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lightlessxo's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
2.5
i wouldn't categorize this as romance, it's way too heavy. definitely more women's fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
readingwithmeredith's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Terminal illness
Minor: Sexual content and Cursing
blackveilbeccy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This was rather cute but far too slow for me. I liked who the female lead ended up with - he was the best character in the book for me. There was a lot of random discussion of feminism shoehorned in which actually broke me out of the story as it was so unexpected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Gaslighting, Death, Dementia, and Infidelity
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Blood
magnolia13's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
okay so this book. i feel like i may need to revisit it at some point, because i’m honestly not sure how to feel. the supporting characters were super detailed and had great personalities for the most part, but there were also quite a few characters i really just did not like, even though we were supposed to. however, ted and laura have my heart. laura is me. i am laura. i sent my friends so many screenshots of pages from this book because i have said some of the exact things laura has, so i really enjoyed following this journey of hers, it made me feel more comfortable in my own skin, so to speak. overall, it was a really cute book and an easy read with a happy ending, which i always love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content and Abortion
nebraskanwriter's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
((For preface, this book takes place over the span of 48 hours))
Our main character was insufferable, she’s two timing people, leading multiple people on but then expecting them to help her at the drop of a hat? Also our first introduction to her is she is a journalist for a lifestyle magazine and she interviews couples on how they first met. She’s interviewing this couple and they met by the girlfriend’s house catching on fire (the boyfriend is a firefighter) and sadly the girlfriend’s cat dies in the fire. The author wrote the main character was “mimicking their sad body language”, is she not capable of having empathy? That right there should have tipped me off that no, she is not.
Her emotions and reactions come off as disingenuous and self-serving only.
The first like 30-40% of the book, she hasn’t even connected with the luggage guy yet and it’s just her getting hot and heavy with the taxi driver who is selflessly driving her around on this convoluted work journalism thing she’s doing. And she is completley taking advantage of him and leading him on all while she’s pining after this guy she hasn’t even met. She stalks the guy who has her luggage, finds out where he’s volunteered at and then breaks into his mom’s house! The taxi driver drives her to all of this and is aiding her in her unhinged plan.
Also, our MC goes to the airport to see if she can get any info on luggage guy but the airport wont give her any information (per their privacy policy). The airport literally asks her to give luggage guy’s luggage back to them so they can contact him (you know, like is the normal thing to do) but our main character is so obsessed that this guy is The One and that this is her chance to have a meet cute that she steals his luggage back from the airport so he can contact her and she can meet him directly. Like, I’m sorry, huh? 😳
As an aside, there were also so many random “feminist” moments that just took me completely out of the story. You can have your character be a feminist without her being an awful person towards men every 5 seconds.
There were many serious topics brought up in this book that the characters are dealing with (death of a parent, taking care of a parent with a disease, separated marriage) but the main character is so child-like, she’s literally almost 30 years old and thinks finding The One will feel like, and I quote “kablammo”, it just felt so out of place. I think the author was trying to make her book more realistic and relatable with these serious topics, which I appreciated being discussed, but the main character acted so unrealistically that it just felt so out of place having these serious things taking place along side her out-of-the-box reactions to everything.
I got to the point where she finally connects with the baggage guy, they exchange luggage and I skimmed the rest of the book.
I was super excited for this story as it sounded cute—but the way the author writes, the cringey dialogue, the main character’s awful choices and how she takes advantage of those around her, it’s a pass for me.
Our main character was insufferable, she’s two timing people, leading multiple people on but then expecting them to help her at the drop of a hat? Also our first introduction to her is she is a journalist for a lifestyle magazine and she interviews couples on how they first met. She’s interviewing this couple and they met by the girlfriend’s house catching on fire (the boyfriend is a firefighter) and sadly the girlfriend’s cat dies in the fire. The author wrote the main character was “mimicking their sad body language”, is she not capable of having empathy? That right there should have tipped me off that no, she is not.
Her emotions and reactions come off as disingenuous and self-serving only.
The first like 30-40% of the book, she hasn’t even connected with the luggage guy yet and it’s just her getting hot and heavy with the taxi driver who is selflessly driving her around on this convoluted work journalism thing she’s doing. And she is completley taking advantage of him and leading him on all while she’s pining after this guy she hasn’t even met. She stalks the guy who has her luggage, finds out where he’s volunteered at and then breaks into his mom’s house! The taxi driver drives her to all of this and is aiding her in her unhinged plan.
Also, our MC goes to the airport to see if she can get any info on luggage guy but the airport wont give her any information (per their privacy policy). The airport literally asks her to give luggage guy’s luggage back to them so they can contact him (you know, like is the normal thing to do) but our main character is so obsessed that this guy is The One and that this is her chance to have a meet cute that she steals his luggage back from the airport so he can contact her and she can meet him directly. Like, I’m sorry, huh? 😳
As an aside, there were also so many random “feminist” moments that just took me completely out of the story. You can have your character be a feminist without her being an awful person towards men every 5 seconds.
There were many serious topics brought up in this book that the characters are dealing with (death of a parent, taking care of a parent with a disease, separated marriage) but the main character is so child-like, she’s literally almost 30 years old and thinks finding The One will feel like, and I quote “kablammo”, it just felt so out of place. I think the author was trying to make her book more realistic and relatable with these serious topics, which I appreciated being discussed, but the main character acted so unrealistically that it just felt so out of place having these serious things taking place along side her out-of-the-box reactions to everything.
I got to the point where she finally connects with the baggage guy, they exchange luggage and I skimmed the rest of the book.
I was super excited for this story as it sounded cute—but the way the author writes, the cringey dialogue, the main character’s awful choices and how she takes advantage of those around her, it’s a pass for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Grief, Alcohol, and Death of parent
nina_readsbooks's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment
Moderate: Grief
thereadingmaven's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
mymosstx's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Terminal illness and Cancer
100_pages_hr's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
This was a cute story. I loved the airport meet cute scene. I would have been mortified, but it made for a good fictional meet cute.
I loved Ted. I loved that he was there for his dad. I love how kind he was. But there were parts of him I didn't love too. I really didn't appreciate that he was married but flirting and kissing Laura.
I liked Laura once she got to the Island and started being her true self. I get that many of her issues weren't her fault, but I liked her more once she learned the truth about her family and moved on. I was impressed with how she grew into herself in this book though. I loved the "hobby" she picked up towards the end.
Overall a cute read just had some things that made it hard for me to love.
I received an advanced copy of this book through the publisher. This is my honest review.
I loved Ted. I loved that he was there for his dad. I love how kind he was. But there were parts of him I didn't love too.
I liked Laura once she got to the Island and started being her true self. I get that many of her issues weren't her fault, but I liked her more once she learned the truth about her family and moved on. I was impressed with how she grew into herself in this book though. I loved the "hobby" she picked up towards the end.
Overall a cute read just had some things that made it hard for me to love.
I received an advanced copy of this book through the publisher. This is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Grief, and Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content
allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Laura holds on tight to the past, be it mementos, memories, or family stories. She captures each and tends to them with love, taking comfort in the familiar. With both of her parents deceased and her father's family estranged, she clings to the lore around a father she can't remember and the many memories and objects connecting her to the mother she lost only two years ago.
Laura has a sparkling level of idealism that seems both delusional and yet somehow endearing. In terms of dating, she hasn't found anything magical, and her friends and family have started to question her high standards as unreasonable. On a trip to the channel island of Jersey to retrace her parent's romantic steps for an article, a suitcase snafu leaves her with a man's belongings. The story the items tell gives her hope that this is fate's intervention, an introduction to her soulmate.
The rom-com stress level is at a 10 for this one. My secondhand embarrassment forced me to pause at several points because I could barely function other than to yell DON'T DO IT. PLEASE, NO. In terms of romance tropes, expect sunshine and grump with a side helping of love triangle. It's a slow buildup but with low burn. It's more about a sweet, emotional connection between the characters.
It is easy to get invested in Laura's family story if not her romantic endeavors. Nothing is as straightforward as she imagined. The book offers a full emotional spectrum. It's
silly and funny with serious undertones that rise to the surface intermittently. You can not only find Laura somewhat manically doing an instagram live in a beekeeper's hat but also confronting uncomfortable truths about her parents, more flesh-and-blood than fairytale characters.
It's a thoughtful story, romantic without being just about a singular love story. Thanks to Putnam for my copy to read and review!
Laura has a sparkling level of idealism that seems both delusional and yet somehow endearing. In terms of dating, she hasn't found anything magical, and her friends and family have started to question her high standards as unreasonable. On a trip to the channel island of Jersey to retrace her parent's romantic steps for an article, a suitcase snafu leaves her with a man's belongings. The story the items tell gives her hope that this is fate's intervention, an introduction to her soulmate.
The rom-com stress level is at a 10 for this one. My secondhand embarrassment forced me to pause at several points because I could barely function other than to yell DON'T DO IT. PLEASE, NO. In terms of romance tropes, expect sunshine and grump with a side helping of love triangle. It's a slow buildup but with low burn. It's more about a sweet, emotional connection between the characters.
It is easy to get invested in Laura's family story if not her romantic endeavors. Nothing is as straightforward as she imagined. The book offers a full emotional spectrum. It's
silly and funny with serious undertones that rise to the surface intermittently. You can not only find Laura somewhat manically doing an instagram live in a beekeeper's hat but also confronting uncomfortable truths about her parents, more flesh-and-blood than fairytale characters.
It's a thoughtful story, romantic without being just about a singular love story. Thanks to Putnam for my copy to read and review!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, and Terminal illness
Minor: Car accident, Dementia, Sexism, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship