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opalmars 's review for:
Never Thought I'd End Up Here
by Ann Liang
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
This book is as deep as a puddle. And, listen: I don’t necessarily need a super deep book. I love simple, fluffy stories! However, in this case, the book was so surface-level that it became detrimental to the story. This book could’ve and SHOULD’VE had *more*.
Leah is riddled with insecurities, most of which stem from a couple years prior. She would often mention off-handedly that she used to be bullied and then decided to change her appearance and “become hot” to overcome that, but it’s clearly something that still affects her. This was the most interesting part of the book, but it could’ve really benefited from flashbacks, so we could actually see Leah’s struggles from before. I think this plot point would’ve been more effective and hard-hitting if we’d experienced everything with Leah.
The same could be said for the romance. Leah and Cyrus were supposedly childhood “enemies”, but Cyrus liked Leah all along (because of course he did). Leah would often mention that he was one of the only people who knew her really well (since he knew her before her “transformation”), but because WE didn’t get to see their past relationship, it all felt really unearned. The vague mentions of how well Leah and Cyrus know each other didn’t help me *feel* the supposed depth of their bond.
Overall, this book DESPERATELY needed flashbacks / dual-timeline, so we could delve deeper into Leah’s past and understand her insecurities better + actually get to understand Leah and Cyrus’ bond.
Other notes:
➤ The romance was mediocre. As I mentioned, it was difficult to fully understand their past bond, so it all became very stale. Their banter wasn’t funny. Leah was always mentioning how hot Cyrus is (which became repetitive and annoying 🙄). And Cyrus is a creepy stalker??????Like, if a dude I hadn’t seen in YEARS *stalked me* to the point where he infiltrated MY family member’s wedding – strangers to him! – just so he could see me??? I’d be FREAKED OUT??? THE FUCK??? 😰😰😰 Ann Liang THAT AIN’T CUTE??? 😬 And then we had the stupid 3rd act conflict that got resolved in 5 pages, and then they were saying “I love you” after like, 2 weeks, which like……… 🙄 Okay. Whatever. Overall, the romance could’ve been much better. Such a let down! Also, Cyrus’ audiobook voice was reeeeeally bad lol.
➤ The SCs were mostly irrelevant. Oliver was kinda fun, and Daisy was definitely… there. But like, Leah mentions several times that those people from the China-trip were now her friends and really liked her and like…… we barely saw them??? If the author really wanted these friendships to mean something, she should’ve shown more of these people and actually develop these bonds. 🫤
I can’t believe Ann Liang peaked with her very first books…… Girl please go back to that formula, because these past like, 4 books, haven’t been good… 😬😬😬😬😬
Leah is riddled with insecurities, most of which stem from a couple years prior. She would often mention off-handedly that she used to be bullied and then decided to change her appearance and “become hot” to overcome that, but it’s clearly something that still affects her. This was the most interesting part of the book, but it could’ve really benefited from flashbacks, so we could actually see Leah’s struggles from before. I think this plot point would’ve been more effective and hard-hitting if we’d experienced everything with Leah.
The same could be said for the romance. Leah and Cyrus were supposedly childhood “enemies”, but Cyrus liked Leah all along (because of course he did). Leah would often mention that he was one of the only people who knew her really well (since he knew her before her “transformation”), but because WE didn’t get to see their past relationship, it all felt really unearned. The vague mentions of how well Leah and Cyrus know each other didn’t help me *feel* the supposed depth of their bond.
Overall, this book DESPERATELY needed flashbacks / dual-timeline, so we could delve deeper into Leah’s past and understand her insecurities better + actually get to understand Leah and Cyrus’ bond.
Other notes:
➤ The romance was mediocre. As I mentioned, it was difficult to fully understand their past bond, so it all became very stale. Their banter wasn’t funny. Leah was always mentioning how hot Cyrus is (which became repetitive and annoying 🙄). And Cyrus is a creepy stalker??????
➤ The SCs were mostly irrelevant. Oliver was kinda fun, and Daisy was definitely… there. But like, Leah mentions several times that those people from the China-trip were now her friends and really liked her and like…… we barely saw them??? If the author really wanted these friendships to mean something, she should’ve shown more of these people and actually develop these bonds. 🫤
I can’t believe Ann Liang peaked with her very first books…… Girl please go back to that formula, because these past like, 4 books, haven’t been good… 😬😬😬😬😬
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder