A review by thereadinghammock
Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

challenging emotional funny lighthearted 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

A friend on discord recommended this book, and in my goal to read mostly queer books for most of Pride month, I figured it would be a great audiobook for my commute. Am I glad I read it? Yes. Were there times I thought I might DNF? A few times, but I think that's more about me and some of the things I had going on when/while I was listening than as a reflection of the book (yay anxiety). Did the relationship still make me a bit uncomfortable? Yeah, but it worked for them in the end, so who am I to judge?

If the relationship hadn't been queer and were a "my best friend's dad" instead of her mom, I would have been SO squicked out by it. Also, having dual POV was a big help because you knew where they both stood throughout the whole story. And sharing a name with one of the main characters was disorienting at times, for sure.

The age gap was just shy of 20 years, so significant, but Erin had been divorced for several years, so the relationship never felt like a rebound. Parker was definitely a bit of a spoiled little rich girl, especially that first trip home for winter break, and only irritated me a few times. She did a lot of growing up by the time we got to the end of the story. 

Cassie was pretty impulsive throughout most of the story. Ballsy, and while she had a lot of growth as a character, it's almost like it happened in spite of all her choices. More often than not, it felt like Cassie grew up but refused to admit it to herself, only for the revelation to snack her in the face at some later point when it was plot convenient.
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