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A review by happyeverabigail
The Rule Book by Sarah Adams
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
My first by Sarah Adams and it was really fun! The second chance wasn’t even all that angsty, she does a great job writing on the side of lighthearted which is definitely fun to read sometimes. I also love a second chance that feels like the original break up was necessary and it wasn’t really lost time, they both needed to come back together at just the right time. The friend group was genuinely funny, some of my favorite parts were their found family aspect of the time and pranks on each other, etc. I also loved how they were not afraid to call the MMC out when he was taking it too far at first.
My reason for 4 stars: as much as I loved how affected he was by seeing her again after 6 years (love a man who pines), the way he takes it out on her as his agent was just immature and a little weird to me. So she has to work day and night and do errands, clean, etc and I’m just supposed to forgive him because 1 he eventually apologies and 2 makes sure to give her water. Like I’m reaaally trying to like this man!! And I eventually do I just felt like the first 30% wasn’t really necessary. I also strongly disliked the societal construct of virginity. At one point when they first meet up again he reminds her “I took your virginity”, well I would like to leave it up to the person who had the sexual encounter to decide how they feel and what phrasing they would like to use because some people (like myself) don’t feel like there’s anything especially for a man to take. It just felt soo old school and gave me the ick on the MMC. And this is coming from a book where feminism is referenced by name and there are amazing moments by the FMC where she refuses to dress masculine in order to be taken seriously, etc so yes my standards will then be higher when it comes to this kind of thing. It’s just a bit incongruous with the rest of the book.
The last 50% especially after the Vegas shenanigans was wonderful. They are so sweet together and their careful moves and mutual pining all the while hoping the other reciprocates, I just loved.
Thank you to Random House Ballantine for this eARC! I was really excited to try my first by this author.
My reason for 4 stars: as much as I loved how affected he was by seeing her again after 6 years (love a man who pines), the way he takes it out on her as his agent was just immature and a little weird to me. So she has to work day and night and do errands, clean, etc and I’m just supposed to forgive him because 1 he eventually apologies and 2 makes sure to give her water. Like I’m reaaally trying to like this man!! And I eventually do I just felt like the first 30% wasn’t really necessary. I also strongly disliked the societal construct of virginity. At one point when they first meet up again he reminds her “I took your virginity”, well I would like to leave it up to the person who had the sexual encounter to decide how they feel and what phrasing they would like to use because some people (like myself) don’t feel like there’s anything especially for a man to take. It just felt soo old school and gave me the ick on the MMC. And this is coming from a book where feminism is referenced by name and there are amazing moments by the FMC where she refuses to dress masculine in order to be taken seriously, etc so yes my standards will then be higher when it comes to this kind of thing. It’s just a bit incongruous with the rest of the book.
The last 50% especially after the Vegas shenanigans was wonderful. They are so sweet together and their careful moves and mutual pining all the while hoping the other reciprocates, I just loved.
Thank you to Random House Ballantine for this eARC! I was really excited to try my first by this author.