A review by not_another_ana
Book Lovers by Emily Henry

emotional funny lighthearted 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

She wonders whether what comes next could ever live up to the expectations. She doesn’t know. You never can. She turns the page anyway.

Nora is the anti romcom protagonist. She's a cutthroat literary agent, dedicated to her career, loves wearing high heels, and would never ever leave New York City for the quiet of the countryside. But when her beloved, and very pregnant, little sister Libby invites her to a sibling getaway in the charming little town of Sunshine Falls, she can't say no, after all she would do anything for Libby even if her ideas of a good time include following a checklist of Hallmark movie clichés and trying to hook Nora up with local salt of the earth men. Not only is Nora not interested in any of this, she also keeps running into the familiar face of Charlie Lastra, book editor and someone she had a previous negative experience with back in NYC. But fate keeps bringing them together and maybe there's something there blooming between two unlikely romance protagonists.

I feel slightly bamboozled by this book, I started reading it thinking this was going to be more romance than anything else and was, thus, disappointed to find out that the core of the book is actually about family and trauma. Libby, the sister, seemed way more present than Charlie, the actual love interest, which I wouldn't mind if the book's summary and tags didn't make it seem like the plot was all about the romance. People keep saying how much they like Charlie, but I don't have a clear impression of him, not with everything else that was going on. It doesn't help that I don't particularly enjoy contemporary romance and had to hype myself up to read it only to find something entirely different than my expectations. Oh and in no way or shape was this an "enemies to lovers" which was also a let down. I expected more reasons for them to dislike each other (turns out it was one, ONE, slightly awkward meeting) and more development of their relationship. Instead, they immediately clicked and wanted to fuck.

I did like the writing, it was funny and had that freshness and lightness without being too much or crossing the line int cringe territory. There were some funny moments that had me laughing out loud. The chemistry between Charlie and Nora was electric, palpable, even if I didn't like the sex scenes. For a book called Book Lovers, it lacked books, would have been cool to see more of their work in that area, perhaps more of their lives in NYC as a contrast with the small town way of living to really show how unsuited they were to that environment.

The pacing could have used a little work, the ending stretched for too long. Some of the emotional bits didn't affect me, but the third act conflict made sense, wasn't a last minute thing, and didn't rely on some lame miscommunication between the leads which pleasantly surprised me.
Having said all that this is a Libby hate zone, my god I could not stand her by the end of the book. Like what in the mental gymnastics was all the lying to Nora for. Like sure she came through at the end and that allowed Nora and Charlie to be together but lord that was terrible. Anyways, this doesn't have a lot to do with the whole review I just couldn't let it slide.
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