Review by lololovesthings - People Watching

lololovesthings 's review for:

People Watching by Hannah Bonam-Young

2.75

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I am not quite sure how I feel about Hannah Bonam-Young's "People Watching." I appreciate that HBY does not shy away from crafting flawed characters who are huge messes that are trying to work out who they are and where they belong. In fact, I love that aspect of this story. I also enjoyed the small-town aspect of this story. I love watching neighbors and friends come together during tough times to help each other out when they are in need. What I didn't love is something that has been echoed many times by other reviewers, and that's the complete lack of a personality with the FMC, Prue, is concerned. Her two personality traits are 1: she writes poetry, and 2: she's a virgin who has never left her hometown. She's so uninteresting. She is a nice, caring, understanding person with basically no flaws who rarely gets mad or asserts herself. When bad boy Milo shows up to help his brother open a brewery in her town, they are instantly drawn to one another. Instead of being swoon-worthy, Milo came off as one massive red flag after another. I am not opposed to *ahem* "lessons," but Milo is written as a bis3xual man-$lut with little concept of the word "no" at times. That's his entire personality! The whole "virgin" thing is very f3tishiz1ng, IMO. And Prue is immediately good at *everything* she tries the very first time??? She's instantly confident with this man who has been with, self-admittedly, hundreds of people, and she's the best he's ever had, enough to make him instantly change his play-boy ways??? There is no real development between them apart from their physical chemistry with one another until the very end of the book. The spice doesn't bother me in the slightest, but I always want more than just insta-lust. I crave connection, and Prue and Milo's relationship felt surface-level until the last, like, 15% or so percent of the book?? They have basically no chemistry with one another. There is also a specific plot point involving Prue's dad that felt wholly tacked on for the sake of more drama and heartache. It doesn't feel overly long, which is good, but I am really bummed about this book as a whole.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hannah Bonam-Young, Ballantine, and Dell for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Content Warnings