A review by signeskov
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

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

3.0

This book had its ups and downs, its strengths and weaknesses. I’m not usually one for romance novels, but I had been in a summer reading slump and thought to pick up this new beach read - and the story definitely did help me out of that reading slump, so that’s a certain positive point! However, I also quickly came to realize that the novel is still of a particular genre relying on certain tropes and characters that are sometimes a bit too one-dimensional and serves a plot that is simply too predictable, which in the end, for me, took the excitement out of the novel already halfway through. A particular point of critique for the novel is also that it uses diversity as a placemat instead of fleshing out such characters and their stories. Representation is important when done right, but inclusion simply to superficially include is not the way to go. One black woman as town lawyer and queer personalities included all around the main character as random “quirky” sidekicks, and the ways in which these were only surface-level, random details about characters could have been executed so much better - or not included at all, if this is the way they are to be included.

The Dead Romantics was a little bit too cheesy for me, but overall enjoyable for the particular mindset I was in when I first picked up the book - recommended for those out there that want to crack through the pages a bit faster and turn off their brain for a few hours in the fictional world of romance and mystery.
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