A review by pagesfromhome
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is one of those weird books to review because, all in all, this book was fine. Nora is a decent character and I appreciated her independence and she’s clearly a great mom. Arthur and Bernadette are straight up the best parts of this book. Bernadette in particular is an excellent character. But I didn’t like Leo at all. I’m putting most of this review behind spoilers so I don’t accidentally really spoil anything if you want to go in fully unaware, but suffice it to say, this is a story about a divorced woman who had a truly terrible first marriage finding a new love and all of the shenanigans that ensue with that. It certainly wasn’t bad, but it is quite shallow when it comes to plot of character development. 

I didn’t love the audiobook version (I think the narrator just wasn’t a favorite for me), so that may have also affected my experience with the book, too.

I did like the writing, but I think I just couldn’t root for the characters in the way that I think you need to in a romance.

I could not STAND Leo - like the whole time. He starts off being a completely entitled ass and then all of a sudden Nora and Leo fall in love. He has all of the power in their relationship and lets a single miscommunication get in the way of their relationship and even proceeds to blame her for not trying to get him back when he was the one who left a person who CLEARLY has some issues with being left and having to be okay. I do wonder if I would have liked him more if there had been some chapters from his POV, but I just couldn’t stand him which, in a romance, makes it very difficult to cheer for the relationship.
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