Reviews with content warning for Racism - If I Never Met You

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane 💼
🌟🌟🌟✨
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🥀 The plot: When Laurie’s boyfriend of 18 years breaks up with her, it feels like her life is over, and to make matters worse, they still have to work together. But when a lift breaks down and traps her with the office lothario, Jamie, the two hatch a plan: fake a relationship to help her get her ex back and him get ahead in the firm. What could go wrong?
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Listen, I LOVE the fake dating trope. It’s a classic for a reason! The most charged moments in any rom com are always those sudden jolts of intimacy that make you question where you stand, and fake dating makes those obligatory from the get-go. However, this one didn’t quiiiite stick the landing for me.
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To start with the stuff I loved: a lot of the relationships and social scenarios in this book felt so real. The breakup in particular was painful because it was so lifelike - I was internally screaming at Laurie’s ex that he was a wanker while also understanding why he was being one. The way sexism played out in a competitive office also felt very well-observed, albeit kicked up to a melodramatic note at points. I didn’t think there was a lot of romantic tension building up as I was reading, but for most of the book I didn’t care because I identified so much with Laurie and was so invested in her life!
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However, as I got closer to the end, it started to nosedive a bit. Jamie’s love for Laurie came a little out of the blue. I couldn’t really feel them FALLING, you know? And that’s half the fun! It felt rushed, with the dialogue doing a lot of heavy lifting to move the narrative along, and the sharp 180 that Jamie does at the end of the novel didn’t make sense to me. Things fall apart so spectacularly and then just rapidly reassemble. It felt messy!
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❤️‍🩹 Read it if you’re not super bothered about a romance, but are looking for a sharp, funny story about healing from heartbreak, that’s set in the UK but not in London!! Huzzah!
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🚫 Avoid it if you’re looking for a sexy romance (whether tension or sex scenes, there’s none of the latter and imo little of the former) - Laurie’s growth is the star of this book, rather than the love story.

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theespressoedition's review

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lighthearted slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This could have been really cute if it hadn't taken forever. A contemporary romance audiobook usually takes me 4 days maximum to listen to - sometimes I can breeze through one in a day. This took me nearly a week... and it was almost entirely because I was bored out of my mind and had no desire to listen!

1) I had a really hard time understanding the narrator. I realize that's 100% to do with the fact that I am American and do not at all understand the slang or phrases that were in the book, but the narrator spoke them so quickly (even when I slowed down the audio) that I couldn't understand what they were referring to. This leads me to think if I was actually reading the physical book, I would've been just as confused.

2) It was a fake dating trope, which I freaking love! Buuuut there was very little chemistry between the characters and there was such a slow burn that never led anywhere? I mean, there was no steam or anything... despite a "sharing the bed" moment and plenty of other opportunities for something really romantic or spicy. It felt like a letdown.

3) There was a ton of additional information that felt unnecessary. Work politics and drama - but not just for the sake of the plot: entire scenes of just coworkers talking about nonsense. It felt forced for the sake of adding substance to the book. But it took away from the story.

Overall, I desperately wanted more from this. The concept was cute but the overall product fell short. Bummer.

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elsareads's review

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emotional lighthearted sad medium-paced

2.0

The last 10% of this was almost painful to get through, it just dragged on and on. Some of the dialogue felt off to me and the hahaha’s and lol’s written in quotation marks were jarring and strange. All that decent build-up just for an anticlimactic fade to black and little to no time spent on the actual relationship it’s said to be about was disappointing, taking into account this is marketed as a romance novel. Not all that funny, albeit lighthearted, and barely a romance.
The prose was readable enough for me to finish it though, and it had some redeeming moments, but overall it wasn’t enough for me to give it more than two stars.

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teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-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

2.5

This story was very slow as well as the book being much longer than it needed to be. Take it as you will. I just felt so meh about this book, but somehow got through it. Really, most of it was a big eye roll and a laugh. I wouldn't be able to tll you much about it, which I wish I could. The stereotypes felt strong in this one. Also the trope of fake relationship was underdeveloped and surface level. But others really seemed to enjoy it. So was most likely just not for me.

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was written in a charming way. I typically hate the third act conflict in romance novels since you always know they're going to end up together in the end, but I actually thought it was well-done here. I also thought it was a good choice to just focus on one protagonist's perspective. The book was predictable, but in a comforting way.

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samkcs's review

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lighthearted relaxing fast-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? No

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kates_books's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Honestly 2 stars feel generous. I absolutely LOVE romcoms and was excited to read this one but it was so slow and dull. I'm happy to read cliche romances but this one fell so flat. It felt like the author had a list of tropes she wanted to include and was just checking them off that list without really fitting them into the plot.

(Spoiler and next sentence may be triggering) For example, her dad's negligence as a child almost lead to her being molested by a pedophile and the only outcome from this was her being comforted by the love interest and played a small (!!!) part in her decision to end her relationship with her father eventually. And there was the scene when the love interest saves the day when this guy passes out from cutting his arm.

Like it wasn't relevant AT ALL! Not only that, but these trope-y cliche scenes didn't even add any spice or drama or excitement or swoon-worthy moments. Additionally, I feel like the author was trying to include a message about female friendships which I usually LOVE having in books but it wasn't developed enough and her best friend didn't feel like a complex enough character. Moreover, the main character also at times felt unlikable and didn't seem to have the highest EQ. There was some character growth but not really.

ALSO at the end the love interests decide to get married and it is done so flippantly, does not fit either of the characters' personalities, and was so boring even though that should have been the feeling of "wow happily ever after"

. Finally, the main character is a Black woman and the author is not. I am all for having diverse characters, but it definitely did not feel authentic nor did I always feel like it was a great story of representation. It had the cliche "Oh where are you ~really~ from" and "can I touch your hair" moments but didn't go deeper than that, even though these micro-aggressions were something that main character seemed to struggle with. Overall, that aspect just felt very surface-level. All in all, it was a very disappointing read and I kept waiting for something to kick in, but it never happened. Ok, rant over.

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drewlessard's review

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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