Scan barcode
A review by hannahsnerdycorner
The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I went into this book with expectations of a best friends to lovers, jock and ballet high school student romance. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that they weren't in high school and were instead in their (I think) mid-twenties because, seriously, I want more romance books to be actual adults because personally it feels more realistic - that's my cynical brain at its finest. I was also happily surprised by the fake dating - I don't know if I just missed that part of the blurb or what but I didn't know it was fake dating, and if you don't already know: I love fake dating.
An aspect I loved was the fact that "The Cheat Sheet" was actually a cheat sheet in the book along with how it explained what a cheat sheet is in American football.
I loved the side characters so much that I found myself preferring the side characters over the main characters Bree and Nathan. This was probably aided by the fact that Nathan is not what I'm attracted to (even in book boyfriends) and I found it difficult to relate to Bree. However this is not to say that others wouldn't fall head over heels for Nathan and identify with Bree, it's just that for me, I didn't.
The thing I found made it hard for me to enjoy the book was the style. It's written in a very colloquial (casual) way to the point that it felt like the characters were talking to me, or writing in their diary, which I personally don't like, but if you love that stuff: great, you will probably like this book! There was also a lot of CAPITALS for when they got excited and thoughts that trailed off (not to the point that you don't know where the thought was going though) and then got interrupted with things like "no, I shouldn't think that" which kind of made it feel much more like a tell-not-show rather than show-not-tell.
Slight spoilers in the next paragraph: you learn it very early on though (like 3-4 chapters in)
One thing I thought I'd like was the dual POV, but due to the writing style I found it disappointing because we learn in Nathan's first chapter that he is also head over heels in love with Bree which kind of just leads to my next point:
Spoiler risk over
If the miscommunication trope is where you end up yelling at the characters to just get over themselves and tell the other the truth then this book is the definition of the miscommunication trope.
Overall I'd say The Cheat Sheet is a very hit or miss kind of book - where you either love it or you don't. If you like the things I mentioned, then you will probably love it, but if you are like me, you'll probably just feel a bit disappointed.
An aspect I loved was the fact that "The Cheat Sheet" was actually a cheat sheet in the book along with how it explained what a cheat sheet is in American football.
I loved the side characters so much that I found myself preferring the side characters over the main characters Bree and Nathan. This was probably aided by the fact that Nathan is not what I'm attracted to (even in book boyfriends) and I found it difficult to relate to Bree. However this is not to say that others wouldn't fall head over heels for Nathan and identify with Bree, it's just that for me, I didn't.
The thing I found made it hard for me to enjoy the book was the style. It's written in a very colloquial (casual) way to the point that it felt like the characters were talking to me, or writing in their diary, which I personally don't like, but if you love that stuff: great, you will probably like this book! There was also a lot of CAPITALS for when they got excited and thoughts that trailed off (not to the point that you don't know where the thought was going though) and then got interrupted with things like "no, I shouldn't think that" which kind of made it feel much more like a tell-not-show rather than show-not-tell.
Slight spoilers in the next paragraph: you learn it very early on though (like 3-4 chapters in)
One thing I thought I'd like was the dual POV, but due to the writing style I found it disappointing because we learn in Nathan's first chapter that he is also head over heels in love with Bree which kind of just leads to my next point:
Spoiler risk over
If the miscommunication trope is where you end up yelling at the characters to just get over themselves and tell the other the truth then this book is the definition of the miscommunication trope.
Overall I'd say The Cheat Sheet is a very hit or miss kind of book - where you either love it or you don't. If you like the things I mentioned, then you will probably love it, but if you are like me, you'll probably just feel a bit disappointed.