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lucy33's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
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
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
laura_berger's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- 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
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Dementia
minsusong's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
savannahsauls's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Dementia
Minor: Sexual content
onmalsshelf's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
2.5
The main character was so delusional for her age and it was so hard to suspend disbelief that she was actually that. naive. She was naive from the very start and it didn’t get better.
Dee is a horrible friend - no one wants a friend that wants you to stay with someone you don’t love just so you can be in a relationship.
Also - who, WHO in their right mind digs threw someone else’s suitcase? It’s the germs and who knows what else for me 🥴
Jasper and Suki were horrible characters.
Ted, Gerry, Sandy, and Sandy’s husband were the only characters I really liked.
I think this quote is where the book (pg 106) really started to go downhill for me,
“Do you think it’s possible to be a romantic and also a feminist?”
It’s 2021, almost 2022 and stuff like this is still being said in romance books?
Also the eye roll I gave the epilogue 🙄
Dee is a horrible friend - no one wants a friend that wants you to stay with someone you don’t love just so you can be in a relationship.
Also - who, WHO in their right mind digs threw someone else’s suitcase? It’s the germs and who knows what else for me 🥴
Jasper and Suki were horrible characters.
Ted, Gerry, Sandy, and Sandy’s husband were the only characters I really liked.
I think this quote is where the book (pg 106) really started to go downhill for me,
“Do you think it’s possible to be a romantic and also a feminist?”
It’s 2021, almost 2022 and stuff like this is still being said in romance books?
Also the eye roll I gave the epilogue 🙄
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Cancer
mrszreads_23's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
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