A review by ocelotdoll
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

funny lighthearted relaxing 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

3.5

The unhoneymooners was laugh out loud funny. Whilst I've genuinely funny reads with some of Emily Henry's books, they were mostly chuckle inducing whereas The Unhoneymooners managed to give me some genuine laughs. Unfortunately, this is the only strictly positive point I can give it. The romance is for the most part predictable and lacks a degree of emotional depth. Following the classic trope of enemies to lovers, it tries to make the male love interest seemingly fatphobic, however in the end it turns out to simply have been a misunderstanding of first impressions. Ironically, by trying to be body positive, the author ends up coming off as more annoying and insecure than anything else by repeatedly talking about the protagonist's "curvy" body making her sound more and more like an overweight person in denial. In any case, with the misunderstanding cleared at the 60% mark there really is nothing left to stand in the way of our two lovers and their unhoneymoon ends with them as a seemingly perfect couple. The remaining 40% are spent solving the relationship problems of the lovers' sibblings, and whilst this carries some additional depth, the issue remains that this part is neither about the unhoneymoon nor is it about the unhoneymooners and feels like padding to get the book to a normal length. Overall, despite its many flaws, I had a genuine good time reading this book, it's far from being a great romance but it's as most romcoms are, a perfect comfort read.
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