considering i haven't read a book in SO long, this was super duper entertaining to read and I could not be more thankful! providing a much-needed escaconsidering i haven't read a book in SO long, this was super duper entertaining to read and I could not be more thankful! providing a much-needed escape abt with some stress I was experiencing, I managed to finish the book within a span of 2 days, due to its easy-to-read nature, and writing that I found to flow effortlessly.
that being said, this book's entire premise is so frustratingly unrealistic, and relies on tropes that I just can't get behind: the miscommunication wasn't that bad (but I can see why it would be annoying) but the clueless main character and the number of coincidences required for this book's plot even to work...made it for a weird read. i had to suspend my disbelief a lot throughout this novel.
If you're looking for something fun and cute, with a fake dating plotline and an immersive academic university setting, which Olive navigates as a woman in STEM, then I'd recommend The Love Hypothesis. But it's not entirely the best read if you're looking for any sense of believability and realism.
3.5 stars (thanks for getting me out of a reading slump x)
p.s (guys demisexuality isn't a real sexuality and reading genuine critiques of this book's representation of it is making me realise how ridiculous people on the internet are. like yh, the way olive experiences attraction is relatable af. doesn't mean we need random micro labels for every tiny different way humans experience attraction???)...more
god i can't wait for one of my favourite author's ever to blow me away with a rom-com which stars a main character who isn't quite tied to reality andgod i can't wait for one of my favourite author's ever to blow me away with a rom-com which stars a main character who isn't quite tied to reality and spends a lot of her time day dreaming, who also struggles with panic attacks, and is a general mess but then finds a new home and meets the housekeeper who she becomes reluctant allies but then they *whisper* FALL IN LOVE as they let both let their guards down.
up until 70% of this book i was POSITIVELY LOVING THIS BOOK. i was ready to write my 4 star gushing reviewthis is one of those awkward 3 star ratings.
up until 70% of this book i was POSITIVELY LOVING THIS BOOK. i was ready to write my 4 star gushing review of how much this book made me laugh, but also caused me pain, and how sweet it could be. then when i finished, i felt...let down. this comes down to a few things
1) while it could be cute and i didn't hate the romance, there was no actual emotional DEVELOPMENT for the couple. the two characters seem instantly a) attracted to each other and b) instantly open and emotional with each other. the only thing that changes when they become a couple is now they're kissing and stuff. so while it's "slow-burn" it didn't FEEL slow-burn. it feels like the characters are in a romance right from the get-go making the whole romance feel slightly lack-lustre. 2) i really didn't like leon' narration voice. it felt like the author was trying to make the two lead's voices sound distinct but she went way too far and leon sounded like a grumpy old man half the time. i just didn't connect with his narration and,,, i felt detatched. 3) (view spoiler)[ i felt so annoyed about how much build up there was to a sex scene...and then? the author doesn't even descibe it when it finally happens. god, i know this sounds like i'm some fucking pervert but i think if you've read the book you know what i'm talking about. i didn't want some in depth play by play of the scene, but just the intimacy of tiffany being with someone despite the trauma of justin's relationship. i feel like we, as readers, deserved to see how she tackled that with her triggers. but we didn't get to see that healing/emotional moment. it was brushed over and i just don't know why. (hide spoiler)]
i know this sounds like a 1 star review but i really did love the first 3/4 of this. it was CUTE and FUNNY and i was laughing out loud at so many points. plus holly was SUCH a gem and i enjoyed richie's character too....more
i wouldn't exactly consider myself an expert on romance books, but the number one rule for me when reading them is the romance has to be BELIEVABLE. ii wouldn't exactly consider myself an expert on romance books, but the number one rule for me when reading them is the romance has to be BELIEVABLE. i have to be invested in the couple and and the romance should develop in a true and natural way. but this book fails on this part, dramatically. without going into spoilers, the development of the romance is so...weird.
i normally love the enemies stage of an enemies to lovers romance, but for some reason it just felt like liya was being unnecessarily mean to jay and there wasn't a solid reason for her to hate him that much?
but my biggest problem with this is how unrealistic jay's character is. when he starts falling for her, and tries to make advances on her, liya is constantly TERRIBLE to him. (and u might be thinking yeah it's enemies to lovers,,, DUH. but the hating part has to be MUTUAL. jay gives up on hating liya real quick) jay is consistently sweet and supportive and liya, over and over and OVER again, is mean, pushes him away, and is just, SO terrible towards him? and yet he still continues to feel guilty for numerous things, even though it's literally liya's fault for being so horrible! and so many people were like to him "don't let liya get away!" "chase after her." "fight for her" and i was like no?? why would you??? i understand the prospect of fighting for someone is supposed to be romantic but not when someone goes out of their way to be an asshole towards you?? like too many times to count?
i just can't believe someone is that "good" or how you could be in love with someone who keeps telling you "i don't need a man" every time you breathe near them, and are actually just trying to be genuinely kind to them. and liya is so untrusting which i get is supposed to be her character, but it made for such a difficult and staggered devlopment of the romance. i can't see why the two characters fell for each other, and i just didn't feel much while reading the cute/love-dovey moments. (and i don't want to dismiss that liya's character is a lot about how she has been sexually assaulted and slut shamed, i understand this and don't want to act like her feelings about certain things aren't justified)
uhmmm, this just was not it. (and my first adult romance by an aoc,,, i really wanted to love it) i didn't hate this and i thought some parts were cute but liya is such a frustrating character, and jay seems kinda unrealistic at some points, and the characters were both SO extreme?? anyways, review to come...more
this wasn't terrible but I didn't really enjoy myself either. Sure it was cute and funny at some points just like all romances should be but I could nthis wasn't terrible but I didn't really enjoy myself either. Sure it was cute and funny at some points just like all romances should be but I could not deal with the steamy scenes at all and how abrupt they felt (one second they'd be cutely making breakfast or whatever and the next...BAM erotica)
I thought the last 10 percent felt rushed and I hate how sometimes Chloe was in the wrong but Red apologised and Chloe never had to fight for Red and it was always the other way round?
I also hated how sappy it got (don't get me wrong all romance novels have their sappy moments) but Chloe and red were just Too much for me with how consistently good they were at communivating with each other like does anyone speak like that irl??? Idk
you ever think about when Nicholas says "I think you're lovesick" and "tell me you love me?" and "your heart is min30/05/20: i have finished re-read.
you ever think about when Nicholas says "I think you're lovesick" and "tell me you love me?" and "your heart is mine" ?? because i think about it a lot. all the time.
i would make a list of all my favourite nicholas/Naomi moments but that'd be like, the whole last half of this book. the shower scene? the nicholas and Naomi fight over the phone and Naomi ends up straddling him? the scene where nicholas defends Naomi when Deborah says she changed the wedding dress to size 0? when Naomi shovels up the snow outside Deborah's house? When nicholas drops a flower into Naomi's cup? When they write adorable notes to each other? (view spoiler)[When they throw their wedding invitations and then Nicholas says your heart is mine? When he says I want to marry you but Naomi says you haven't told me you love me? And then Nicholas says but I have. And he says it all the time just very quietly? (hide spoiler)]
Okay i'll be quiet. Read this book for the cutest, most adorable romance of the century. Thanks.
26/05/20: re-reading to feel something (happiness)
buddy re-read with loml#1 and loml#2 (unless she doesn't like it...)
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oh my god oh my god oh my god i am...? kind of in shock about how much i loved this book. like i hardly give out five stars. and i'm giving it to an Adult Romance...which i don't think is a genre I've ever even read before. But this is so funny!! the narration style of Naomi is FABULOUS! the banter is amazing! the romance is agonising! but sweet! and it made me tear up! i had to put my kindle down at some points to catch my breath! i want to re-read it immediately! Naomi and Nicholas are my new OTP!
ASDFGHJKL
I did NOT expect to love this so much. I did NOT expect it to become one of my favourite books ever! But this was SO FUNNY! (I know! A book! Funny! This is like, against the law) The romance was EVERYTHING. This book has put me in an Official Book Hangover - i can't seem to read anything else (it feels like forever since that has happened) I may have re-read the last half of this book like 2 times already. I am physically incapable of doing anything but think about Nicholas and Naomi.
i am a You Deserve Each Other Stan before I am a person....more
“I’ve never met someone who is so perfectly my favorite person.�
the whole premise of this book is absolutely FANTASTIC. hopeless roman4.5 stars --
“I’ve never met someone who is so perfectly my favorite person.�
the whole premise of this book is absolutely FANTASTIC. hopeless romantic January meets her old writing nemesis from college and they swap genres (he writes depressing fiction, and she writes hae romance novels) because she is experiencing some writer's block since her dad died. AND IT'S CUTE. AND GUS AND JANUARY FALL IN LOVE OFC.
i kinda related to january with the whole "reading romance novels as a coping mechanism",,, that just really sums up how i've been feeling lately (and why i am cursing myself for NOT reading romance novels before!! i have been missing out!!) (but also why is the cover so happy!! this book was VERY sad at times!! screw you misleading cover and title!!)
“When you love someone,� he said haltingly, �. . . you want to make this world look different for them. To give all the ugly stuff meaning, and amplify the good. That’s what you do. For your readers. For me. You make beautiful things, because you love the world, and maybe the world doesn’t always look how it does in your books, but . . . I think putting them out there, that changes the world a little bit. And the world can’t afford to lose that.�
i wouldn't call this enemies-to-lovers, though...the main couple did NOT have any of the dynamics that come with that trope and the "enemies" bit lasts for like, 5 seconds. it's more like almost-lovers to strangers to lovers. which was still cute and sweet and wholesome. i was SWOONING at so many bits. there was some GREAT banter in here (though i wish there was more).
ALSO THEY REPLICATED THE WRITING NOTES THING FROM THE YOU BELONG WITH ME TAYLOR SWIFT VIDEO.
ma'am?? [image] [image] you belong with me is one of my FAVOURITE music videos so you can imagine my pure glee at reading this scene.
“That was what I'd always loved about reading, what had driven me to write in the first place. That feeling that a new world was being spun like a spiderweb around you and you couldn't move until the whole thing had revealed itself to you.�
reasons to read this: -cute cute cute!! -chemistry is through the ROOF -i flew through this -WILL MAKE YOU CRY (I WAS CRYING WHEN JANUARY WAS READING HER DAD'S LETTER SOMEONE HOLD ME.) -AT THE END OF THE BOOK THEY READ EACH OTHER'S NOVELS AND HE DEDICATES HIS BOOK TO HER. -it's about two published authors!! who fall in love!! -taylor swift -“When I watch you sleep,' he said shakily, 'I feel overwhelmed that you exist.� -they research cults together!! also do line dancing together!! and go to cute carnival things together! -it's set at the beach,,, what more could you ask for? -“It's not about what's happened. It's about how you cope with things, who you are. You've always been this fierce fucking light, and even when you're at your worst, when you feel angry and broken, you still know how to be a person. How to tell people you- you love them.� -swoon-worthy MATE i literally put my kindle down to make sure i could BREATHE at CERTAIN moments
a problem: -i really wished the romance was more slow-burn. i wanted more PINING. more almost-kisses. more angst!! (there was a lot of angst already though) i feel like both characters gave in to their feelings way too quickly for me?
“I was a wound, half-healed-over and scraped raw again. "Everybody Hurts" was running through my mind. I could see the consolation of it, the idea that your pain wasn't unique. Something about that made it seem both bigger and smaller. Smaller because all the world was aching. Bigger because I could finally admit that every other feeling I'd been focusing on had been a distraction from the deepest hurt. My father was gone. And I would always miss him.�
initial review:
THIS WAS REALLY SAD AND I CRIED AND IT WAS ALSO REALLY SWEET AND BEAUTIFUL AND THE ROMANCE WAS CHEFF'S KISS AND I HAVE BEEN HAVING A BREAKDOWN OVER THESE CHARACTERS THE ENTIRE DAY ...more
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