A review by idgetfay
What's Not to Love by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka

3.0

This was really enjoyable to read and definitely kept me engaged. The premise was super similar to others I’ve read: a ruthless rivalry between overachievers that leads to more. The authors strike this really interesting balance with their characters… it’s like they enjoy treading the line between flawed and downright unlikable, and it’s clear in their authors’ note that they know it. Our main character is absolutely insufferable at first. She is judgmental, short-sighted and no fun at all. The love interest is similarly obnoxious… there seems to be no reason at all for him to be as annoying as he is. In fact their very rivalry upon which this whole thing hangs is childish and rather pointless. I felt like the part before things started to shift went on a bit too long… I was looking for more humor, more hidden affection to be clear from the start. Instead it was vitriol that exploded into lust and THEN we went from there. While I absolutely love a good argument that turns to kissing, and this was no exception, I will admit it seemed out of the blue to me despite knowing that was where this was meant to be heading. I wanted more frenemies I guess. At the same time, I really appreciated that one character wasn’t just super into the other from the beginning and handling it poorly… it was nice that whether it was rivalry or affection, these two characters were mostly on the same page, nothing unrequited. Basically, I enjoyed reading this a lot and will read more from these authors… but I don’t think they handled my favorite trope quite as well as I hoped they would. I will say, they do seem up to the challenge of making unlikable characters likable in the end, and it’s refreshing, even if the character growth is a bit heavy handed.