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wandertales's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
First off, thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the digital arc!
I pretty much read this in one sitting, very quick and easy read. I started it before dinner and I stayed up and finished it at about 2am. From the beginning, I was looking forward to this one because of the fake dating, which is probably my most favorite trope of them all and so I went into it with higher expectations. I enjoyed it, it was fast-paced, fun and sweet and it most of the sweet spots that I look for in my romance novels. I'm not usually a fan of rom-coms with large age-gaps (in this case it's only about 11 years) largely because they place too much focus on the age gap but Grey (the female main character) as the ex-child actress working her way up in Hollywood while Ethan (the male main character) as the reclusive A-list actor/ex-heartthrob wanting to make his big comeback, they surprisingly worked well together. Grey was very mature for her age and felt incredibly relatable for someone who works as an actress in Hollywood. With that said, although that Ethan got a lot of development throughout the book, personally, I felt that Grey had a lot less development as a character (for example, the whole storyline involving her mother didn’t turn into anything or add anything?). Her character remained essentially static from beginning to endbesides her slight career change .
I also wish we had more development in their relationship- instead the main lead is almost instantly attracted to her, it was almost insta-love. The last bit of the book also kinda veered off into another direction that I caught me off guard. I felt that it wasn't necessary and maybe too heavy of a subject. I would have rather had more of a lighter moments with the main characters, more fake dating and getting to know each other besides the “falling in love” questions. I think due to the cover I was expecting a lighter read and this book didn’t necessarily deliver on that front, maybe this book should’ve been marketed a bit differently. That being said, I did enjoy it so my rating is 3.5/5.
I pretty much read this in one sitting, very quick and easy read. I started it before dinner and I stayed up and finished it at about 2am. From the beginning, I was looking forward to this one because of the fake dating, which is probably my most favorite trope of them all and so I went into it with higher expectations. I enjoyed it, it was fast-paced, fun and sweet and it most of the sweet spots that I look for in my romance novels. I'm not usually a fan of rom-coms with large age-gaps (in this case it's only about 11 years) largely because they place too much focus on the age gap but Grey (the female main character) as the ex-child actress working her way up in Hollywood while Ethan (the male main character) as the reclusive A-list actor/ex-heartthrob wanting to make his big comeback, they surprisingly worked well together. Grey was very mature for her age and felt incredibly relatable for someone who works as an actress in Hollywood. With that said, although that Ethan got a lot of development throughout the book, personally, I felt that Grey had a lot less development as a character (for example, the whole storyline involving her mother didn’t turn into anything or add anything?). Her character remained essentially static from beginning to end
I also wish we had more development in their relationship- instead the main lead is almost instantly attracted to her, it was almost insta-love. The last bit of the book also kinda veered off into another direction that I caught me off guard. I felt that it wasn't necessary and maybe too heavy of a subject. I would have rather had more of a lighter moments with the main characters, more fake dating and getting to know each other besides the “falling in love” questions. I think due to the cover I was expecting a lighter read and this book didn’t necessarily deliver on that front, maybe this book should’ve been marketed a bit differently. That being said, I did enjoy it so my rating is 3.5/5.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Mental illness
Minor: Suicide
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