Review of We Can Work It Out by Elizabeth Eulberg

Status: bought in hardback and back on the shelf.
Rating: 3/5 stars

We Can Work It Out was not the best follow up to a brilliant debut novel. We return to the cast of The Lonely Hearts Club, the fam, if you will. Penny Lane Bloom, pioneer and Queen is finding having a boyfriend difficult to balance with her commitment to the Club. Tracey is being courted against her will. And Diane is perhaps too close to Ryan, Penny's boyfriend. All great set ups for a story-after-the-happily-ever-after, but perhaps I had my expectations set too high.

Don't get me wrong, there were many parts of the book I loved. The Nate shutdown take two with Tracey was epic. The obligatory Beatles birthday. The hilarity of awkward situations Penny finds herself in. What this book lacked was the originality of the first book and its wow factor. Many authors struggle with this particularly when returning to a world they left behind long ago. It is difficult to breathe life into the characters again and I don't envy the author that task.

Overall, read this book if you're curious what happens after but don't expect the same freshness of The Lonely Hearts Club. 

Favourite quote:
Members are required to attend all Club meetings on Saturday nights. No member shall wuss out on attending due to a date with a boy. Exceptions are still for family emergencies and bad hair days only.