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Hate to Fake It to You by Amanda Sellet
2.0

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

Living in a disgusting apartment and struggling to make ends meet, friends Libby and Jean decide to come up with an online persona-- Love, Lillibet-- to make fun of the influencers that swarm their island of Oahu, and also practice their photography and writing skills. However, when given the opportunity to create a magazine by up and coming mogul Hildy Johnson, Lillibet suddenly has to become a real person with a real husband and real mansion and real goats.

Libby suddenly has to pretend to be someone she's not to help out not only her best friends, but herself. Lillibet (and Hildy) could be everyone's ticket to getting out of poverty and fulfilling their dreams-- but as Libby she sinks deeper into the lies, it becomes harder and harder to keep everything straight and her growing feelings for Hilda's photographer certainly muddy the waters...

I wanted to enjoy this book so much. I loved Seller's BY THE BOOK and BELITTLED WOMEN, so I figured this book would be a slam dunk. It was not. The plot failed to grip me, I hated Libby's friends, and I didn't buy her relationship with Jefferson-- even Libby herself annoyed me with her inability to do much of anything except complain about the decisions she let other people make for her. This book was supposed to be a love letter to Hawaii, but this book could have easily taken place anywhere with a beach (and honestly, even that would be negotiable). The only part that felt Hawaiian was Keiko's recipes and ingredients, nothing else felt authentic. I struggled to get through this one, but I'll given Seller's next book a shot.