Rose

My toxic trait is that I keep reading a series even if it’s clearly not for me! This one was sweeter than Done and Dusted, but still without much substance.

In a couple of her books, Emily Henry writes this really specific flavor of character who just kind of lets life happen to them and doesn’t seem to have much agency or oomph. Alex is a sweetie, but he is that person. I ultimately was so frustrated by the way these two just kind of floated around each other for a decade, never being honest with themselves or each other.

I also don’t prefer books that flip back and forth between past and present for the duration of the book. To me, it makes both timelines move too slowly.

The covers for this series are fire, but the contents are just cringe men and boring women. What’s worse than an overprotective big brother physically assaulting his (grown adult) sister’s love interest for… no reason? Do we not live in the 21st century?

This book is so frightening, so timely, so important. I love Elle Reeve's writing and reporting style, which opens a window into who these hateful people really are, and where their sick worldview comes from. I remember watching her Charlottesville coverage at the time, in the brief moment when Vice was doing unique and valuable journalism, and finding it compelling. Her long-term communication with many of the subjects is clear, and really pays off in the insights she's able to deliver in this book.

While super well-written and well-reported, the book is also disturbing and upsetting, especially in the context of the recent election. Was occasionally tough to get through, and I absolutely needed several palette cleanser rom-com novels during and after reading it.

Wow, what the heck did I just read? So disappointing after Just for the Summer was one of my faves this year.

My gripes include: Unnecessary character death, bizarre depiction of infertility, unfair treatment of a seemingly pretty harmless boyfriend/ex, “not like other girls” syndrome in full effect, and the minor scene with a gun was a big turn-off. I thought some aspects of the MMC and FMC relationship were cute at the beginning, but pretty quickly this turned into a book I just had to finish because I couldn't quite believe the direction it was taking. Think I'll skip the rest of the series!

In the wise words of January from Beach Read, “Happy endings don't matter if the getting there sucks."

Why did I read this??? After 1-starring The Friend Zone merely a few days ago?? I suppose because I really liked the Part of Your World series, and I was hoping TFZ was a fluke. I'm sorry to learn that it was not.

This whole series feels like Emily Henry for Republicans. Everyone wants a million kids, three seconds after they get married! The women cook all day while the men go hunting and do construction! (And yes, obviously they all have guns!) The mom diapers the baby while the dad grabs a beer! The patriarchy of it all! These are simply not things I'm interested in entertaining in the year of our lord 2024.