quirky, cute and utterly romantic’ – Bestselling author Rebecca Raisin

Monique and Issy are teachers, housemates and lovers of musicals! Their Friday night routine consists of snacks, wine and the Frozen DVD. So when Monique’s boyfriend moves to America for a year and her sister Grace moves in because of her own relationship woes, Friday nights get a new name… ‘The Singalong Society for Singletons’!

It’s a chance to get together, sing along to their favourite tracks from the best-loved West End shows, and forget the worries of work, relationships and love (or lack of it). But when Issy shares the details of their little group further afield, they get some unexpected new members who might just change their opinions on singledom for good….

My Opinion:

*Book provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*

The main characters are teachers and the book is all about musicals, the perfect combination for me. I got really excited when I first heard about Katey’s book, because I’m a huge musical fan!

Mon and Issy are teachers and what they love most is musicals! Their Friday night consist of watching one and having fun. Things change about when they are joined by Mon’s sister Grace and Mon’s boyfriend leaves for a America for a year. “The Singalong Society for Singletons” is born. Every Friday night is dedicated to another show and so is every chapter. The idea of this is very clever and fab! Every time someone else picks the musical and it was always very interesting, to see what they would pick.

After a while they are joined by some unexpected strangers, who quickly become part of the singalong party. They have a lot of fun together and I just loved all the musical theatre talk. It’s a book I’ve been waiting for! Musicals are included and the characters love them as much as I do.

Things change with these new arrivals, for Issy, but also for Mon, who still has a boyfriend in the States. However, she starts questioning her relationship with Justin.

Even though the whole story is based on these musicals, the characters still get their story to tell and it’s actually a great mix and change between the scenes. This book is great, because Katey has a real talent for developing a storyline, creating relatable characters and still including so much about all these musicals.

Some musicals covered are Lis Mis, Oliver!, Wicked, Grease and many more. It was very exciting to see the characters interact while watching them and then also overcoming hurdles and other things.

This is definitely a feel good read, with emotions, fun and lots of excitement. I was actually sad, when I had to say goodbye to the characters and that’s always a good sign ;).

Rating:

My possible cast:

Monique: Cassie Scerbo

Issy: Josie Loren

Katey on Twitter: @Katey5678 Website: http://bookswithbunny.blogspot.ch Goodreads - Amazon UK - Amazon US

Sky's Musical Corner - Katey Lovell about her inspiration for The Singalong Society for Singletons

When Simona invited me to write a guest post about my first full length novel The Singalong Society for Singletons (published October 7^th 2016 by Harper Impulse), I was delighted.  Simona and I have similar reading taste and her blog is always full of brilliant recommendations, so I was more than happy to be her guest.

The very first spark of an idea for the novel came in November 2015, and it was as simple as ‘I want to write a book about musicals’.  I’ve loved them since I was a child (just like Mon, the protagonist in the novel, I wanted to fly like Mary Poppins!) and if anything, my passion for them has grown over the years.  Whether it’s watching a live performance, a cinema showing or settling down on a Sunday afternoon with a DVD, musicals have the power to lift my spirits.

Before I wrote a single word, I had the title in my mind. I’ve always adored alliteration (see what I did there?) and it came to me from nowhere – at first it was simply ‘The Singalong Society’ but then to ensure it had a strong romance element I extended it to The Singalong Society for Singletons. 

I then wrote a short synopsis, planning to base each chapter around a different film.  The next task was to decide which musicals were going to be included.  Determined to get a spread of classics, modern favourites, cult movies and nostalgic feel-good films, I set about making a list.  I spoke to readers on social media asking which were their favourite musicals.  I spent hours reminding myself of the themes of each film on my list, so I could tie what the characters go through with what was happening on-screen.  I watched every musical mentioned in the novel at least once, normally twice, as part of my research, making detailed notes to ensure the essence of each musical came across through my writing.  It took a lot of time, but was a necessary part of the writing process (as well as being fun!)

For nine months I lived and breathed musicals. As well as watching them on DVD in every spare moment, I saw a fair few live – Matilda (on Broadway), Chicago, Let It Be, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – and also went to a Singalong screening of Dirty Dancing.  That was an experience…

I’ve had songs from the shows playing on a loop in my head, I’ve been quoting lines from my favourite films without realising it, I’ve been dancing around my living room like I’m Irene Cara in Fame. 

You’d think I’d be all musicalled out by the time I wrote ‘The End’ but to celebrate finishing the project there was only one thing to do… go to the theatre.