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A review by loveat1stwrite
Rules For Fake Girlfriends by Raegan Revord
funny
fast-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
3.5
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
I want to start off by saying this was a cute debut and I teared up during the 3rd act breakup. The fake-dating plot was so fun, wholesome, and whimsical and I devoured this book. The banter was fantastic, and the main character being a rom-com lover herself makes the characters in on the trope silliness. The tropes were alluded to a bit in the chapter titles! Each chapter title mentioned a romcom rule (the rules for fake girlfriends) that were on-topic for the contents of that chapter. I can’t remember the last time chapter titles improved the reading experience to this degree. It was really well done! The A-plot of Avery and Charlie being fake girlfriends is A++. There was a lot of great representation in this book too, especially with the sapphic, nonbinary, and disabled characters.
Things that could have been better:
The scavenger hunt. I wish it had gotten developed more and had a bigger part in the story. The scavenger hunt is a big part of the synopsis and promo for this book but it’s an abandoned and forgotten about D plot. The plot as a whole gets really scattered in the middle, it suffered for trying to include too many things. Is the book about her fake dating relationship? Is it about navigating her new relationship with her father? Is it about leaving your hometown for the first time and growing apart from your best friend? Is it about trying to befriend and support your roommate who shows signs of depression? Avery and Charlie’s fake-dating romance was well executed but the side plots dealing with Avery’s scavenger hunt, grief-stricken father, bff, and roommate were all half-baked in comparison. I wish the book had been more focused on one or two side plots and really polished them up to perfection.
The editing. I know I know, arcs are early on in the process and the book will probably be fixed before publication (and this won’t affect my star rating), but it took me out of the reading experience a lot. Reading Rules for Fake Girlfriends felt like significant changes were made to the story but not all of the relevant spots that should have been updated were actually updated. For example, Avery and Charlie’s descriptions are inconsistent. Their eye and hair colors change oddly throughout the book, and I think one of the side character’s pronouns were changed from she/her to they/them. There was a really weird paragraph of “they does, they thinks, they needs” where the author obviously didn’t correctly change a “she does” to a “they do” etc. and in two spots at the end of the book the they/them character is randomly referred to with she/her pronouns. It felt like find/replace failed them. I love that they added nonbinary representation that wasn’t previously there, but the author and editors could have been more thorough in making sure the updates were completed. Similar critique of another character where there is one paragraph towards the end of the book where they are mentioned as being trans, again, it felt like the author tried to edit that out and forgot one spot?
All in all, it Rules for Fake Girlfriends has a great foundation and includes creative story ideas, but I wish it was better executed (and maybe it will be by its publication date in September). I'll definitely be interested in Revord's future work as they hone their craft and I think rom-com lovers will still adore Avery and Charlie's A-plot.
I want to start off by saying this was a cute debut and I teared up during the 3rd act breakup. The fake-dating plot was so fun, wholesome, and whimsical and I devoured this book. The banter was fantastic, and the main character being a rom-com lover herself makes the characters in on the trope silliness. The tropes were alluded to a bit in the chapter titles! Each chapter title mentioned a romcom rule (the rules for fake girlfriends) that were on-topic for the contents of that chapter. I can’t remember the last time chapter titles improved the reading experience to this degree. It was really well done! The A-plot of Avery and Charlie being fake girlfriends is A++. There was a lot of great representation in this book too, especially with the sapphic, nonbinary, and disabled characters.
Things that could have been better:
The scavenger hunt. I wish it had gotten developed more and had a bigger part in the story. The scavenger hunt is a big part of the synopsis and promo for this book but it’s an abandoned and forgotten about D plot. The plot as a whole gets really scattered in the middle, it suffered for trying to include too many things. Is the book about her fake dating relationship? Is it about navigating her new relationship with her father? Is it about leaving your hometown for the first time and growing apart from your best friend? Is it about trying to befriend and support your roommate who shows signs of depression? Avery and Charlie’s fake-dating romance was well executed but the side plots dealing with Avery’s scavenger hunt, grief-stricken father, bff, and roommate were all half-baked in comparison. I wish the book had been more focused on one or two side plots and really polished them up to perfection.
The editing. I know I know, arcs are early on in the process and the book will probably be fixed before publication (and this won’t affect my star rating), but it took me out of the reading experience a lot. Reading Rules for Fake Girlfriends felt like significant changes were made to the story but not all of the relevant spots that should have been updated were actually updated. For example, Avery and Charlie’s descriptions are inconsistent. Their eye and hair colors change oddly throughout the book, and I think one of the side character’s pronouns were changed from she/her to they/them. There was a really weird paragraph of “they does, they thinks, they needs” where the author obviously didn’t correctly change a “she does” to a “they do” etc. and in two spots at the end of the book the they/them character is randomly referred to with she/her pronouns. It felt like find/replace failed them. I love that they added nonbinary representation that wasn’t previously there, but the author and editors could have been more thorough in making sure the updates were completed. Similar critique of another character where there is one paragraph towards the end of the book where they are mentioned as being trans, again, it felt like the author tried to edit that out and forgot one spot?
All in all, it Rules for Fake Girlfriends has a great foundation and includes creative story ideas, but I wish it was better executed (and maybe it will be by its publication date in September). I'll definitely be interested in Revord's future work as they hone their craft and I think rom-com lovers will still adore Avery and Charlie's A-plot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Eating disorder, Self harm, Terminal illness, Alcohol