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A review by beesneysbooks
Nate Plus One by Kevin van Whye
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Okay, I need to be so clear that this book was genuinely written well, and up until about 75% in, i was sure it would be a solid 4 star read. The reason it’s not is nothing to do with the writing itself, but the tropes being used. The more I thought about it, the more I got frustrated.
Before I explain why, I’m going to talk about how much I liked it! I went through a phase where I was really interested in South African culture, so it was nice to revisit that. The family aspect, the band aspect, the cultural aspect… they all were so well put together.
But, I do want to mention the points I didn’t like. For one, there was SO many clashing plots going on and that was a bit frustrating to follow. I feel like so many of the storylines were limited because there were so many. I also got frustrated with the “kissed his ex in front of his new boyfriend” trope. I’m so not a fan of cheating tropes, and I feel like there were SO many things that could’ve been a source of conflict that didn’t involve this trope. It’s so overdone. Add in the miscommunication and you having a cliche trope. And THEN, just when I get over how annoyed I was, there was an OPEN ENDING. the author spent the whole book talking about this battle of the bands competition, making me HATE the other band and the old lead singer for ditching them JUST TO NOT TELL ME IF THEY WON? I read to escape thinking, so a book making me think was not what I wanted.
Overall, I did like the characters, the setting, and the relationship. I just wish the last 25% was different.
Before I explain why, I’m going to talk about how much I liked it! I went through a phase where I was really interested in South African culture, so it was nice to revisit that. The family aspect, the band aspect, the cultural aspect… they all were so well put together.
But, I do want to mention the points I didn’t like. For one, there was SO many clashing plots going on and that was a bit frustrating to follow. I feel like so many of the storylines were limited because there were so many. I also got frustrated with the “kissed his ex in front of his new boyfriend” trope. I’m so not a fan of cheating tropes, and I feel like there were SO many things that could’ve been a source of conflict that didn’t involve this trope. It’s so overdone. Add in the miscommunication and you having a cliche trope. And THEN, just when I get over how annoyed I was, there was an OPEN ENDING. the author spent the whole book talking about this battle of the bands competition, making me HATE the other band and the old lead singer for ditching them JUST TO NOT TELL ME IF THEY WON? I read to escape thinking, so a book making me think was not what I wanted.
Overall, I did like the characters, the setting, and the relationship. I just wish the last 25% was different.