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amy_in_the_city's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The pacing of this book was weird. I really enjoyed the slow development of the relationship in the first half as the two lead characters correspond through emails and texts. Then they meet about halfway through, and the rest of the book is a mess. The FMC is pissed off at the MMC for hiding his identity from her, but she was also hiding her identity from him. She spends a good chunk of the rest of the book picking fights with everyone who cares about her. During this section, I really started to feel like instead of a relationship, the book should have ended with the FMC trying therapy again. Then the main characters spend a lot of time just kind of hanging out but not really as a couple while they slowly decide to actually be a couple. There are a bunch of other plot lines (the audition, grandmother's health, finishing recording the audiobook, mom's relationship, the audiobook studio, friend's acting career stress, etc.) in the second half of the book, so the romance gets sidelined.
The MMC feels underdeveloped throughout the book and the story makes him grovel seemingly just because groveling is popular in romance novels. He didn't do anything that deserved groveling. Also, I think there was only like one sex scene, and it was kind of vague. It makes sense to be vague if you're trying to keep the book from being explicit, but the audiobook the main characters record is explicit so this book wouldn't have been non-explicit anyways. Something similar happens at the end when the story tells us the MMC wrote a song and then proceeds to tell us how the FMC felt listening to the song instead of giving us any song lyrics.
Another thing that bugged me throughout the book was that there were repeated instances of putting down other women. The FMC and one of her fellow audiobook narrators are dismissive towards an aspiring audiobook narrator because they perceive her as a blonde bimbo. The grandma is always making fun of another woman at her retirement home's plastic surgery, which seems like an especially odd choice in a book about a FMC with facial differences. Everyone at the retirement home makes fun of another female resident there for being proud of a recipe she makes that brought her family joy. The FMC seems judgmental towards and disdainful of the gentle-parenting yoga mom she is seated next on a plane.
I really loved the idea of this book, but it just didn't land the execution.
The MMC feels underdeveloped throughout the book and the story makes him grovel seemingly just because groveling is popular in romance novels. He didn't do anything that deserved groveling. Also, I think there was only like one sex scene, and it was kind of vague. It makes sense to be vague if you're trying to keep the book from being explicit, but the audiobook the main characters record is explicit so this book wouldn't have been non-explicit anyways. Something similar happens at the end when the story tells us the MMC wrote a song and then proceeds to tell us how the FMC felt listening to the song instead of giving us any song lyrics.
Another thing that bugged me throughout the book was that there were repeated instances of putting down other women. The FMC and one of her fellow audiobook narrators are dismissive towards an aspiring audiobook narrator because they perceive her as a blonde bimbo. The grandma is always making fun of another woman at her retirement home's plastic surgery, which seems like an especially odd choice in a book about a FMC with facial differences. Everyone at the retirement home makes fun of another female resident there for being proud of a recipe she makes that brought her family joy. The FMC seems judgmental towards and disdainful of the gentle-parenting yoga mom she is seated next on a plane.
I really loved the idea of this book, but it just didn't land the execution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Misogyny, Medical content, Ableism, Grief, and Dementia
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Infidelity
Minor: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts
rai_ishardtoplease's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
“Somehow, far beyond her ability to comprehend exactly how, something seemingly so much less became so much more.”
- This book, in a nutshell.
- This book, in a nutshell.
As a romantically cynical woman with very visible scarring, estranged parents, and a complicated relationship with her emotionally unavailable father… this felt like a personal attack.
For most people, though, I’d say that TYFL has the same energy as the cosmic love child of a poet’s overwritten diary and a self-deprecating inside joke.
So, like, Emily Henry meets V.E. Schwab. Or maybe Nicholas Sparks meets Taylor Jenkins Reid. Hell, throw them all into a blender and call it a literary smoothie.
And I’ll be damned if this doesn’t get optioned and become a box office hit. This is precisely the kind of story that Hollywood goes feral over. The Romcom Movie Renaissance would finally hit its stride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Dementia
Moderate: Death and Chronic illness
Minor: Racism, Cancer, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
kb33's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Holy crap. I saw the hype around this and thought it was just that - hype. But I LOVED this. It has a humorous tone and writing quality like Emily Henry, with a bit of a darker thread. I absolutely can’t wait to read more from Julia Whelan.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Racism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Sexism
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