Review: Seatmate

Seatmate by Cara Bastone
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sam was late catching the bus back from his mom's house in Boston to New York so instead of his usual prime seat at the front he is stuck at the back near the toilet. Gwen was attending a family wedding in Boston but she has the chance of a lifetime to interview an living legend for a book she is trying to put together, provided she can get back to New York for the interview on Sunday afternoon. Stuck in the worst seats on the bus, the two strike up a conversation and discover they are polar opposites. Sam is a homebody, visiting his mom regularly, and has never been outside the USA. Gwen writes a travel blog and has no desire to settle down and get married like her sister.

Sam and Gwen's journey gets more bizarre as the afternoon progresses. There are tuna sandwich incidents, bus blowouts, a box of kittens, an arch-nemesis, Sam's high-school crush, and Sam's helicopter mother to deal with.

Can these two opposites find some common ground?

I really enjoyed Cara Bastone's two previous books so I was eager to get my grubby paws on this ARC when I saw it. Unfortunately, this one did not do it for me. I understand that Cara usually publishes her books in audio format and I can definitely see that this would be much better suited to that genre. What would be a comedy of mishaps in an audio book just feels too cliched and ridiculous in a book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

View all my reviews