Because we don’t really see much of Francesca in the first season of the Netflix adaptation, I didn’t know anything about her character going into this book. She is described as being different to her three sisters as they are “too friendly, too open and too sunny”. So that makes Francesca... more introverted, more reserved, more...? I thought she might be a character that I would recognise a bit of myself in, at least compared to the other sisters, who all seem more outgoing. But unfortunately she wasn’t as fleshed out as I would’ve liked. I just missed something... well something. What I would’ve liked to see more of is her grieving process after John’s passing. It obviously wouldn’t have been a very cheerful part of the book, but I felt like we kind of skipped it? John dies and then oop! suddenly four years have passed...

Michael’s character can basically be surmised as: “I’m in love with Francesca and I don’t want anyone to find out and apparently I’m a terrible rake but you only know that because I tell you so”. And I still enjoyed him more as a character than Francesca. It was all the pining I guess. It might get old really fast for some people, but I’m a sucker for that shit.

Obviously I’m still not an instalove stan, but I dig the friends-to-lovers trope and like I said, I’m also into the unrequited love thing where one of them is pining after the other. Which is how I would describe the plot of this book in one sentence if someone would ask me to.

One of the best things about this book is Colin! Him meddling in his siblings’s relationships is just the best. I love him so much more in the books than in the Netflix series.

3.5 stars