reubenalbatross 's review for:

Book Lovers by Emily Henry
2.0
lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
My first Emily Henry and what a disappointment it was. 

This book started off well, I thought the prologue was honestly fantastic and I loved the satire. I also liked that the characters were in their 30s and some were happily childfree. I also enjoyed the majority of the book/publishing industry stuff, especially the mention of the Queen of sci-fi Octavia E. Butler. 

However, after the first couple of hours, things started to go downhill. I think some of these issues were due to the narration style, but most were purely due to the story. So here we go: 

  1. Three hours in and the quips between Nora and Charlie started to get a bit old.
  2. Nora must have an STI - 'between her legs' was constantly 'on fire'.
  3. I never felt a single spark between the two of them. It just seemed like two people repetitively and pretty pedantically teasing each other... And not feeling the romance just made all of their interactions drag instead of feeling fun and flirty.
  4. Four hours in and the snarkiness got old. It was giving immature and petulant rather than sexy.
  5. My first book with miscommunication, and I'm already annoyed by it. JUST TALK TO EACHOTHER. 
  6. The cliche satire also started to get very old, and the writing itself was pretty cliche too. 
  7. Things that are clearly meant to be funny didn't come across that way. I think this may have been due to the narrator, if I was physically reading some of the interactions I'd definitely read them in a more light-hearted tone. 
  8. Nora continuously being shocked by every. Single. Element. of Charlie's life was so weird. Surely after the tenth near-heart attack she should be less judgemental?
  9. It was amazingly annoying how they both obviously liked each other and wanted to be together but refused to admit it - not my idea of a fun time. 
  10. Because I couldn't get into the romance at all I ended up way more interested in what was going on with the sister, which wasn't all that interesting either. 
  11. It was weird to include some of the book only right at the end - either do it throughout or not at all, it felt very jarring. 
  12. With only two hours left to go I seriously considered DNFing. Obviously that isn't a good sign of my enjoyment levels. 
  13. The sex is the furthest thing from hot I have ever read; it's so clinically told - and the narrator definitely did not help with this. 
  14. DEAR LAWD do these characters all need therapy, especially Nora. Thank God she actually mentioned looking into it at the end. If they'd all had therapy this book basically wouldn’t exist, and I'd be much happier. It was SO INFURITING to listen to such emotionally immature people. 
  15. The 'quips' throughout the book were never funny, they were just awkward.
  16. By the end of the book I detested Nora. She is SO selfish - your sister doesn't have to sing to your tune her whole life!! Let her live it for fucks sake. It’s not all about you!
  17. Charlie told Nora that she didn't need to change - YES SHE DOES SHE NEEDS THERAPY, AND SO DO YOU.
  18. 'Great British Baking Show' just sounds ridiculous. If you can’t use the real name, just don't mention it! It had absolutely nothing to do with the plot, and felt so weird in a book where the real names of things were used for everything else.
  19. And oh my god, they used the 'stars in the same sky' bit at the end unironically... tragic. Especially in a book that started off in complete satire. 
  20. The back-and-forth indecision at the end was insufferable. It just went on and on and on and on.
  21. And finally, the ending was SO predictable. I saw it from a mile off. At least Nora is getting therapy, she bloody needs it.