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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I love Olivia Dades writing style, and the strength of her female characters. Rose and Martin both had a lot of trauma to deal with, both alone and together, so their slow build towards a relationship was as loving as it was painful at points, but it was worth it.
Really just couldn't do it with this book. By the 3rd chapter, I'd had 3 instances of wanting to DNF but overlooked it in hopes of improvement. It just wouldn't get better though...
I was already iffy based on judging this author's books by the covers and blurbs (I just had a sense, I guess), and it really was as I expected them to be. I appreciate the representation and diversity this author is bringing to the market, but it's just not for me. This book in particular felt artificial in it's feminism and body positivity.
The one thing I will give it is for being about people being in their 40s. We have enough books about divorced couples in their mid-20s.
I was already iffy based on judging this author's books by the covers and blurbs (I just had a sense, I guess), and it really was as I expected them to be. I appreciate the representation and diversity this author is bringing to the market, but it's just not for me. This book in particular felt artificial in it's feminism and body positivity.
The one thing I will give it is for being about people being in their 40s. We have enough books about divorced couples in their mid-20s.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
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
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love the fat rep, and I think Olivia Dade is a good writer, but this just isn't for me.
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There were good things and not so good things in this little contemporary rom-com. Let's start with the positives. I was delighted to see realistic representation for a change - I'm so tired of rom-coms featuring interchangeable 18 to 25-year-olds who think they're adults. THANK YOU for writing a romance novel featuring two divorced 40+ adults with perfectly ordinary jobs, perfectly ordinary imperfect appearances and quite a bit of baggage from their lives before. Also, thank you for not playing the instalove card and instead having the main leads just politely getting along at first because they have to work together (like, you know, grown-ups are supposed to do even when the situation is not ideal). This was a short book so the romance obviously developed rather quickly, but it was still believably done and quite sweet.
Then the negatives. I'll skip the obvious crap that has to do with the setting, because it's not the author's fault that the US educational system is a relic from the stone age and grossly unfair - most of the plot revolves around this anyway. What I won't skip is that I've read three books from this author now, and they are getting repetitive plot-wise. For example, they all have a final conflict before the protagonists sort themselves out and get their happily ever after, and in this novel that conflict was the most ridiculous and artificially inserted thing ever. The leads were already together, things were going great, they were communicating well and knew each other's past issues already... and then they felt they had to break up and give up on their entire relationship because she wouldn't be his date to the prom they were supervising? I mean, what? Seriously?! Up until this point I'd been sooo glad to see two adults dealing with stuff in a grown-up way, but this ridiculous conflict felt so forced and utterly childish that I couldn't believe my eyes.
What the hell is this obsession with a school dance anyway. It's about as smart as obsessing about having a picture-perfect wedding, when it's actually every other goddamn thing in your relationship that actually matters. Ssssigh I was so close to DNFing this book over that stupid prom conflict, but I pushed through, and thank goodness the ending was actually okay and pretty cute.
Overall, this made for okay light reading.
Then the negatives. I'll skip the obvious crap that has to do with the setting, because it's not the author's fault that the US educational system is a relic from the stone age and grossly unfair - most of the plot revolves around this anyway. What I won't skip is that I've read three books from this author now, and they are getting repetitive plot-wise. For example, they all have a final conflict before the protagonists sort themselves out and get their happily ever after, and in this novel that conflict was the most ridiculous and artificially inserted thing ever. The leads were already together, things were going great, they were communicating well and knew each other's past issues already... and then they felt they had to break up and give up on their entire relationship because she wouldn't be his date to the prom they were supervising? I mean, what? Seriously?! Up until this point I'd been sooo glad to see two adults dealing with stuff in a grown-up way, but this ridiculous conflict felt so forced and utterly childish that I couldn't believe my eyes.
What the hell is this obsession with a school dance anyway. It's about as smart as obsessing about having a picture-perfect wedding, when it's actually every other goddamn thing in your relationship that actually matters. Ssssigh I was so close to DNFing this book over that stupid prom conflict, but I pushed through, and thank goodness the ending was actually okay and pretty cute.
Overall, this made for okay light reading.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
healthy communication from the MCs? check. soft love interest? check. dual pov? check. sweet, satisfying conclusion? check. what more could you want?
seriously, this book was truly a delight. this was my introduction to olivia dade and i picked this up on a whim. well, mostly because the audiobook was short. but i'm so glad i did because wow. rose and martin complemented each other so incredibly well. and just... they were so wholesome. i loved it all. anyway, i'm off to go read the rest of her backlist now.
seriously, this book was truly a delight. this was my introduction to olivia dade and i picked this up on a whim. well, mostly because the audiobook was short. but i'm so glad i did because wow. rose and martin complemented each other so incredibly well. and just... they were so wholesome. i loved it all. anyway, i'm off to go read the rest of her backlist now.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship
Minor: Mass/school shootings