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2.4 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Bindery Books for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

I requested this ARC because the concept and plot seemed so interesting. And it is. The problem that I have with this book is the two main characters.
Arjun is a whiny little brat and Esme’s doormatnness is just unreadable- like both of them need some self respect. It was really slow going because I just loathed the two main characters, despite the fact that the story/mystery was super interesting. When we got to read POVs of the blonde woman or the mayor or even Esme’s dad I was hooked. Also, they randomly rehash Esme and Arjun’s backstories like a dozen times, it got tiring. To be honest I would have DNFed this book if it wasn’t an ARC, it was putting me into a slump and felt sooo long. The plot was compelling, but not good enough to surpass my hatred for Arjun and Esme- there’s a difference between flawed characters and annoying characters. Their love story was sooo underdeveloped, I was honestly hoping it wouldn't become romantic because there was like 0 development for the first 3/4 of the book. The ending was fine but I wish the conclusion of the mystery was a bittt more fleshed out. This review was all over the place but that's lowkey the theme of the book so I'm not apologizing.