The Rewind

Omg was it me or are these two the most boring couple ever to walk on Earth? I finished it out of stubbornness really. Sorry. Not.

I didn't hate the characters, and I liked the writing style. But I spent the majority of the book worried about Frankie's head injury.

I kind of hated Frankie and Ezra the whole time, but I didn't hate this book. I don't know how to explain that better. I hated everything revolving around Mimi. I get that he needed grand gestures as a defining character point, but Mimi was trash and I'm still not a fan that she got cheated on. I liked the nostalgic late 90's references with music and tech. I liked the mystery aspect. I just wanted Frankie to be less of a “badass genius” and Ezra to be less of a “nice guy” without a spine or any sense of the people in his life. You know...I started this review with 4 stars, but I think it really was a 3 star read for me. I've convinced myself that I liked it less than the last chapters tried to trick me into thinking

Two unpleasant exes spend most of a New Year's Eve college reunion/friends' wedding trying to figure out how and why they woke up together in his freshman college dorm room bed, with his grandma's ring on her finger. Considering it is the ring he planned to use to propose to his girlfriend later that night, it's not a good sign. The two spend the rest of the time bickering and hurling accusations at each other about the dynamics behind their breakup ten year ago. Then, for some reason, at about the 95% point they decide to forgive each other and themselves, and realize they've been in love all along. (The would-be fiancé is dispatched with for being a money-grubbing shrew.)

I don't find it humorous when people get blackout drunk (he took a Xanax for anxiety and somehow “forgot” that it doesn't mix well with alcohol; she hit her head somewhere along the way and suffered just the right amount of concussion so that she doesn't remember anything but she can walk and talk without any problems). I don't find it romantic for a second-chance romance to have the MCs still very much at odds until almost the last moment. Basically the only person I felt for was the friend who was getting married, whose special day was overshadowed by all the Drama.

Review written under the influence of extreme stress and anxiety due to family health emergency; in another life, I might have loved this book (but I doubt it.)