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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
This book had it all - young love, adult love, and self-love. It was slow moving for me at times, but I really enjoyed the way the story was woven together.
What an emotional roller coaster! I wanted to love this one, and I think I did for the majority of the book, but something fell flat at the end.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I do try to read new to me authors and was mostly rewarded by my decision to read this book. There is mention of the main character being Jewish, and I'd argue the essence of Maggie's personality is inherently Jewish. It's definitely not a focus. Maggie Vine is an aspiring singer - songwriter with talent, a New Yorker we meet on her 30th birthday. We don't actually find out when her birthday takes place, but I'm guessing early summer.
The format of the book takes us into the future and past, most of the plot taking place in her 35th year. Maggie is torn between two loves: Garrett, a best friend, Trader Joe's shopper, and a confidant who moonlights in rock music with an adult day job in finance. We learn about the unrequited love between the two. Well, they love each other, but the timing just never works out. Then there's Asher Reyes, Maggie's summer camp boyfriend she met at 15 and hadn't seen since she started college at 17, 18 years old. Asher is a famous director/ actor and is making Maggie's favorite book into a film. Maggie wants to write the original music for the movie.
The other major character is Maggie's best friend, Summer, who is her opposite personality wise. Their friendship reminded me of mine with my best friend, who tends to be pragmatic when I'm emotional.
This isn't really a love triangle so much, and the description may be somewhat misleading as well as the cover. It seems like a fluffy rom com, but Greenberg gives us an emotionally fulfilling tale of love, loss, and life goals. There should be a trigger warning for grief, loss, sexual assault and the aftermath. Don't overlook this book as another typical adult contemporary romance. There are some funny moments too that give levity for more serious moments. I couldn't relate to the main character wanting a baby, but that's just me. I really enjoyed the musical references made with some of my favorite artists, including Stevie Nicks, Fiona Apple. Please note to take care with the trigger warnings I mentioned.
4/5☆ out 10/3/23
The format of the book takes us into the future and past, most of the plot taking place in her 35th year. Maggie is torn between two loves: Garrett, a best friend, Trader Joe's shopper, and a confidant who moonlights in rock music with an adult day job in finance. We learn about the unrequited love between the two. Well, they love each other, but the timing just never works out. Then there's Asher Reyes, Maggie's summer camp boyfriend she met at 15 and hadn't seen since she started college at 17, 18 years old. Asher is a famous director/ actor and is making Maggie's favorite book into a film. Maggie wants to write the original music for the movie.
The other major character is Maggie's best friend, Summer, who is her opposite personality wise. Their friendship reminded me of mine with my best friend, who tends to be pragmatic when I'm emotional.
This isn't really a love triangle so much, and the description may be somewhat misleading as well as the cover. It seems like a fluffy rom com, but Greenberg gives us an emotionally fulfilling tale of love, loss, and life goals. There should be a trigger warning for grief, loss, sexual assault and the aftermath. Don't overlook this book as another typical adult contemporary romance. There are some funny moments too that give levity for more serious moments. I couldn't relate to the main character wanting a baby, but that's just me. I really enjoyed the musical references made with some of my favorite artists, including Stevie Nicks, Fiona Apple. Please note to take care with the trigger warnings I mentioned.
4/5☆ out 10/3/23
I loved this. What a unique trope, and what an incredible journey for Maggie. Garrett is such a fuck boy and Archer is a cinnamon roll. I was almost immediately not rooting for Garrett - Maggie deserved better and I couldn't understand why she was so in love with him when he was so inauthentic.
I think the author's writing style was beautiful - along the lines of Abby Jimenez, Emily Henry, Carley Fortune and Renee Carlino.
I would absolutely read another book by this author. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.
I think the author's writing style was beautiful - along the lines of Abby Jimenez, Emily Henry, Carley Fortune and Renee Carlino.
I would absolutely read another book by this author. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.
So, I picked up this book assuming it was a cheesy predictable rom-com, something mindlessly entertaining. I was very surprised to find a main character that I really liked and was rooting for, quality writing with a timeline-jumping format that really enhanced the storytelling, and a complicated and unpredictable love triangle. Add to that some female empowerment, some heart-wrenching trauma, and poignant song lyrics (can someone make this a movie so we can actually hear her sing?!), and you have some really good romantic fiction, not just cheesy fluff.
This book sounded epic and I was so excited to get going. Maggie was a little unlikeable for me. She comes across as spoiled and has no concept of how to communicate with people hence why she ended up in the positions she was in.
I didn't find the romance parts of the book were wow worthy but I did laugh a fair few times and I thought the ending was really solid.
I am glad I finished the book but I guess I was expecting a bit more than I got.
3.5 stars
I didn't find the romance parts of the book were wow worthy but I did laugh a fair few times and I thought the ending was really solid.
I am glad I finished the book but I guess I was expecting a bit more than I got.
3.5 stars
The audiobook was incredibly hard to follow due to the timeline jumps, and Maggie was such an unlikeable protagonist that I wish I didn’t spend 11 hours listening about her. Ok, I listened at 2.25x speed so it wasn’t that long, but I should have DNF’ed it.