Rarely do I find a book so engrossing that I can’t put it down, finishing it in a single sitting.

The Frog King was one of those books.

Rarely do I pass around a book with reckless abandon, thrusting it upon everyone, promising them that they’ll like it.

The Frog King was one of those books.

I read The Frog King on a whim, discovering it randomly on a shelf , years ago while in Carolina. Written by first time author Adam Davies, I fell in love the the story, the writing style, but mainly the characters; specifically the interaction and relationship between Harry and Evie.

Harry and Evie were all things - touching, hilarious, sad, moving, frustrating beyond belief - but most of all the relationship felt real. It seemed honest and authentic. Davies was able to capture the beautiful nuances that create the powerful emotions of a strong love.

I’ve loaned the book out to many friends and they’ve all loved it. If you are a twenty-something I promise that you’ll like the book.

Since reading The Frog King I’ve checked Amazon on a near monthly basis for 3 + years, fingers crossed, hoping for something new from Adam Davies. I gave up the monthly checks about half a year ago, frustrated. Imagine my surprise that while walking through the bookstore down here I came across Davies’ new book, Goodbye Lemon.

The book, while a good read, is not as excellent as Davies’ first novel. The story is great but the magic of The Frog King is missing. In The Frog King the writing style and story played secondary roles to the interaction between the lovers. In Goodbye Lemon, Davies uses characters and style to support the story. This isn’t bad, the book is good and the characters, style and story are all great.

The painful thing for me was that there were glimmers of light - moments within the book where the relationship between Jack and Hahva is displayed in similar brilliance to that of Harry and Evie. And then, as quickly as Davies opens their world to us, he closes the door. Frustrating. Still a good book and a good story. But definitly not The Frog King.

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