I did not want to put it down! The High Moments by Sara-Ella Ozbek got the full 5 star rating from me.
5 BIG shiny STARS.
It was an absolutely over the top party of a book that didn’t shy away from some darker themes.
Booze, drugs, sex and some very bad decisions were made and it was filled with characters I both loved and loathed at the same time. Gripping.
Scarlett is far from perfect.
She changes herself to please others.
She makes mistakes – over and over again.
She repeatedly goes back to people that have hurt her.
Scarlett has a tricky relationship with her mother and is desperate for people to like her.
She moves to London without a plan, but when she manages to land a job at a modelling agency she thinks that her life is finally on track.
Scarlett soon discovers that the fashion industry is far from what she had imagined and her life begins to spiral out of control. But at least people know who she is. She is starting to become someone.
And surely it’s better to be someone – even if it’s someone you hate?
With a vein of dark humour at its core, The High Moments offers an astute, often stark, look at the fashion industry and the challenges you can face as a woman in your twenties. Fans of Emma Jane Unsworth’s Animals and shows like Girls will love this.
Great synopsis, right?!?!
It certainly had me intrigued and I love a bit of dark humour when I’m in that mood and The High Moments was filled to the brim with Dark humour. TO THE BRIM.
The book started off with Scarlett realising that every New Year she makes plans to change her life and then doesn’t – well this year is going to be different. She leaves home, she finds a new job and she makes a lot (a lot, a lot) of mistakes.
Whenever the first of January came round, I had a habit of imagining myself a year on, as someone who had enigmatically outgrown the person I was in that moment. But year after year, it was like déjà vu – and it was starting to get old.
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I couldn’t look away from the car crash of a year Scarlett had – I was frustrated by her actions, I was angry at some of her choices and at times I just wanted to give her a hug. Sara-Ella Ozbek had me INVESTED. And I love a book that gets under my skin, even if I wanted to shake the pages in an attempt to shake some sense into Scarlett.
And the ending – I loved the (mostly) predictable ending but the build up to it had A LOT happen. Most of which I was horrified at and I didn’t see coming. I loved that Sara-Ella Ozbek kept me on my toes.
It was all well written, well-paced and The High Moments was definitely not lacking an interesting set of characters. MEMORABLE. But I am sure it won’t be a book for everyone. It was a much more grown up version of The Devil Loves Prada and I completely see why some people have been comparing it to Fleabag – as it can be brutally honest in places. I very much enjoyed it.
And that cover – #COVERLOVE. Who doesn’t love yellow?!?!
Have you read it? Do you want to?
I received a copy of the book for review from the publisher, which was all arranged by the blog tour organiser – Thank you Anne!
One More Word 
Thanks so much for the blog tour support x
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You’re very welcome Anne and thank you as always for the invite.
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