Joined in 2023 
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Y'all, I'm sure all of that is more than valid, but it took me just under a month to finish this. I was so relieved when it was over. This was a solid 2-star book for me up until about the 70% point when it started to come around.
it turns out he wasn't dating them at the same time at all because we learn the timeline is different so we get three different relationships, and one of them was his big love and she dies in a car accident While I am not going to let you in on that little secret, I will share that one of these women receives a DREAM Valentine’s gift, at the end of the book. (In my opinion) Told through the eyes of Jane, Miranda, and Siobhan, the reader experiences their heartbreak at being stood up by Joseph on Valentine’s day. As a result, the three go on very different journeys of love, loss, and self-acceptance. I loved all of their stories. O‘Leary’s latest feel-good romp involves three women, each stood up by the same man on Valentine’s Day. Secrets are uncovered, relationships are tested and happiness is found in unexpected ways.”— The Washington PostYes, I read 20% before I gave up. But it was a struggle. Whereas I loved Beach Read and was pleasantly surprised by its wit and the topics broached, this novel was as superficial and unfunny as they come for the genre. I felt like Beth O'Leary was having a competition with herself to write the most immature, insufferable, and spineless characters possible. Despite the damage Joseph causes, he isn't cavalier, confident or callous; he's damaged and harboring secrets. He sees himself quite differently than these women see him. He knows in his bones that "Nobody would want me if they knew how broken I am." The mystery is how that can be true and Joseph can have done what he's done on Valentine's Day and how these relationships can grow with integrity. In addition, Jane, like Joseph, is carefully guarding her own past and private life and that's an important part of the puzzle as well.
The three romances are on different timelines (the Valentine’s Day no-shows all occur in different years – 2015, 2018 and 2019, IIRC), though the misdirection really tries to make the reader believe that they are simultaneous. For instance there is a scene with heroine #2 directly after a scene with heroine #1 in which heroine #2 finds a receipt for breakfast for two that seems like evidence of cheating – Joseph had had breakfast with heroine #1 in the previous scene. But they actually occur in completely different years and Joseph’s reason for hiding the fact that he wasn’t alone at breakfast has a reasonable explanation. FURTHER SPOILER I expected this to be funny, maybe a little swoony, possibly a little steamy. It was none of those things. I don't mind if a Romance has a more serious tone, but a boring tone is not something I am looking for.An unexpected love story, The No-Show is an utterly extraordinary tear-jearker of a book, a heart-breaking and joyful novel about dating, and waiting, and the ways love can find us. Years later, Joseph meets Miranda and they start dating. He's still mourning Siobhan, but Miranda thinks he's cheating on her, because our dud Joseph won't just tell her Siobhan died. They break up. So, pluses: O’Leary is a funny, engaging writer, and the story was compelling. The three main female characters were likable as were several secondary characters (especially Miranda’s sisters and the friends that Jane does end up making/realizing she had all along in the course of the book). Minuses: the structure of the story and a plot development late in the book. Poignant and compelling—and surprisingly informative about the risks arborists undertake— The No-Show is an engrossing novel…O’Leary does an excellent job, as always, of creating a charming, realistically flawed romance, while simultaneously tapping into the darkly funny side of life.”—Shelf Awareness
What we get is a heartbreaking, sweet, and tragic story about three women finding themselves and the man who is part of their journey. A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism. O’Leary does it right. She does not downplay manipulation, abuse, or violence, but is still intent on capturing the complex (un)predictability of human slips and inescapable tragedy of life. She also takes care of her characters as much as allowing them to find their own way. There is this highly characteristic sense of domesticity and tender friendship in O’Leary’s writing. Where indeed would Siobhan be without her housemate Fiona and her Marlena? Or Miranda without her feisty sisters Frannie and Adele – who are staying over at her place for a while – as well as the tough guys at work? Or Jane without her newfound, kind friend, Aggie? The spaces for authenticity, opened up by unconditional, loving friendship, are a fundamental feature in all the central protagonists’ individual journeying. This, as it seems to me, is O’Leary’s suggestion. Her choice, in turn, not to infiltrate Joseph’s psyche directly was absolutely phenomenal: it is through this wilful withholding that the horror of certain truths and many other upended assumptions strike to the core of the reader’s own humanness…And you will not know what hit you. That is, until much later… Time; time in this book plays an essential role…Clever, O’Leary… Throughout the book you get to know the three leading ladies Siobhan, Miranda and Jane, I really enjoy a book from the different characters’ perspectives, I find it incredibly interesting as it really speeds up the pace of the book for me. I loved every female character in this book, but I must admit my heart really did fall for Jane, the sweetest character with a lot of self-doubt and worry, I was really rooting for Janey and so the ending (if you’ve read the book) made my heart swell!The No-Show is the brilliantly funny, heartbreaking and joyful new novel from Beth O'Leary about dating, and waiting, and the ways love can find us. An utterly extraordinary tearjerker of a book, this is O'Leary's most ambitious novel yet.
Beth O'Leary writes a brilliant, multilayered, romantic stunner with a poignant twist that you won't see coming. You won't be able to put this down * Lauren Ho * I found myself frequently giggling at this book, and underlining my favorite phrases. There’s plenty of zingy dialogue and pithy noticings about social dynamics. Siobhan in particular is entertainingly self aware. Also i tend to listen to audiobooks at like 1.3 or something as i mostly find the reading too slow but i actually didnt need to do it for Evanna Lynch as she reads in a good pace for me at the normal speed but as i felt like every narrator had different reading paces i had to change the speed of the audio every chapter kinda as if i kept it the same throughout it sounded either too slow or too fast in some of the chapters. Thank you to the publisher, Berkley Romance, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity to provide my opinion. Y no porque lo diga yo, sino porque lo dicen las lectoras que ya han sucumbido a esta maravillosa historia❤️Three women are jilted by Joseph on Valentine’s Day. It seems like Joseph is a cad, but there is SO much more going on than it seems. Beth O’Leary is that rare, one-in-a-million talent who can make you laugh, swoon, cry, and ache all in the same book, and The No-Show is her most moving yet. O’Leary’s wit, charm, and heart are on full, fantastic display in this cozy, surprising, and deeply satisfying novel. I couldn’t possibly love it more.”—Emily Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read and People We Meeton Vacation I knew right away that this was a step up, but didn’t realize how much I’d love it. The No-Show is one of the most clever romance books I’ve ever read, and I can’t believe how brilliant O’Leary was with her plotting. She puts some thriller writers to shame!! Sweepingly romantic, bursting with character, and so, so clever I gasped out loud. Many writers make you feel good, but O’Leary also makes you think.”—Gillian McAllister, Sunday Times bestselling author of That Night Because it’s smart, it’s really emotional, it’s also promising! Interestingly this sad book emphasizes the importance of second chances in life!
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