Review by abbey_marie - Work in Progress

A review by abbey_marie
Work in Progress by Kat Mackenzie

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Read This Book If You Like:
🐢 Slow-Burn Romance
⚔️ Enemies to Lovers Trope
🇬🇧 British Vibes and Places
🗣️ Miscommunication Trope
📚 Bookish Books
👭 Female Friendships
📝 Reflective Vibes & Life Stories
🧘‍♀️ Self-Discovery

I quite liked this book. It took me forever to get through, I think because there’s a lot to digest and I really felt like I needed to pause between chapters to fully appreciate the story, so I took my time with it. That said, I appreciated the book’s focus on self-discovery and how much the characters grew throughout the novel, the emphasis on storytelling and the beautiful places we got to visit through the pages. It was a fun ride!

WHAT I LOVED:

Humor - This book made me laugh out loud so many times! I appreciated the way that this came off almost as a rom-com (with a little less rom and more self-discovery thrown in), the ladies (especially Flossie, Berrta, and Doris!), and the back-and-forth banter between Alice and Robbie. It made the book lighter in areas where heavier subjects were thrown in and added a certain charm to the book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The Ladies - Speaking of the ladies, I really loved them. The diverse cast of characters, all with different personalities and stories, really came to life on the page and I loved the bond that grew between all of them and Alice. Helena especially, though really almost all of them were so interesting to read about and hear from throughout the book. Their advice and stories were inspiring and therapeutic to read. Getting to know their stories slowly and witness their friendships develop was wonderful!
Bookish Places & Travel - I know this book is centered around a UK bus tour, but I hadn’t expected how many historical landmarks and beautiful places were going to be thrown into the plot. The vivid descriptions and name drops of significant places (particularly in literary history) made this book feel like a fun exploration of the UL and I loved looking up images of the places along the way.
Self-Discovery - I love this theme! Alice’s journey throughout this book is amazing to watch and I feel like even without the romantic subplot, it still would have been great to read about and really resonated with me as someone in her twenties still trying to figure it all out.
The Writing Style - I really loved the Bridget Jones Tally, the lists at the beginning of the book, and the lessons in each chapter. They were pretty funny to read at times and set the tone for the feeling of the chapter, which made me curious to read more. I also loved how the author slowly fazed out the lists as Alice grew throughout the book and became more spontaneous. It was an interesting way to demonstrate character growth throughout the story.

WHAT I LIKED:

Alice’s Personality - OK, hear me out lol! I know a lot of people felt like she was too pissed off in the beginning of the book and I totally agree (more on that below), but I also loved seeing her character’s inner dialogue. She’s funny, relatable, and pretty fun to listen to provided you give her a chance to overcome her initial grumpiness.
Robbie - The MMC is quite funny and I really liked his character overall. He’s a good guy, generally respectful and kind (save for trading some barbs with Alice, though not unjustified), and pretty likeable overall.

MIXED FEELINGS:

Tristan Storyline - I have mixed feelings about Tristan. I go back and forth between whether I like that he was included because it made the story feel more real and whether I didn’t like that he was included because it introduced unnecessary tension to the story and seems to have mostly been there as a plot device to move the story along rather than as an actual side character. But I dunno! 🤷‍♀️ I think he made the story more real, but I wish he hadn’t been included later in the book and had just stayed more in the middle and faded out from there.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

Alice’s Initial Grumpiness - When the two MCs meet for the first time, it just feels so unrealistic to me that Alice would be so upset that she would physically try to stop a man from finding a lost elderly person - that just seems like too much to me because I feel like, knowing the rest of her personality throughout the book, she would stop once she knew that. She also seems to hang on to her anger and irritation for far too long and has a personal vendetta against Robbie for a long time. In my mind, she was in the wrong there and she should have felt bad about that and let it go. Instead, it felt more like she was being portrayed as a “typical American” and was more of a caricature than a real person. This continued almost 1/3 of the way into the book and she wouldn’t let it go, which made me out the book down a few times because although it was entertaining at first, I grew tired of it. But once we got into the rest of the book and her personality grew, I got interested again and it felt like a much better read after that. I feel like it would have been better if her reaction wasn’t so overblown and she was more reasonable. She could still be irritated he was rude at certain points, but it just seems unreasonable the way it was portrayed at the beginning of the story.
Miscommunication Trope - This trope isn’t my favorite, but it can be pulled off effectively. However, I don’t feel like it was really necessary here and was more used to add drama to the story. A simple, straightforward conversation would have resolved everything much sooner without people (specifically Alice) making so many assumptions. Granted, they weren’t all unwarranted - but again, why skip around the issue when you could just talk about it? I also didn’t like that she was basically still falling for him while she thought all of this was going on. I would’ve liked it more if she confronted him directly about it, especially because that feels more respectful
to the supposed “other girl.”
Alice & Robbie’s Mom’s Similarities -
Am I the only one who found it kind of weird or creepy that they had so much in common down to even her appearance? I know this was probably meant to be cute, and it was a minor mention, but I found that kind of weird/icky. I forgot about it since it was a quick mention in passing, but that made the miscommunication trope all the more weirder when finally revealed.
The Timeline - It’s hard to shove a bunch of self-discovery into three weeks, but this author managed to do it. The thing is - I kind of forgot about the timeline until the end of the book and then was thrown off guard - like, they got this close in THREE WEEKS? It seems unrealistic to me, even if they’re spending all that time together. But maybe I’m wrong, I dunno. 🤔 I think a two-month timeline or three month timeline would have been more realistic, particularly for the level of change and self-discovery that Alice experienced throughout the book. Three weeks just doesn’t seem like enough time for that to me.

Overall, I really loved this book! It was funny, charming, reflective, and relaxing to read. I related to a lot of Alice’s struggles to find herself and release planning and perfectionism. I loved seeing her grow and the ladies giving her advice to take more risks and become her own person. It was inspiring to me, even though I know it’s somewhat unrealistic (lol it’s a rom-com), and I feel like it was a book that made me think about the bigger questions in my life and how I want to live it. It’s reflective in a way that makes you think about it even after you finish reading, which to me makes it a great book. I’ll be excited to see more releases from this author soon, particularly if I’m in the mood for a slow burn romance with some travel vibes thrown in! 😊

Content Warnings

A review by abbey_marie Work in Progress by Kat Mackenzie

A review by abbey_marie
Work in Progress by Kat Mackenzie