Reviews

writing: punchy | plot: girl stop | ending: yeets book to the sun

my opinion

*cracks knuckles* let's get into it. Despite hating [b:The Last Housewife|59349100|The Last Housewife|Ashley Winstead|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1649778403l/59349100._SY75_.jpg|93510806] with every fibre of my being, I actually enjoyed [b:The Boyfriend Candidate|62197594|The Boyfriend Candidate|Ashley Winstead|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1675716920l/62197594._SY75_.jpg|95958983], so I thought maybe her romcoms hit better for me. WRONG *Trump voice*. This can only be described as "lmfao".

Just when I thought Shay was delusion personified, Lee stomped in and said hold my daddy issues and substance abuse. She definitely sky-rocketed to the top of my "most punchable FMCs" list, and I promise you it's for a good reason.

Lee will do anything BUT therapy to address her daddy issues. Drinking until she's blind? Check. Getting so high she can taste colours? Duh. Stalk a guy, high-key emotionally abuse him, and throw a bottle of vodka at him? Most definitely. Push a guy down the stairs? No problem. But therapy??? Out of the question.

I was already white-knuckling the book when I found out Lee preemptively cheated on the alleged love of her life, Ben, when she THOUGHT he was cheating based on some "excited" text messages. (yes, I read the blurb so I knew this was coming) But I was intrigued to see how this phat ass character flaw would be addressed. Would Lee take accountability for her actions? Or would she do Simone Biles' level mental gymnastics to somehow victimize herself? Obviously the latter.

Lee possessed Trump levels of audacity when she was legitimately mad at Ben for blocking her on everything after she cheated on him with his class rival. Idk how she convinced herself that he MUST respond to her or that she had any right to feel hurt. Lee's life motto is definitely: "How dare I face the consequences of my own actions???"

What really blew me was that Lee HATES cheaters because her dad cheated on her mom except when the cheating served her own interests. For example, Ben, who very much has a girlfriend, and Lee share a bed (eye roll) and she let's him spoon her in his sleep while only wearing undies. *the most bombastic of side eyes* And then when Ben confesses he moved to Texas (WITH HIS GF) because he couldn't stop thinking of Lee and was still in love with her, she doesn't bat an eye. Mans admitted to emotionally cheating (and wanting to physically cheat as well) on his gf WITH YOU and you're like yeah that's my man, I stand by him. HUH???????? Would this not feed into her narrative that all men do in fact cheat???? I guess not when it applies to their Hallmark worthy love story.

Unfortunately, that wasn't even the most flagrant display of hypocrisy in this book. Nope, that would be JUSTIFYING her married female boss' affair with the governor because "she needed some stress relief". Ummm just thinking outside the box here, but why not ask your husband for a massage instead? You literally refused to forgive your dead dad for YEARS because he cheated but you decided your boss gets a pass because somehow the patriarchy is at fault here????? It was honestly admirable how Lee made it seem like you were a misogynist incel if you held a woman accountable for her affair. She truly is meant for politics. Omg and don't get me started on when ole boss lady got up in front of reporters to address her entanglement and led with "As an engineer, I'm a big fan of logic." I may have only majored in communications but I fail to see the logic of cheating on your husband.

Like The Boyfriend Candidate, there were some good jokey-jokes in here and the writing was quite punchy at times. It really gave me early 2000s romcom vibes in some scenes. However, it was also relentlessly repetitive. A worm has a stronger spine than Ben does. The only reason they got back together was because Ben's self-respect was MIA. There's absolutely no reason to be THAT into Lee unless she had a serious blackmail file on you or could suck a golf ball through a garden hose (respectfully).

Lastly, I wanna say that the politics didn't bother me. A lot of reviewers hated it, but if you've read the blurb, you know what's up. What I hated was Lee's delulu ass (if you couldn't tell from this incoherent rant).

pros & cons

pros: funny at times

cons: Lee... come and catch these hands. So repetitive (how many times can Ben chase her as she storms away??), blaming the patriarchy for cheating on your husband is a new level of mental gymnastics so congrats, and because she was so heinous I have to say it again: LEE!!!!!!!

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