A review by anjasfairylights
The Unbalanced Equation by H.L. Macfarlane

emotional funny sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Okay so normally I don‘t give ratings under 4 stars because I‘m easily entertained and satisfied with the usual romance novel, but in this case it‘s different. My feelings about this book are a mixture of annoyance, terror and resignation, mainly because of our mmc Tom. I appreciate the possibility to read about romance from the guy‘s perspective (the book is written from both perspectives chapter-wise) for once but does it really have to be a manipulative man-child?
He literally lied to the fmc Liz the whole time and he‘s not even really sorry about it? It feels like the author wanted to convince people that a woman can in fact make the man a better person. But like, can you not. Liz should have blown Tom off completely. I can‘t fathom why anyone would stay with such a person, nevertheless in a fiction romance novel that gives you the chance to portray healthy relationships instead of toxic ones.
I enjoyed the writing itself (even though the formatting and the font is really weird, what happened here?), the story was okayish constructed and as I said the two perspectives were nice for a change, but heck am I disappointed by Tom and the ending. Edit: Forgot all about Liz‘ red flags in my men-hating rage. This book was quite a trip.
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