Total rom-com book, and it was fantastic! Just a fun read, loved all the references to rom-com movies. It makes me want to go back and binge watch all the ones that were mentioned.
I slightly blew threw this book, staying up way too late for a couple of nights. I loved all of the rim com movie references but I especially loved the heart behind the story and the banter between the characters. The next book is definitely on my wishlist!
What was I actually expecting? Annie Cassidy (someone who has two first names) is a delusional woman who is convinced by male directed rom-coms into conceiving what is love or even what is a healthy relationship. Maybe I walked into this with the intention that I wouldn't like the hate-to-love format. However, here's my hot take, communication is key to a loving relationship and when two people can't have civil discussions of their feelings then maybe their future is doomed to fail.
Annie is also inanely gullible. From her characterization, it's established that she easily believes things that don't add up. I mean, how jealous and insecure do you have to be to believe a tabloid and then run away when someone tries to explain instead of lie to you? What part of that signals maturity or even trust? It isn't until after days of the "silent treatment", don't get me started on what I think about this abusive tactic, that someone clears up the misunderstanding. It's all eye roll worthy.
She hardly critically analyzes the genre that perpetuates emotional abuse. Stalking and lying is the bread and butter of rom coms. There's an underlying theme of tricking someone to fall in love with you. When does that become coercion for you, Annie? Yet, she can't deny the lack of diversity because it's very obvious. It's plain in your face that most everyone is white and I applaud the acknowledgement but it falls on deaf ears as both main protagonists are painfully white as well. Thanks for making note of it and then doing nothing to change the status quo.
In the end, the grand gesture seems empty. What happens when the next "misunderstanding" happens. Will Annie apologize and give a gift? What did she learn other than to "follow her heart". This just seems like a the start of an abusive cycle. Sure she realizes her standards may have been to high as a defense mechanism to protect her fear of abandonment but she didn't reach this conclusion on her own. She had to be explained to like a child. Also is it really settling when you chose a famous actor our of everyone else?
Side note, I also find it annoying how Annie violates her friends' privacy to plagiarize her life into a script without consent of course. Would you call that original writing? What happens when she can't find anymore "inspiration"? I'm just glad this book is over. Don't settle for emotional manipulation.
The protagonist was annoying but I set that aside until she slept with the guy and took a picture of him while he was still sleeping and sent it to her friend w/o the guy's consent. I was not on board for whatever fallout may happen from there. I read fluff like this for fun and this moment made it 100% not fun.
The book started strong for me. It even had a few laugh-out-loud moments, truly cute one-liners. Pretty quickly, the main character’s flaw ended up feeling really childish. I found it difficult not to picture a teenager the way her emotional range presented with her love interest. I also didn’t enjoy how they resolved the conflict. While it was acknowledged, I don’t feel like we addressed the issue, and it felt like it could have been resolved with more words.
There was also a ton of repetition. I am sure I read, ‘she doesn’t know the screen play is about her,’ 10 different times. I know the book is about someone obsessed with rom-coms, but the references got so heavy.
The idea is fun. I always love seeing a male lead fall for the female lead quickly. I just wish some other aspects were resolved differently.
3.5. Stars- this was a cute romantic read but also very predictable. References a lot of 90s rom coms (you’ve got mail, sleepless in Seattle, when Harry met sally) so if you’re unfamiliar those movies much of the story will be lost on you. The story was fast paced which made it a quick read. There’s a sequel that I’m interested to read when it comes out to see how the story continues. Overall a fun, light read.
