A review by chichio
Book Lovers by Emily Henry

emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

When I got past the corny jokes and attempts at humour, this book opened itself up to be a really good time and that’s almost entirely because of how interesting Nora is to me. I think she’s such a complex yet well rounded look into the way people-pleasing can manifest; she preemptively sacrifices herself for people without them asking, shrinking herself (emotionally, but also in other ways) in the process, causing the people she shrinks herself for to be upset that she’s made herself so small. We see that mostly in her relationship with Libby, which I really enjoyed exploring.

When Libby said that Nora should stop trying to be her DAD? Great. Literally so fucking good. I’ve never seen the “over-bearing older sister” thing get looked at from the lens of the Mum making the daughter take on a PARTNER role. That was interesting.

Charlie was great, too. Was he a little too perfect too quickly? Probably… especially because this is apparently meant to be “rivals to lovers,” but tbh tropes mean very little to me so I won’t hold that against this book. I really do enjoy how this book is mostly about someone loving you where you’re at (physically, emotionally) as opposed to love being this mystical, magical transformer.