A review by sucker4romcoms
Picking Daisies on Sundays by Liana Cincotti

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

"to be close to you was to be haunted by what i couldn't have and to be reminded of how much i truly wanted you."

the story follows dani, a hopeless romantic finishing college, who agrees to embark on a fake relationship with her childhood bestfriend, levi, who unfortunately for her, also happens to be her first love.

i decided to read this book because of its cute pink cover.

plot: ⭐️ 3.75

first of all, the concept of this book is good and the writing style is somehow similar to lynn painter's—one of my favorite romcom authors. the story gets better and better every flip of the page, so the thought of pausing it suddenly went away. the heartwarming and dreamy scenes also made the story more entertaining. plus, there are lots of taylor swift references, and as a swiftie, i love it so much.

the story is honestly more driven by the characters' personalities and development, instead of the plot.

characters: ⭐️ 4.0

i love levi so much, and the fact that he's been hiding his feelings for dani for so long—and writing a collection of french poems about her? so romantic! i also like the way he expresses hos feelings towards dani, by being her number one fan, her bestfriend, and comfort zone. having someone as your bestfriend and lover rolled into one is the best feeling ever.

on the other hand, i am not really a huge fan of dani, but i really sad for her, somehow. particularly when she's hearing negative words from people, and whenever she feels that she couldn't be romantic involved in levi's life.

ending: ⭐️ 3.5

to be honest, this book is just a typical friends to lovers, but it ended really well. i don't know if it's just me, but i can't feel the emotions of the characters in the first few parts, but thankfully, it built up as the story progressed. also, the fake dating trope just literally came out of nowhere. the push-pull in their relationship was somehow frustrating, but i still enjoyed it. it would be so much better if this book was written in dual pov. 

overall, it was still a good read. there are lots of character development and this is definitely a book for all hopeless romantics out there.