Rules for a Perfect Life - Niamh Greene

Having just completed my exams and immediately picked up J.K Rowling's new book 'The Casual Vacancy' which annoyingly, I started before exams but had to put down for a few weeks while I studied. Then yesterday  I went to the library and picked up a handful of random books. So here we go, a little over 24 hours after starting 'Rules for a Perfect Life' I have just completed it and now want to tell you guys all about it. 

***This review contains minor spoilers however nothing earth-shatteringly important, I promise***

Rules for a perfect life is a cheerful novel which follows Maggie, who finds herself unemployed and  homeless when the economic crisis hits Ireland, from her designer lifestyle in the city to the middle-of-nowhere. Decidedly critical of the rural lifestyle Maggie approaches 'Rose Cottage' with whatever the opposite of "rose-tinted glasses" are and blunders into the little village of Glacken where one little lie unravels beyond her very own eyes and spreads so quickly through a village who takes an intense interest into new-comers and has a very active gossip-mill. After splitting up from her high-school sweetheart over a yellow gummy bear Maggie finds herself falling for Edward, a father of two children (Polly a delightful 6 year old that you can't help but love and Matilda, a typical bitter teenage). 

As Maggie stumbles along she discovers, despite her attempt to hate everything about rural life, that  it is not all bad. But is it too late to save face? 

In this cheerful novel you find yourself laughing along with Maggie and blushing with embarrassment at times. You feel like you have known the characters that Niamh has created for a lifetime and as I was reading this down-to-earth novel I felt like I was right there alongside Maggie. Any book that does this, to me, is a book definitely worth reading. 

Score: 9/10