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labello 's review for:
Two Can Play
by Ali Hazelwood
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quote from the audiobook: "This whole situation is like the script of a bad movie"
yeah.
I'd say one of Alis stronger books simply because it isn't very long at all. It's a rather short novella with an extremely clear plot, no tension whatsoever, and some of the most heavily clinging-to-the-trope writing that I know Ali for. That is to say. It's extremely predictable! It might be good for like a short comfort read? But even for that, I think there are better ones out there. I think Ali's first Novella with the lawyer who lives with that environmental scientist in their shared house was better. This felt like Ali watched Netflix's To All The Boys I Loved and said, "No fake dating, but Yes to all the other character beats she hits Every Single Time in All Of Her Stories".
The male lead is yet another normal guy who is exceptional in his chosen field, tall, muscular, an athlete, an uncompromising feminist, absolutely smitten by the female lead and Bland.
The female lead is yet another hypercompetent woman in her chosen field, socially inept, deeply respected by her peers, who seems to hold a deep-seated, unnecessarily intense grudge against the male lead and is seemingly Blind and Deaf when it comes to reading the social cues of the male lead as well. Thankfully, this time around, she isn't romantically and/or sexually inexperienced in contrast to the male lead. Thank God.
I wasn't very interested in the plot and had to keep holding myself back from doing other more interesting stuff while listening to the audiobook. The book Ali describes in the book actually makes for an interesting story. Why she would choose to write this rather than the actually compelling story she could have attempted to write is beyond me. Though it did feel Ali only realised the plot twist at the end of Limerence when she wrote it down in the chapter, as the reader finds out. She could have at least gone back to do a better job at hinting at it, but as it is it feels like she wrote down that there would be Something heartbreaking that meant they wouldnt be together while writing the early parts but couldnt figure out what exactly, and then she figured it out and immediately wrote it down and has the rest of the interpersonal story revolve around it. It just feels very much like she came up with it on the fly and then never bothered to adjust the previous parts to this very central part of the story, both leads' love.
Just to add since i was about to return it early on my library app i could see that its advertised as "enemies to lovers". its not that. Its not an enemies to lovers at all. Why does every ali hazelwood claim to be an enemies to lovers when its at best a "grudgeholder and personification of heart-eyes-emoji to lovers"
Also, that's not even what Limerence means. It's not unrequited love, man. Just Google it, Ali. What the hell.
yeah.
I'd say one of Alis stronger books simply because it isn't very long at all. It's a rather short novella with an extremely clear plot, no tension whatsoever, and some of the most heavily clinging-to-the-trope writing that I know Ali for. That is to say. It's extremely predictable! It might be good for like a short comfort read? But even for that, I think there are better ones out there. I think Ali's first Novella with the lawyer who lives with that environmental scientist in their shared house was better. This felt like Ali watched Netflix's To All The Boys I Loved and said, "No fake dating, but Yes to all the other character beats she hits Every Single Time in All Of Her Stories".
The male lead is yet another normal guy who is exceptional in his chosen field, tall, muscular, an athlete, an uncompromising feminist, absolutely smitten by the female lead and Bland.
The female lead is yet another hypercompetent woman in her chosen field, socially inept, deeply respected by her peers, who seems to hold a deep-seated, unnecessarily intense grudge against the male lead and is seemingly Blind and Deaf when it comes to reading the social cues of the male lead as well. Thankfully, this time around, she isn't romantically and/or sexually inexperienced in contrast to the male lead. Thank God.
I wasn't very interested in the plot and had to keep holding myself back from doing other more interesting stuff while listening to the audiobook. The book Ali describes in the book actually makes for an interesting story. Why she would choose to write this rather than the actually compelling story she could have attempted to write is beyond me. Though it did feel Ali only realised the plot twist at the end of Limerence when she wrote it down in the chapter, as the reader finds out. She could have at least gone back to do a better job at hinting at it, but as it is it feels like she wrote down that there would be Something heartbreaking that meant they wouldnt be together while writing the early parts but couldnt figure out what exactly, and then she figured it out and immediately wrote it down and has the rest of the interpersonal story revolve around it. It just feels very much like she came up with it on the fly and then never bothered to adjust the previous parts to this very central part of the story, both leads' love.
Just to add since i was about to return it early on my library app i could see that its advertised as "enemies to lovers". its not that. Its not an enemies to lovers at all. Why does every ali hazelwood claim to be an enemies to lovers when its at best a "grudgeholder and personification of heart-eyes-emoji to lovers"