If I Can't Have You

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I really liked Constance and so many times I felt like reaching out to her. Bless her heart. The ending was satisfying though, and I can't give it any less than 5 stars. This isn't your usual psychological thriller, it is a study of manipulation and gaslighting at its most cruel ways. Constance is a receptionist in a doctors surgery in London who falls in love with Samuel , the new doctor. He seems to feel the same way, but he uses her for his own purposes and then dumps her. What happens next is this story. She is a vulnerable woman and his betrayal hurts her, but she does not give up easily. To those readers who come for a psychological thriller I say stay with this book, and it will repay you in far greater riches. To those who overlook it as not sounding quite serious enough, I urge you just to come. A rare five stars from me. The story builds and builds and you know something absolutely hectic is going to happen and it doesn’t let you down. It gets a bit unrealistic and out of hand at times HOWEVER like I said I knew what I was in for so I was all in…. Eye roll moments and all!!! You literally want to reach into the book and grab Constance and slap some sense into her but… you gotta let stalkers stalk!!! You do you Boo!!!

Astonishingly, this is Charlotte Levin’s debut novel, except it is so brilliantly crafted you’d be forgiven for thinking it was her tenth! Short synopsis because really we all know from the title that this is a stalker novel. It is very much written in the style of You or Our Kind of Cruelty. Our narrator Constance has secrets and insecurities but most of all she is desperately lonely. This is the heart of the disaster that is to come. What I did love about Constance was her wit pipped at the post only by a lesser character, Edward, who provided the balance and sanity and light relief much needed in this tale of obsession, loneliness, fear and hope. A well deserved 5 stars. Congratulations to the author. PDF / EPUB File Name: If_I_Cant_Have_You_-_Charlotte_Levin.pdf, If_I_Cant_Have_You_-_Charlotte_Levin.epub

Cons: ending was maybe a tad too controversial for me, too long, could be a bit slow in some places A 28 year old receptionist in a private doctor’s surgery in Kensington. A chain-smoking, emotionally stunted woman who is running away from her past having recently experienced a traumatic loss. Living in a crappy bedsit, drinking too much and avoiding her own feelings so when the handsome and charming Dr Samuel Stevens starts working at the surgery she can’t help falling for him.

The book is dark and at times very depressing, but I couldn’t put it down. I wanted Constance to have her happy ever after, even whilst watching her self-destruct. This takes obsession to a new level and I absolutely devoured it. Absolutely FABULOUS and I 100% recommend it to anyone who likes their books dark, disturbing and utterly gripping. Charlotte Levin is an American author best known for her psychological thrillers. Her debut novel, If I Can’t Have You, was published in 2016 by Simon & Schuster. So beautifully written, such a devastatingly compelling story… I can honestly say it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read – it is without shadow of a doubt, EASILY up there with Girl On a Train and Eleanor Oliphant.’– Ruth JonesSamuel, the day we met I knew I’d finally found what I’ve been waiting for.You.Happiness, at last.Then you left me.And now I am alone.Everyone I love leaves in the end.But not this time.I’m not giving up on us.I’m not giving up on you.When you love someone, you never let them go.That’s why for me, this is just beginning. If I Can’t Have You by Charlotte Levin – eBook Details It was Ernest Hemingway who once encouraged writers to begin with “one true sentence”. There are many such sentences in Charlotte Levin’s debut “If I Can’t Have You”, but this is her first: “Everyone stared.” Simple, effective, true, because, above all, this is a novel not about looking but rather, about the desire to be seen.The dry humor was refreshing and softens the tough battle Constance is dealing with . The ending is rather abrupt and could have been more elaborated . Brilliant. A perfect and completely terrifying depiction of heartbreak and obsession' – Sarah Powell Looks like the author has experienced the loss of loved ones too, as towards the middle she described an intensive mourning process in a very touching way, like only those having suffered a serious loss are able to.

If I Can't Have You” by Charlotte Levin is an all-consuming novel about loneliness, obsession and how far we go for the ones we love. This is the story of Janet Brown, a woman weighed down by guilt and grief, whose small world revolves around her cleaning job, her elderly father in his care home, and controlling husband Colin. She is wholly subservient to Colin, who dictates her every move. It’s a sad little life, but no more than Janet deserves; the penance she pays for the tragic mistake of eleven years ago.

Janet Brown is a woman used to not standing out. She cleans offices for a living, has few friends and lives with an emotionally abusive husband. We gradually learn some of the details of her life, and it’s hard not to feel sympathy for her. Clad in a meringue of taffeta, tulle and blood, Constance steps onto the underground in somewhat of a daze. As the reader we are instantly drawn into her world and what happened to leave her sandwiched between a hipster and a mother with her child in a bridal gown on a train. The child was in awe of Constance's attire exclaiming "Look at the princess, mummy!" whilst pawing the rustling fabric as other passengers possibly declared her somewhat insane. In that moment, we feel her pain despite not yet knowing what it is. Has she been jilted? Or is she a runaway bride? The ending is written in a way that you can draw your own conclusions and I liked the fact that things were not rushed and wrapped up in a bow neat and tidy. The pace is rather slow and I was missing some more action, but on the other hand I found it to be a high-quality- and fluent read, very beautifully written, with touching words. IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU is sinister, creepy and, in some ways, addictive. Its tense and compulsive narration gives the reader a sense of claustrophobia. The characters are impulsive, vulnerable and mostly unlikeable. While the plot itself is quite cleverly written as one long detailed letter that provides a slow burn build of tension culminating to an ugly end, it did drag a little in places but the concept itself was genius.