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juliaegreene 's review for:

1.75
lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

ISABELLA DO NOT LOOK AT THIS OK THANKS

alrighty now that she's gone:
i was so disappointed by this :< the premise is so fun and i was really excited by the cover and vibes! but there was way too much plot going on. the insta-love was so hard to move past, even when the relationship did progress and had some sweet moments, mainly because i just never felt like i really understood the characters. (yes, i do prefer character-driven stories over plot-driven, so this just might not be the book for me! but also-) dylan had an interesting story and i was genuinely rooting for him, but theo never had me, despite all the things he did/said that were obviously supposed to make me like him. i wish we all got a bit more breathing room throughout the story because there was SO MUCH HAPPENING. this only takes place over like. a couple of weeks? and in that time:
  • dylan and theo meet
  • mooncake prep
  • theo gives dylan $5000, dylan agrees to be his fake date
  • they go to the hamptons, family drama ensues
  • dylan saves someone from drowning
  • they go viral?
  • they get together
  • they go to the met gala??? or something?? and there's drama there too
  • sabotage!
  • theo's dad pays dylan $100000 to break up with theo
  • they break up
  • the restaurant floods
  • mooncake contest, theo flies to singapore (??), they get back together
  • they get a new restaurant and make a tv show or something
i probably missed some stuff honestly i did my best. MY POINT IS there's way too much happening here that doesn't allow the characters to even begin to develop. the dialogue was a bit stilted at times but i did really enjoy some of the food descriptions! also there should have been more of the dog. does any of this review make sense who knows