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A review by stuckinafictionaluniverse
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
2.0
More of a rant than anything. Contains some mild spoilers.
Isla and the happily after fell into the trap that its predecessors had managed to avoid: it became nothing but a sappy, silly and annoying high school romance.
I had 3 major problems with this book.
1. The romance: Serve me up with insta-love with extra cheese on top! Josh and Isla start dating after only a few days. Sure, she’s had a crush on him for years, but then their relationship jumpstarted.
The waiting in the previous book was a little frustrating.Just kiss already! I don’t think they had enough time to get to know each other. They just met.
And it all went downhill after that….
Their relationship quickly became physical, and I think they lacked chemistry and came off as shallow and rushing. It was a desperate kind of love, if you can even call it that.
I wish they’d just talked to each other. They thought they could run away from their problems and escape into their dream world where all they did was have sex and pretend no one else existed. How old are they, five?
2. The whole bloody universe revolves around Isla and Josh and we rarely ever see another non-romantic relationship.
Isla only has one friend, Josh none who are there for the majority of the book, and their parents weren’t that present.
I missed the focus on family and friends, and love how Perkins valued those as highly as the spouses in the previous books.
Too bad, because there were many character with a lot of potential who I’d much rather read a story about; Kurt, Gen and even Sanjita - who was only in the book for 5 pages.
Really, any of them would’ve been a better main character than Isla.
Here’s the harsh truth: Isla had all these good people in her life, who she blatantly ignored or didn’t appreciate. Kurt, her parents and her sisters. She dropped everything and everyone for Josh, and I don’t like who she became.
To top it all of, the conflict felt lame and of course it only bothered Josh and Isla.
That’s where it all went wrong; when you take away fleshed-out side characters and a good plot from the story, it becomes nothing but a romance, free from substance.
3. My final and biggest problem. Isla. Fucking. Martin.
UGH, where do I start? She was so annoying. Someone throw her under a bus.
Isla was so insecure, jealous and dumb.
What I hated most about her character was that she always said the wrong things even though she knew she shouldn’t have. Even though she told herself not to.
Isla was downright mean and acted like she was the vicim and couldn’t help it. None of the other characters pointed out this flaw.
After saying awful things, Isla shed a few tears and then she made the same mistake all over again.
NO NO NO. You know what happens when you make a terrible mistake that you know hurt people? How about not fucking doing it again? You learn, you grow, you try to do better tomorrow.
Pick yourself up, try to be a better person. But you don’t go and repeat the same darned mistake a dozen times, fully aware of it.
Girl, did you forget your character development at home in NY?
Isla was an asshole to my favorite character; the loyal, sweet Kurt. She pushed away the only friend she had because of a recent fling.
Kurt was precious and loved her more than she deserved.
Isla constantly compared her and Josh’s relationship with the one between him and his ex.
She whined on every other page. ’’I hate myself for doing this, I was so mean. Everyone will hate me, boohoo.’'
FUCKING DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT THEN. DON’T BE THAT BITCH WHO TRIES TO PLAY IT SAFE AND BE THE VICTIM. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS AND BE A BETTER PERSON.
The MC had moments of self-discovery, gave herself advice which she then never followed.
Guide to becoming a sufferable MC:
Step 1: LOVE YOURSELF. It makes everything better.
Step 2: TALK. TALK AND BE HONEST, WITHOUT HURTING ANYONE. Tell your loved ones about your insecurities, open up.
Step 3: BE NICE. NOW YOU’RE READY TO GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER.
Step 4: GET SAID SHIT TOGETHER.
And Josh just forgave her, looked past her flaws and jerk tendencies! I get it; when you love someone, the small, negative things about them don’t bother you. You might even learn to love those as well. But he should've understood that she made mistakes. Instead he just waved it off, pretending that it was a misunderstanding.
That idiot. He should’ve dumped her like the useless, mean sack of potatoes she is..
Speaking of the love interest, Josh was a little too nice and one-dimensional. Characters should be flawed, but if their faults are never pointed out, how will we know that it’s not how the author wants them to appear?
I also think he was too pushy. He had all these plans for their future, after they’d been dating for only a month.
Quick rundown of pros:
My favorite part of the book was the reunion with our lovely couples from the previous installments. Man, I needed more of that.
I also thought it was so amusing to find out everyones’ heights (FYI, St.Clair is as tall as I am).
Oh, and I read the book in a day so it was addicting when I didn’t feel like throwing it into a wall. The dialogue was funny and the romance had its moments.
Final verdict:
Beyond disappointed.I told you that the final installment curse is a real thing!
Isla and the happily after fell into the trap that its predecessors had managed to avoid: it became nothing but a sappy, silly and annoying high school romance.
I had 3 major problems with this book.
1. The romance: Serve me up with insta-love with extra cheese on top! Josh and Isla start dating after only a few days. Sure, she’s had a crush on him for years, but then their relationship jumpstarted.
The waiting in the previous book was a little frustrating.
And it all went downhill after that….
Their relationship quickly became physical, and I think they lacked chemistry and came off as shallow and rushing. It was a desperate kind of love, if you can even call it that.
Spoiler
Oh, let’s go to Spain! We should admire the beautiful buildings, but we’re really just going there to have sex. *wink* FOR FUCK’S SAKE.I wish they’d just talked to each other. They thought they could run away from their problems and escape into their dream world where all they did was have sex and pretend no one else existed. How old are they, five?
2. The whole bloody universe revolves around Isla and Josh and we rarely ever see another non-romantic relationship.
Isla only has one friend, Josh none who are there for the majority of the book, and their parents weren’t that present.
I missed the focus on family and friends, and love how Perkins valued those as highly as the spouses in the previous books.
Too bad, because there were many character with a lot of potential who I’d much rather read a story about; Kurt, Gen and even Sanjita - who was only in the book for 5 pages.
Really, any of them would’ve been a better main character than Isla.
Here’s the harsh truth: Isla had all these good people in her life, who she blatantly ignored or didn’t appreciate. Kurt, her parents and her sisters. She dropped everything and everyone for Josh, and I don’t like who she became.
To top it all of, the conflict felt lame and of course it only bothered Josh and Isla.
That’s where it all went wrong; when you take away fleshed-out side characters and a good plot from the story, it becomes nothing but a romance, free from substance.
3. My final and biggest problem. Isla. Fucking. Martin.
UGH, where do I start? She was so annoying. Someone throw her under a bus.
Isla was so insecure, jealous and dumb.
What I hated most about her character was that she always said the wrong things even though she knew she shouldn’t have. Even though she told herself not to.
Isla was downright mean and acted like she was the vicim and couldn’t help it. None of the other characters pointed out this flaw.
After saying awful things, Isla shed a few tears and then she made the same mistake all over again.
NO NO NO. You know what happens when you make a terrible mistake that you know hurt people? How about not fucking doing it again? You learn, you grow, you try to do better tomorrow.
Pick yourself up, try to be a better person. But you don’t go and repeat the same darned mistake a dozen times, fully aware of it.
Girl, did you forget your character development at home in NY?
Isla was an asshole to my favorite character; the loyal, sweet Kurt. She pushed away the only friend she had because of a recent fling.
Kurt was precious and loved her more than she deserved.
Isla constantly compared her and Josh’s relationship with the one between him and his ex.
She whined on every other page. ’’I hate myself for doing this, I was so mean. Everyone will hate me, boohoo.’'
FUCKING DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT THEN. DON’T BE THAT BITCH WHO TRIES TO PLAY IT SAFE AND BE THE VICTIM. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS AND BE A BETTER PERSON.
The MC had moments of self-discovery, gave herself advice which she then never followed.
Guide to becoming a sufferable MC:
Step 1: LOVE YOURSELF. It makes everything better.
Step 2: TALK. TALK AND BE HONEST, WITHOUT HURTING ANYONE. Tell your loved ones about your insecurities, open up.
Step 3: BE NICE. NOW YOU’RE READY TO GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER.
Step 4: GET SAID SHIT TOGETHER.
And Josh just forgave her, looked past her flaws and jerk tendencies! I get it; when you love someone, the small, negative things about them don’t bother you. You might even learn to love those as well. But he should've understood that she made mistakes. Instead he just waved it off, pretending that it was a misunderstanding.
That idiot. He should’ve dumped her like the useless, mean sack of potatoes she is..
Speaking of the love interest, Josh was a little too nice and one-dimensional. Characters should be flawed, but if their faults are never pointed out, how will we know that it’s not how the author wants them to appear?
I also think he was too pushy. He had all these plans for their future, after they’d been dating for only a month.
Quick rundown of pros:
My favorite part of the book was the reunion with our lovely couples from the previous installments. Man, I needed more of that.
I also thought it was so amusing to find out everyones’ heights (FYI, St.Clair is as tall as I am).
Oh, and I read the book in a day so it was addicting when I didn’t feel like throwing it into a wall. The dialogue was funny and the romance had its moments.
Final verdict:
Beyond disappointed.