Scan barcode
A review by litwithleigh
The Fixer Upper by Lauren Forsythe
2.0
Writing: much stronger than [b:Dealbreakers|72750203|Dealbreakers|Lauren Forsythe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677894776l/72750203._SY75_.jpg|98992588] | Plot: fun! | Ending: NO. NOT THIS CRAP AGAIN
SYNOPSIS
Aly is 'the girlfriend effect' personified, so she decides to turn it into a business. But she starts to question everything when she's hired by a famous influencer to 'fix up' her boyfriend, who happens to be her all-consuming high-school crush.
MY OPINION
As I was reading this, I checked the ratings and was like wow 3.53??? Seems low. I found the writing to be quite strong; much better than [b:Dealbreakers|72750203|Dealbreakers|Lauren Forsythe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677894776l/72750203._SY75_.jpg|98992588], which was pretty basic and straightforward. I thought Aly's backstory, specifically her relationship with her mom and dad, was well-done. But then.... then we have Dylan. If I could give Dylan -10000 stars I would. What a DOUCHE.
Before I start ranting about Dylan, let me just say that this isn't a 'true romance.' Aly's family dynamics, her job, and self-discovery take up a good chunk of this book. The 'romance' is about as romantic as a possum crawling inside a raccoon carcass to survive the winter. It does the job, but it's not ideal.
I can't really get into it without spoilies sooo... SPOILERS ALERT. SCROLL TO BOTTOM.
Dylan can catch these hands, feet, shins, and elbows tbh. He's a loser who thinks his influencer girlfriend is fake for carefully curating every nanosecond of her life that she shares online, yet he's $1.33 away from having all his credit cards cut up because he wants to pretend he's a baller. And he can't even blame this on his gf, because he refuses to accept her help to use her clout to help him. Also, why is he even dating her??? He literally has more respect for the gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. I didn't understand WHY he liked her and continued to date her.
The ending of Dealbreakers had me fucked up and this one followed the same pattern: man is called out on his bum ass behaviour, man doesn't like it and dips, woman yeets self-respect into outer space and begs for his bum ass back. WHY??????? I cannot STAND women begging for men back when said man can't even communicate about why they're so pressed.
In this book, Nicki invites them all glamping, leading to a prive moment between Sadie and Dylan in the hot tub. REMINDER: DYLAN AND NICKI ARE STILL DATING AND GETTING PHYSICAL. Dylan tells Sadie I still have feels for you, and it's not something that ever goes away. Okay, cool, it's been a decade with no contact, but go off. Then he continues by saying just because he capital-L Loves Sadie, his feelings don't stop him from dating other people??????????????????? Drown him. Immediately. Because that's not even a red flag, that's blaring alarm. Then he makes a move on her because, ya know, #history. DROWN. HIM.
Then somehow Dylan gets mad at Sadie when he finds out she was hired to 'fix him.' Tbh, he should be grateful, because he does need to be fixed. But with a therapist preferably. This leads Sadie to shutting down the service and then grand gesturing Dylan during his morning jog—gotta stay fit to two-time hoes okay? An absolute mess.
SPOILERS DONE
Yes, the Fixxer Upper business is manipulative, but if you read the blurb, you know what's going on so this shouldn't come as a surprise. I think this could make a nice lil Netflix series if we started from scratch with Dylan. You can't even fix him. Just put him straight in the trash.
I originally gave this 3 stars but I was thinking about it again and it annoyed tf outta me. 2.5 stars.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: fun concept, loved the side characters, great character growth for Sadie (outside of the whole Dylan debacle), funny at times, solid writing
Cons: the actual Fixxer Upper business wasn't a major focal point, DYLAN CAN TAKE HIMSELF TO THE GARBAGE DUMP – WHAT A WASTEMAN!!!!!!!!!!, the ending set feminism back 30 years
___
Check out my YouTube
SYNOPSIS
Aly is 'the girlfriend effect' personified, so she decides to turn it into a business. But she starts to question everything when she's hired by a famous influencer to 'fix up' her boyfriend, who happens to be her all-consuming high-school crush.
MY OPINION
As I was reading this, I checked the ratings and was like wow 3.53??? Seems low. I found the writing to be quite strong; much better than [b:Dealbreakers|72750203|Dealbreakers|Lauren Forsythe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677894776l/72750203._SY75_.jpg|98992588], which was pretty basic and straightforward. I thought Aly's backstory, specifically her relationship with her mom and dad, was well-done. But then.... then we have Dylan. If I could give Dylan -10000 stars I would. What a DOUCHE.
Before I start ranting about Dylan, let me just say that this isn't a 'true romance.' Aly's family dynamics, her job, and self-discovery take up a good chunk of this book. The 'romance' is about as romantic as a possum crawling inside a raccoon carcass to survive the winter. It does the job, but it's not ideal.
I can't really get into it without spoilies sooo... SPOILERS ALERT. SCROLL TO BOTTOM.
Dylan can catch these hands, feet, shins, and elbows tbh. He's a loser who thinks his influencer girlfriend is fake for carefully curating every nanosecond of her life that she shares online, yet he's $1.33 away from having all his credit cards cut up because he wants to pretend he's a baller. And he can't even blame this on his gf, because he refuses to accept her help to use her clout to help him. Also, why is he even dating her??? He literally has more respect for the gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. I didn't understand WHY he liked her and continued to date her.
The ending of Dealbreakers had me fucked up and this one followed the same pattern: man is called out on his bum ass behaviour, man doesn't like it and dips, woman yeets self-respect into outer space and begs for his bum ass back. WHY??????? I cannot STAND women begging for men back when said man can't even communicate about why they're so pressed.
In this book, Nicki invites them all glamping, leading to a prive moment between Sadie and Dylan in the hot tub. REMINDER: DYLAN AND NICKI ARE STILL DATING AND GETTING PHYSICAL. Dylan tells Sadie I still have feels for you, and it's not something that ever goes away. Okay, cool, it's been a decade with no contact, but go off. Then he continues by saying just because he capital-L Loves Sadie, his feelings don't stop him from dating other people??????????????????? Drown him. Immediately. Because that's not even a red flag, that's blaring alarm. Then he makes a move on her because, ya know, #history. DROWN. HIM.
Then somehow Dylan gets mad at Sadie when he finds out she was hired to 'fix him.' Tbh, he should be grateful, because he does need to be fixed. But with a therapist preferably. This leads Sadie to shutting down the service and then grand gesturing Dylan during his morning jog—gotta stay fit to two-time hoes okay? An absolute mess.
SPOILERS DONE
Yes, the Fixxer Upper business is manipulative, but if you read the blurb, you know what's going on so this shouldn't come as a surprise. I think this could make a nice lil Netflix series if we started from scratch with Dylan. You can't even fix him. Just put him straight in the trash.
I originally gave this 3 stars but I was thinking about it again and it annoyed tf outta me. 2.5 stars.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: fun concept, loved the side characters, great character growth for Sadie (outside of the whole Dylan debacle), funny at times, solid writing
Cons: the actual Fixxer Upper business wasn't a major focal point, DYLAN CAN TAKE HIMSELF TO THE GARBAGE DUMP – WHAT A WASTEMAN!!!!!!!!!!, the ending set feminism back 30 years
___
Check out my YouTube