A review by keysmashhh
Love, Hate & Clickbait by Liz Bowery

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Plot: 2.5/5
Character: 3/5
Relationships: 3/5
World-Building: 3.5/5
Genre: 3/5

at face value this book is easy breasy and fun to read. i love books set in politics and this felt very apt however i just felt it lacked a lot of depth or substance and it wasn't really saying much to me. the romance was...average but neither charecter particularly felt deeply complex, thom's relationship with his family and hometown felt like the book was moving towards something deeper but that never really got explored beyond one conversation. i saw someone describe the book as The West Wing fanfic which is very much not an insult (i saw the author mention a03 in the acknowledgements so that tracks) which personally i was really up for but instead of the compelling pragmatic vs idealistic tension that Josh and Sam have in TWW both charecters sort of felt more career driven and less idealistic. i mean thom is downright selfish for most of the book and regularly acts like a dick in the name of politics, seeing him break out of that shell towards the end of the book was nice but it felt surface level and like his values hadn't shifted. the idea of a fake gay relationship being used as a political tactic was very interesting and i felt like the book really dug into just how far people will go to appeal to voters, whether or not its what they beleive in but it was frustrating that Lennie, the candidate, never really got confronted on her lying nature, i can't explain it but it felt like the ending didn't really confront the issues the book had been building up. the idea that these two staffers would get fired imediately and find jobs elsewhere on the oppositions campaign and lennie never really experienced backlash just felt...odd...it felt like the ending was too quick and too perfect for the realities and complexities this book had been building up. so many random other plot points were just...there...like thom's b plot blackmailing the activist, and clay's lawsuit just felt like they weren't given any depth either. that feel's like my main critique of the book was just a lack of substance, it had lots of words but anytime it seemed to get close to a moment of substance or growth it seemed to shy away from it leaving me feeling frustrated. there are some very specific references in this book which i loved, any allusion to Aaron Sorkin, Tumblr, fanfic and general internet terms made me laugh out loud, becasue thats what the politics fans are really like and it felt nice to see representation of a niche fandom but i just felt like the rest of the book came up lacking for me. by the end i thought there was going to be some resolution, like some sort of confrontation with lennie, or her loyal staf Fe realising the manipulation at the heart of the campaign, but instead there was some vauge allusion to a scandal with her son which didn't get explained and a sort of gentle fade to black which made me frustrated rather than satisfied. there are better political romances out there, and i know i'd pick a josh/sam fic on a03 over this book anyday