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A review by meeklovestoread
The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce

emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Okay, I don't know where the second chance romance slander is coming from but I for one am not a part of that party. I've loved almost every second-chance romance I've ever read. I just love that trope. It's so heartbreaking, falling for someone having it not work out (for a valid reason), and then longing and missing each other during the time you're apart. Ugghhhhh! I'm a sucker!

Anyways, you might already be able to tell, but I really enjoy this book. Awwww! I loved everyone in it!

  • Loved Georgia! Oh my gosh! I may not have been able to relate to every single thing Georgia felt, but I did relate to a whole ton. This book talks about a lot of things that I haven't seen any other romance book (that I've read) talk about. Georgia's need to feel needed by the ones she loves resonated with me so much. As well as her desire to feel like she has to do everything herself and not ask for help! Georgia, girl, I see you! There were also other minor things that I related to with her. We share the same birthday month! And her gripe with parallel parking, relatable! I love her!

  •  I also admired how this book speaks about the feeling of losing friendships when your friends enter their adult lives and things start to diverge. That's honestly not talked about enough. Your 20s are such a vulnerable time especially when maintaining friendships. It's honestly one of my subtle fears. So seeing it talked about in a book was very refreshing.

  • Eli! Are you kidding? Like seriously are you kidding?! Let's add a new name to the book boyfriend's list. Eli is everything love him!

  • Eli x Georgia! Oh my gosh! My babies! They belong together in every lifetime. One component I love about second chance is the longing and these guys most definitely LONGED and it was so endearing to read about. The way that Eli is undoubtedly, self-evidently in love with Georgia is so beautiful. The paper rings! "Peach!" If you know, you know! Like this book had me in TEARS a few times because they love each other so much, but she's scared to love him again because of what happened and he's trying to make things right because he can't see himself with anyone else and ahhhhhhh! I love them so much! Another component I love about this second chance is because of the history that they have is adds another layer of depth to the tension that the characters have with one another. You feel it in all the words that aren't said or the silent touches and looks they give another. There are so many layers to these two and it was so nice to see it unfold and see where things took them. Again, I really like this pairing!
    "I do, and god, I wish I didn't still. It's a gift to know someone when you're in love with them, and a curse when you're out of it." Ah, my heart!

  • Loved the friendships in here as well. Georgia x Jamie was great! Gerogia x Adam was great too! The scene of Georgia confessing to the warmed my heart.

  • Even the spice! Like that didn't take away from the story either. Lowkey it added some more tension to the mix, which is rare in my opinion.

Other comments
  • Now, although I loved so much in this story, I found myself wanting more. I wanted more from their history. It was sufficient, but I found myself wanting more to cement things, you know. 

  • I also found myself wanting more from Eli's past and background. I feel like in certain books like these, they're so focused on making the MMC a viable book boyfriend that they also forget to make them a 3-dimensional character. Like I wanted more of Eli's past outside of Georgia. We had some information and whatnot, but I wanted more on how the events of his past affected him and how they impacted his and Georgia's relationship (however, we did get more of the latter).
  • I wanted more from the friendships. Like these are supposed to be Georgia's lifelong friends that she's missing deeply, however, we don't get that many scenes of Georgia with them individually outside of Eli.
  • Also wish we got more from Gergia's relationship with her dad. I felt like that was a bit unclear. Lik was he neglectful or was he not? I just couldn't imagine Georgia going through just that to make her the way she is (not saying she has to go through the most traumatic stuff ever, but still, there needs to be more than that).

  • Something I admired was how the author didn't let them get back together right away. Throughout the story we get monologues and pieces of dialogue of Georgia indirectly stating that she doesn't open herself up often so when she opened herself up to Eli it meant something, and because that didn't work out she's now fearful of the future if she were to ever try something new with him again. So, therefore, her decision to only want to remain friends with him until she's comfortable with something more was so valid and I LOVED seeing that. However, I do wish we had a longer wait time for them to reunite. It just didn't feel like there was enough time for them just being friends for them to get together and then get married. I just wanted more time in between. I'm starting to see that I might be a stickler for a slow burn.😅
     

  • The whole "list" thing in the beginning was kind of annoying at first not gonna lie. It felt like one of those cheesy gimmicks rom-coms always have in for the comedy part of the book. Glad it was dubbed down later on in the book.

Overall, still, really enjoyed this book even though it did take me quite a bit to read it. Just wish, it was longer and led less on the comedy side of things and more on the emotional side.

Spice Rating:🌶️🌶️.5/5
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