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A review by crackedspines_
Dating Makes Perfect by Pintip Dunn
1.0
OVERALL RATING: 1/5 star. I tried really hard to like this book, guys. I really did. And I feel so bad giving such a low rating; I don't want it to sound like I'm just hating on this book. But I was really excited to read this book and it honestly was SUCH a disappointment and I want to be honest about that in my review. My main problem was that the plot moved way too fast. I know this book is 400 pages but honestly it reads like a the plot of a full novel crammed into a novella-length story. There was little character development outside of the POV character and her love interest.
PLOT: 1/5 star. Like I mentioned above, it moved wayyy too fast. There was no buildup to the main romance. There was no time to even understand what was happening before it moved on. And there was one huge inconsistency that really bothered me, too - towards the end of the book, Winnie's parents are angry at her forkissing Mat. Which, if it had happened much earlier, would make sense. But just a few chapters earlier, during the Songkran festival, her mom offered her contraceptives and her dad said he was ready to accept that she may have to kiss people, or more, when fake dating.
STRUCTURE: 2/5 stars? I don't have much to say about the structure. There wasn't any structure, really.
THEME: 2/5 stars. The concept/idea of the book was cool! That's why I was originally interested in this book. However, none of it held up once I actually started the book. It was pretty boring, to be honest. The fast pace made it so that I had no time to get invested in the book before we reached the most important events. The prologue was...awful. So awkwardly written, so clunky, and so unnecessary. The only thing I really enjoyed was learning a little more about Thai culture, which is why I gave two stars instead of one.
CHARACTERS: 1/5 stars. The only well-developed characters were Winnie, the main character, and her love interest. Her sisters are minimally characterized. They're twins, they're college students, they're not very obedient daughters and are, in Winnie's words, "perfect". They serve more as a means to raise the stakes and create conflict just for Winnie. Her best friend, Kavya, is rarely mentioned and hardly developed. I couldn't tell you anything about her besides that she is Indian. When I first read that, I was excited to see a character like me, but she was more of a ghost than a character, stepping in only when Winnie needed to complain or needed help with something.
DIALOGUE: 3/5 stars. The dialogue was okay. Nothing super impressive. Some of the banter was passable, but most of it felt forced and fake. There were also a few transphobic comments - one that referred to menstrual products as "feminine products", and one that referred to "male" and "female" biological parts.
PLOT: 1/5 star. Like I mentioned above, it moved wayyy too fast. There was no buildup to the main romance. There was no time to even understand what was happening before it moved on. And there was one huge inconsistency that really bothered me, too - towards the end of the book, Winnie's parents are angry at her for
STRUCTURE: 2/5 stars? I don't have much to say about the structure. There wasn't any structure, really.
THEME: 2/5 stars. The concept/idea of the book was cool! That's why I was originally interested in this book. However, none of it held up once I actually started the book. It was pretty boring, to be honest. The fast pace made it so that I had no time to get invested in the book before we reached the most important events. The prologue was...awful. So awkwardly written, so clunky, and so unnecessary. The only thing I really enjoyed was learning a little more about Thai culture, which is why I gave two stars instead of one.
CHARACTERS: 1/5 stars. The only well-developed characters were Winnie, the main character, and her love interest. Her sisters are minimally characterized. They're twins, they're college students, they're not very obedient daughters and are, in Winnie's words, "perfect". They serve more as a means to raise the stakes and create conflict just for Winnie. Her best friend, Kavya, is rarely mentioned and hardly developed. I couldn't tell you anything about her besides that she is Indian. When I first read that, I was excited to see a character like me, but she was more of a ghost than a character, stepping in only when Winnie needed to complain or needed help with something.
DIALOGUE: 3/5 stars. The dialogue was okay. Nothing super impressive. Some of the banter was passable, but most of it felt forced and fake. There were also a few transphobic comments - one that referred to menstrual products as "feminine products", and one that referred to "male" and "female" biological parts.