A review by alexiab
If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens

1.0

I really wanted to like this book, but right from the start I knew it was not going to be a good time. Every single aspect of this book is What Not To Do When Writing A Novel. Clunky dialogue, awful characters without true depth, telling instead of showing, no true motivation for the characters’ actions, no chemistry, characters without purpose. I could go on. 

This book really did not open on a strong note. The entire convention conflict was clunky and awkward to read. Pen randomly exploding at a public event completely unprovoked and then having weirdly broken dialogue with her nemesis on stage had me more confused than intrigued. 

Overall the prose itself is fine, but the character decisions and voice are very immature and unnatural. There’s a line with romance novels that separates reality from believability of silly events, but this just soars past that line right out the gate and doesn’t set a good tone at all. 

The depth that the author is trying to achieve with the characters identities feels like a caricature rather than something authentic. It’s strange that Pen criticizes Neil for writing stereotypical characters and stories that pander to white audiences when that’s exactly what this book feels like. I was excited to see a romance with two Indigenous leads, but all their identity did was serve as unnaturally forced conflict. It was so flat and lifeless. 

Overall this is not the book for me, as I really don’t think it delivers in any capacity.