I'm going to start out by admitting that I am apparently not a fan of romcom books. I love the movies, but it's really been a pain in the ass trying to find a book that I like. I was genuinely really determined to try liking this book, but it just was not happening. There was a brief period in the middle where I was having fun, but it quickly came crashing down because of how fucking insufferable the characters are. 

The set up was kind of ridiculous, but I really don't think that matters. It's a romcom setup. There were  just a couple of glaring holes in it that I genuinely could not get over.

Luc's boss threatens to fire him for baing a "bad gay" and when he threatens to sue her, she says "we don't have the money for you to sue us" and Luc believes that he cannot sue them. Bankruptcy just doesn't exist in Britain I guess? Also, Luc believes that he cannot get a job literally anywhere else. It's later explained that no one will take him because it would just be bad publicity for them, but he is literally the son of one of the biggest rock stars of the 80s and another musician who is still constantly cashing in royalty checks for her only album. And throughout the entire book, his father is having a giant comeback on reality TV. I just don't buy that he can't get a job anywhere else.

Luc was not a good main character. And I don't mean "He's a bad person therefore the book is poorly written," he's just an insufferable narrator. I hated reading from his point of view. Reading his self-deprecating monologues was just annoying. They start at the very beginning of the book and he's an asshole from the beginning of the book. A bad introduction leaves a poor taste in my mouth and seeing how miserable he is from the very beginning doesn't make me want to care about him or feel bad for him. I don't even care that he becomes better and stobs beign an asshole because he's still just so fucking annoying. He's a little self obsessed and paranoid and I don't think that necessarily makes him unlikable as a character, but I don't know, he was just so fucking annoying. I hate the witty narration and dialogue. It just comes off as Luc being a dick and like Alexis Hall watched a little too much Joss Whedon in their formative years as a writer. 

Alexis Hall seems to have a bit of an ableism problem as well. Almost all of the characters Luc isn't friends with are bumbling idiots and antisocial outcasts. However, when you read the book, the things Luc gets annoyed about 90% of the time are just... traits of autism. Characters take things too literally, they don't pick up on jokes, they don't understand social cues, they have one thing they're interested in and they talk about it forever, they're antisocial and don't know how to interact with other people, they're blunt and direct in their wording. It was just kind of jarring reading trying to read a book written in 2020 and seeing the main character be this aggressive to admittedly annoying, but very stereotypical autistic traits. And when they're not just showing traits of autism, they're so fucking stupid that it would be genuinely impossible that they survived this long. 

Oliver was a good love interest. I like his prioritizing of ethics (I may be biased because I also haven't eaten meat for about 8 years and I also hate Uber and love unions) and I love men that are a little mean. I'm 90% convinced that he's based on Mr. Darcy, but not Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Specifically Mr. Darcy from Bridget Jones's Diary (I am fully aware that is a Pride and Prejudice retelling). They're both barristers, they both invite the main character to his parents' ruby wedding anniversary, they're both kind of mean. But I don't think that's bad it; it was just really funny watching Bridget Jones for the first time and picking up on it. HOWEVER,

I hated near the end when he all of a sudden turned around and decided he wasn't good enough for Luc and they only agreed to. It comes almost completely out of nowhere and, again, I just don't feel bad for him. I'm annoyed because I'm once again caught in a back and forth of characters being self deprecating and wallowing in self pity for plot reasons.

Aren't romcoms supposed to be.... comedic? I'm not saying it has to be constant jokes after jokes after jokes and I actually really enjoy romcoms that are a little more serious, but more of this book was just depressing and aggravating than funny or lighthearted. I hated most of the characters, I hated the protagonist and the narration, and I hated that

that got together for real in the last four pages of the book

. I can't believe I spent a full week reading this stupid fucking book.