I hated this book so much, I finished it out of spite. Christina Lauren will not defeat me!

Okay but for real, this was my first Christina Lauren book and we’re not starting off of great terms. FIRST OF ALL, you expect me to believe that golden-child-twin-of-the lead Ami paid for an ENTIRE WEDDING with COUPONS??? That was just a DUMB plot point. Without the extreme couponing, I might have been able to let go the ridiculous way the authors broke the stasis in this book: every single fucking person at the wedding - EXCEPT the unlucky-in-life lead, Olive, and her NEMESIS, Ethan, the groom’s brother- got food poisoning. Crazy!!

The banter wasn’t even good, it was just cringey. I was about ready to throw in the towel with the sheer number of annoying comments Olive had to make about her body and “stress baking.” I could live a thousand lifetimes and NOT get far away enough from the horrible trope of an 👉awkward 30 something who hates her body and loves to make jokes about it 👈 On top of that, the appeal that Ethan seemed to have towards her rested solely on…you guessed it…her body. I lost track of the number of times he commented on her boobs.

The book especially fell apart for me in the third act. The Ami/Dane drama just felt so contrived and dumb. You’re telling me a woman who has a checklist for everything and, again- financed her entire wedding with COUPONS- didn’t catch that her good for nothing fiancé was cheating on her?

I already knew I hated this book by the time I got through the third act breakup, but having her family members show up in the restaurant she worked at to witness the reconciliation and putting her male family members in a WIG really sent me over the edge. Like 😭😭😭😭 What?!

Overall, the banter was cheap and not fun at all, the characters were shallow, and the situation was just so greatly contrived and fictional I had a very difficult time enjoying any of it.

Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

How DARE YOU Mhairi?!? This was one of those books that made my eyes swell with tears throughout the last hundred pages and left a slight ache once I closed it. I loved the richness with which she created her characters, giving Georgina not only depth and humor, but vindication as well. All of it just felt like a sweet celebration of people and how they can make us all the better. I only waffle between 4-5 stars because I wanted so much more between Georgina and Lucas, but I loved so dearly what she did for Georgie’s character that I DON’T CARE!!!! Give me a second as I go buy every single thing McFarlane has ever written <3

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

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