A review by lunabean
Writers & Lovers by Lily King

emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I really wanted to love this one. I was recommended it, people told me they loved it, I contemplated buying a physical copy, sat on the decision for 2 weeks and finally spent money on it. I unfortunately am giving it a 2.5 stars.

Casey works as a waitress while she writes her novel that she’s been working on for 6 years. Grieving her mother who died unexpectedly, disheartened by a recent failed situationship, having crippling debt from student loans, and living in a desolate potting shed, Casey struggles to commit to her creative dreams while she grieves and battles anxiety. She eventually finds herself caught between 2 men and having to decide between them - the fireworks or the coffee in bed. 

Since the protagonist is a writer, at one point she shares her view that a story is primarily about how it makes the reader feel and not so much about its themes and symbols. Ironically this book made me feel so BORED. What was the point of it? To me it was all over the place - we followed this insufferable protagonist throughout the book but I learnt nothing about her. She’s depressed, and we can sense the undertone of despair with every sentence. There’s nothing else that identifies her except her struggles- what motivates her to write? What makes her happy? And why do all the men she meet fall in love with her?? 😰🫨🥴 She literally never makes the first move and expects people to read her mind (leaving situations the moment she feels unmoored). 

I can see readers perhaps relating to Casey’s melancholy, her gloom, despondency; how defeated and trapped she feels. Some of the writer’s lines are good, scattered here and there. But mostly a lot of the prose that describe Casey’s feelings and sensations felt removed. 

The best kind of book to me is one that holds the writer’s voice very clearly, and we know that every sentence has been thought through, chosen, and important. A lot of the book felt pointless, or directionless, with unnecessary information that diluted everything else. Why is Casey’s father a peeping tom? What is the point of Casey knowing how to speak many languages? Why did we have to know about Paco, or Luke, or how Luke lost his child? The first quarter of the book was dedicated to these characters and for what reason? The story in the present could still go on without any of these characters. And on that note… the writer names EVERY SINGLE character, even a character she won’t ever mention again. She gives a short backstory to every single one- and for what purpose except to confuse😭 There’s a whole page on Mary Hand changing the candle lights of every single table at the restaurant, a page on George (??) whose wife left him for her doctor. Who is Victor Silva???? An unimportant character who later is involved in a small revelation at the last chapter, spurring 20 minutes of me flipping through the entire book trying to find who this man is and when in the book this man was introduced. 
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