A review by esme_bonner
A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Thank you to Ashley Poston, HQ, and NetGalley for a galley of this in return for an honest review.

I am a huge Ashley Poston fan, I thought that after I devoured The Dead Romantics in 2 days last year. I know for absolute certain having now devoured A Novel Love Story in 2 days this year. This book was absolutely everything I wanted it to be. It was sweet, a little sexy, engrossing, corny (just the right amount) and heart wrenching.

Poston has a talent for writing heart broken, and heart breaking characters. I adored Eileen, I fell in love with Anders right along side her, I laughed when she laughed, I didn’t cry – but it was a close run thing. These are characters that are larger than life, buoyant and comical, banter-filled and smart-arsed, but also deeply human. You understand Eileen’s heartbreak, her lack of self-belief, her willingness to remain in stasis, and her contradictory longing to be part of the world again. Anyone who has ever read an excellent book and wanted to be a part of it, to live in that place, to sit down with those characters, will also understand her joy at getting the chance to do just that.

As someone with an English MA I also loved her representation of an English-y person. The ideas she touched on, the brief shout-out of ‘Death of the author’ theory – one of my personal faves. I loved that Eileen drew things back through that lens, that she occasionally quoted Shakespeare, that her love of English was part of her, even after she admitted it wasn’t the career she wanted. I loved that she and Anders has books in common. This was a book for and about book lovers, I think it is also a book for those that loved Book Lovers, by Emily Henry, which I also read this week! If you’re hoping to cure your Book Lovers hangover, this is the book to do it with.

This loses a star for me for a few reasons. I didn’t feel that the jokes always landed, character details not adding up quite right (e.g., someone being both white blond and golden blond, eyes that are mint coloured and emerald coloured), and a bit of repetitive dithering on Eileen’s part. None of these things were overwhelming to the plot, none of the really impacted clarity or sense, and none of them took away from my overall impression of the book. But they did impact my enjoyment a little, taking me out of the book for a moment, or give me pause.

Overall, this was an excellent book. It was fun and funny, it was bright and adorable and consuming. Ashley Poston has a fan in me.