A review by jamgrl
The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

So, I enjoyed this book- it was silly and fun and pretty much what I expected in terms of level of romcom cliche- but I also was kind of cringing at parts of it, particularly related to several “romantic” gestures from our male lead, Nathan. Maybe I read this too soon after watching You season 1 😂. I just kept thinking about how creepy some of his behavior was (paying Brie’s lease without her knowledge or consent, buying her apartment building, keeping a box of her stuff). Also, the absurd wealth was a turnoff for me. I think I would have liked this more if it were a college romance; the football-ballerina stuff was cute, and Nathan’s teammates were super fun, but I didn’t like the way money was handled (it’s tried to be waved away by Brie having always struggled with money and Nathan feeling guilty about his privilege- but that doesn’t change the fact that he keeps buying a ludicrous amount of ludicrously expensive dresses??). ON THE OTHER HAND- Nathan deals with panic attacks throughout this book and I did like the way this/mental health was handled. That was a cool thing to pull in that didn’t feel ham fisted in. I went back and forth over whether I liked this book and I think ultimately it was an okay book with some fun and good parts and some not great reproductions of bad cliches.