A review by kaitie_reads
In the Likely Event by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Like the majority of people who read Fourth Wing... I absolutely loved it - so I wanted to give another book by RY a shot. I spotted this one at the library and picked it up, and it is also on theme for February as the month of *romance*. 

***Full disclaimer, I'm not very educated when it comes to the war in Afghanistan, and I didn't realize how much this would be a part of this story. There are certain parts of the story that have a white saviour complex, and I would've rated this higher before I looked into the controversy surrounding it. I think the setting for the majority of this story taking place in a war-torn Afghanistan is problematic, and there were a few scenes that gave me the ick because of that as well. Looking back on some of the quotes, I think RY was trying to write in a way that seems romantic but ends up with some passages and quotes that are pretty tone deaf***

Rebecca definitely shows her strong suit is writing romance in this book. I did find this story really engaging, and I read through it fairly quickly. So bonus points for that. 

Things I loved: 
- The relationship between our MC's 
- Our MMC Nate 
- Our FMC's sister Serena
- Easy and immersive read 
- The twist that explains it all 
- RY very successful conveys the emotions of our characters. I could feel the emotional response and angst. 

Things I didn't love: 
- Our FMC Izzy is dumb 
- The miscommunication trope 
- Some parts felt pretty unbelievable 
- Again - the damn miscommunication trope. I hate when this is a plot point. Living for years on a misunderstanding instead. of. talking. like. adult. people. 

I went into this one pretty blind and romance isn't my typical genre. While I did appreciate the story overall, the ick factor of an ongoing war zone setting AND (***slight spoiler warning but it's obvious from the beginning where the story is going***) the communication between characters who are meant to be irreparably in love, sucks