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bailatkins's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
while i didnt love this book in general, i did love
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
gabiboyle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Vomit and Abandonment
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Nora is the antithesis of a conventional romance heroine—she’s a shark of a literary agent who can’t imagine anything worse than living in a small town. But when her sister Libby convinces her to spend a month in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, she comes face to face with brooding book editor Charlie Lastra, and they realize they may just be romance heroes after all.
I loved this book for so many reasons but Charlie Lastra is the top of that list. He’s the perfect book boyfriend, and just about every word out of his mouth made me laugh or tear up or swoon. His wholehearted acceptance of Nora and all her quirks and flaws and tendencies???? Men written by women are always better and men written by Emily Henry may be best of all.
Besides Charlie, though, I also thought this book was hilarious, and brilliant, and joyous, and fun. The inversion of traditional small town romance tropes was inspired, Nora was a fantastic heroine whether she knows it or not, and the full-throated love letter to books and stories at the core of this book had my heart from the first sentence. You probably don’t need *another* person telling you to hurry up and read this one if you haven’t yet…but I’m going to say it anyway.
CW: Death of parent/grief
Graphic: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content
spellbindingtomes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'm officially in my EmHen era! I loved the premise and the twist on a well loved trope. This is a book that knows it's a small town romance and decides to bring two city lovers to it.
Nora was such an interesting character. She's someone who appears to have a cold hearted, ruthless exterior. She's the "foil to the local sweetheart", who always puts her career first above all, so much so that she earned herself the nickname, "the Shark". But in actuality Nora cares a lot. She's a perfectionist that works hard in order to help her sister. She keeps checklists and sticks to them. If there's a problem, she will stop at nothing to find a solution. As Emily writes, she's The Devil Wears Prada's Miranda Priestly and The Parent Trap's Meredith Blake if they had their own love stories.
𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭.
And Count von Lastra aka Charlie Lastra? I loved him! He and Nora are so similar. They both are city people and love their careers. Charlie and Nora's banter was one of the funniest I've ever read. I laughed out loud so many times. And when they're not bantering, they're having mature, meaningful conversations. They communicate with each other honestly and respectfully.
This was my first Emily Henry book and it definitely did not disappoint!
Read if you love:
📑small town romance (with a twist)
📘enemies to lovers
📑hilarious banter
📙grumpy x grumpy
📑literary agent x book editor
📗sisterly love
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
pantslint's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
While Nora spends the book making fun of romance tropes, she lives through her own giggly, feet-kicking bits of romance clichés. The story that she spends editing casts some heavy foreshadowing and makes the story so easily predictable, but the most exciting bit of the journey is to see how Nora and Charlie fall for each other.
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
nyquillll's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Things I liked:
- The tangential main focus of the sister relationship and the pain/grief/joy that’s wrapped up in maintaining meaningful relationships with the people closest to us as we get older and our paths start to split.
- The covering of topics: death of a parent, non-linear grief,
parentification of a child , being “wrong” for someone doesn’t mean you’re “wrong” for everyone, radical love based in wanting the best for that person but not at the expense of yourself, the importance of finding places that have enough room for you to grow rather than feeling too small to fit you, how freeing letting go (of misconceptions, ideas about who we should be or how life should look) can be, and staying true to what makes us ourselves even if others might not understand. - The dynamic of the two main characters being in the book world itself as editor and agent. I liked the “meta” vibe it gave, almost reflective on the book industry in some parts.
- How Charlie is written as a caring, reassuring, and supportive foil to Nora.
- Reiterating that one of my favorite themes of the book was that we can’t love other people wholly if we also aren’t filling our own cups. Unconditional love is beautiful in theory but can be overwhelming in real life. I really loved how this theme was explored with the sister dynamic.
What I didn’t like as much:
- The pacing of the book left much to be desired by me. The first third of the book felt incredibly slow and then all at once the two main characters like each other after some physical attraction.
- Also, the fact that he was her “nemesis” from one meeting two years prior? I know I tend to ruminate over situations, but that one thing caused him to be a nemesis? I also kept waiting for
Charlie to reveal he liked her ever since that first meeting but no - There were quite a few references to characters and books I didn’t know or recognize. I’m guessing they might have been older romance-related things, like things popular in the 80s or something.
- Some of the plot points felt verrrry drawn out. I feel like the book could’ve been 50-100 pages shorter and still hit on a lot of the same points.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
Quotes I highlighted:nineinchnails's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
the pacing was really good here - i wasn't bored for even a second and ended up reading this is in one 4 hour sitting. it was pretty meta, which i'm not usually a fan of in romance since it ends up coming off juvenile, but it worked for this. the only gripes i have is it feeling a little corny at times (i did just finish 'young mungo' though) and the characters not seeming as fleshed out as her other mcs.
Graphic: Grief and Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Medical content
Minor: Death of parent and Body shaming
temia04's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Grief and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy
chi__'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Pregnancy
meremeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you Emily Henry
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, and Sexual harassment