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maggie alderson

Book Review: The Scent Of You by Maggie Alderson

Title: The Scent Of You
Author: Maggie Alderson
Published: June 14th, 2018
Publisher: Harper Collins
Rating: ★★★★
Find the Author: Goodreads 

Disclosure: I received this ARC in exchange for an impartial review. As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.

Perfume blogger Polly is in crisis. Will her husband’s absence break her … or make her? A novel of perfumes, exploring life, love, loss and forgiveness – Maggie Alderson’s new bestseller.
Are you still married if you haven’t seen your husband for months?Polly’s life is great. Her children are away at uni, her glamorous mother – still modelling at eighty-five – is happily settled in a retirement village, and her perfume blog is taking off. Then her husband announces he needs some space and promptly vanishes.
As Polly grapples with her bewildering situation, she clings to a few new friends to keep her going – Shirlee, the loudmouthed yoga student; Guy, the mysterious, infuriating and hugely talented perfumer; and Edward, an old flame from university.
And while she distracts herself with the heady world of luxury perfume, Polly knows she can’t keep reality at bay forever. Eventually she is forced to confront some difficult truths: about her husband, herself and who she really wants to be.

First Thoughts…

I tend to read more YA as you all know, but when I had the chance to read The Scent Of You, it really drew me in! Not only do I love the fact that the MC is a perfume blogger (and I love perfume), but it had some complex issues in the blurb that make for interesting reading.

My Review…

Polly’s life is on the rocks. Well, technically, it’s because of one thing: her husband. Before he just left abruptly, life was good. But perfume blogger Polly, who links different scents to different memories and other things, on her own little blog, hasn’t seen her husband for months. Before he announces his need for space, Polly had an idyllic kind of normalcy. Her kids are away at university, her mother is still modelling and settled in a retirement village, she’s loving being a perfume blogger among other things. 
So with his vanishing from her every day life, she struggles to cling to what her life is without him there. She hangs on to her friends – some new, from her yoga class – and with the space in her life, finds herself being drawn to a man from her past and a striking new man with the same tastes in perfume as her. But the end of her trying to ignore her husbands vacancy comes too soon, and she’s forced to face the reasons why he’s left and who she wants to be in life. 
I wasn’t sure how I felt about The Scent Of You when I first started it. It did take me a little while to get into the world and get used to the character setting, but once I was mid-way in, something clicked. I became absorbed with the way Polly loved perfume (and as a candle maker, myself, I love scents just the same!) and the way she was. Despite it not engaging me until a lot into the story, the middle and ending really did make up for that. 
Overall, The Scent Of You was a cloud of sweet fiction that I didn’t know I needed. If I only read a few Adult reads this year, I’m definitely glad this was one of them. Maggie has a very unique and compelling way of storytelling and I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who loves women’s fiction and heart-felt reads. 

Have you heard about The Scent Of You?


It publishes TOMORROW, so be sure to add it to your TBR!


Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @LittleMemoirs! I just want to say a major thanks to Jessie at Harper360 for this book, too! 


happy reading!

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