A review by dbguide2
Nate Plus One by Kevin van Whye

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Another really quick read and another one that I really loved! I hope I can carry on with these quick reads that I really love. This one was a heartfelt, sweet read about two friends falling in love.

As I’ve said before, I’m just not really a fan of the friends-to-lovers but I think it’s due to how it’s normally written. Luckily it wasn’t the case in Nate Plus One. I very much enjoyed the trope and definitely would’ve liked the book to have been longer. Even if it would just have been more South African things to fill the pages.

Speaking of South African things, I loved seeing all the nods and little things – even if they didn’t come down to Cape Town (I live near Cape Town and I don’t remember Durban very well).

I laughed when they heard ‘robots’ and were very confused because, yes, we do call traffic lights robots. (don’t ask why, I don’t know why). I loved they included a braai (like a barbeque, but just better) but I would have loved the braai to be longer – both as in more written and chronologically longer. It’s a running joke that braais take forever. You could go to a friend’s house at 2pm and only eat the cookd food around 11pm. I’m quite serious.

There was a point where the aunt explained a Hadeda to the boys and I laughed because they’re absolutely awful and I hate them. On another ‘South African note’ the book mentioned Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu can be seen walking around with his wife. Tutu passed away last year, and so did Leah (his wife)… But also we don’t know which year the book is set in so they might still be alive?

The plot was unfortunately a bit over the place and confusing. The synopsis made it seem like there would be fake dating? And even as I read, I kept waiting for them to start up their fake dating agreement, but it never happened?

And when they got to South Africa the plot also fell apart a bit? It’s like it didn’t know what part of the plot to work on. That didn’t deter me from loving the book, so I’m glad about that!

While I loved what we were given, I do think the book would be better if it were longer. Even 50 pages would’ve been very helpful. Either more adventures in South Africa – them eating rusks, them eating biltong. Or even more bonding with Nate’s family (except for the homophobic uncle. YOU, I hope loadshedding hits you at every turn).

I loved the close friendship of Nate and Jai and the way it quickly turned into a sweet relationship! It felt natural, super sweet, like they’ll have cute moments with each other in the future! They also treat each other like equals and that’s a favourite thing of mine to see in relationships.

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