Reviews

Exes and O's by Amy Lea

emchuah's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

coveredbychristine's review

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4.0

A 3.5 ⭐️ but I’ll round it up because I loved the TS references throughout the book. Can I just follow Tara’s bookstagram irl now?

litwithleigh's review

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4.0

Writing: punchy | Plot: fun | Ending: hit a lil turbulence but it's fine

SYNOPSIS

After Tara's engagement falls apart she moves in with Trevor, the human equivalent of a fridge but with abs and nice eyelashes. And despite trying to resuscitate a relationship with one of her exes, Tara starts to wonder if her shot at true love is just across the hall...

MY OPINION

OK LISTEN UP: Are you Gen Z? Yes? Stay away like you've got a restraining order. From my perusal of the reviews, it seems the slang/pop culture references used in this book are 'cheugy' (defined as 'trying too hard' or 'the opposite of trendy'). And most devastatingly of all, I've learned that the word 'shook' died about three years ago. THREE YEARS? I STILL use this word daily. What do I have to say now? Shocked like a normal person? But how will you know how shocked I am even I don't have 'shook' and its melodramatic sister, 'shooketh'???????? Here comes the identity crisis.

Anyways. I would say this book will work well for the washed-up millennial (1988-1993) or those who really liked The Mindy Project and Lindsey Kelk books. Interestingly enough, Amy Lea's YA book [b:Woke Up Like This|125474375|Woke Up Like This|Amy Lea|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1680783498l/125474375._SY75_.jpg|146924262] was selected by Mindy Kaling's Book Studio. If you think Mindy was a certified dumbass who set feminism back 10 years, give this a big ole skipperoni.

I gave this a 4 but honestly that 80ish-90ish% TRIED ME!!!! First of all, the two love interests went 0-100 and then that hot tub scene had me questioning everything I learned in sex ed. It also felt like the bookinfluencing stuff was thrown in there so this book could slot nicely into the Influencer series, but for the most part, it was an afterthought. And while I understood why Trevor had the emotional intelligence of a puppet, I didn't really get why Tara was so lovesick her entire life. Regardless, I liked the whole going after your exes thing and thought that was different. The segway scene killed me. What's worse, a guy rocking up on a segway or one of those spider bikes (a motorcycle with three wheels)??? Plus, any romcom with a waterboarding joke has my heart. I'm a simple gal, what can I say?

Tangent alert: If you live in the Ottawa area, the Shopify shade (one of the exes works as a company called Flopify) was HIILLLLARIOUS. Random story but I worked for the real estate company that sold one of the founder's townhome and he was the biggest prick of all time and CHEAP. Despite all his public support of 'family-run, small businesses' (like the brokerage I worked for) and bragging that he didn't need the money from the sale of his townhome, he asked for a lower commission rate. His exact words: "Don't make me negotiate. I'm a business owner as well." TOUCH GRASS!!!!! Oh and his PA's job title was 'assistant jet pack'............. Need I say more?

All in all, I, a washed up millennial, thought this was a fun read. I foolishly requested book #3 from Berkley knowing damn well I have a better chance of winning the lottery but a HOE CAN DREAM!!!! Looking forward to going back and reading book #1.

PROS AND CONS

Pros: punchy, fast-paced writing, funny, entertaining, light-hearted

Cons: NOT FOR GEN-Zs —YA'LL ARE TOO COOL FOR THIS!!! LET US LATE MILLENNIALS BE CRINGEY OR CHEUGY OR WHATEVER TF IN PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!

____________________________

For some sick reason, do you want to hear more of my nonsense? Check out my podcast: Novels & Nonsense streaming everywhere.

norgey's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The  main female character just wasn’t it for me.

I guess I’m just not interested in stories where someone is an “influencer”? I guess I just find them cringey. There were parts of the book that were transcripts of her insta lives and I found myself either skimming them or skipping them entirely. The secondhand embarrassment was a little much.

The idea is that she reconnects with her like 9 ex boyfriends, but then also broadcasts it openly on her instagram account. That’s incredibly weird to me.

There wasn’t a lot of tension between her and Trevor either. They got together in the end wholly because of forced proximity. Their relationship just didn’t feel believable because the FMC was just so cringey and overbearing. It was hard to picture any man into that sort of personality haha

jodieparks's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

erinbrook's review

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3.0

The story was super cute, however I never really believed the romance. Their opposite of meet cute first encounter turned me off from the beginning.

ainareads_'s review against another edition

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lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.0

I loved this so much more than the first book because I'm biased! Reading Tara's character felt so real and personal (and it doesn't help that I am a nurse and a hopeless romantic too!). However, her character did feel annoying at times but there is where our MMC comes in. Trevor is a perfect guy, it's sad that he's fictional but that's okay. What a balance between Tar 's character and Trevor's and I'm pretty sure that they will be together till the end of times too (unlike some of romance book couples out there that would 100% break up) 

rashelg's review

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funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really loved this book! I thought Tara was lovable and sweet. Their trope was very enjoyable to read.

krobus's review

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4.0

as much as i really don't like the characters (just who they are/their personalities, i know we wouldn't be friends lmao) i really enjoyed their story. it took until about 65% in for it to really glue me in my seat & keep reading, but it did get there!!

jasnicole1995's review

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3.0

3.5⭐️