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chronicallybookish 's review for:
The Neighbor Favor
by Kristina Forest
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quick Stats
Age Rating: 18+
Over All: 4 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
Despite the fact that one of her YA novels has been sitting on my shelves for the better part of two years, this is my first Kristina Forest novel—and I think it was a good one to start with, because I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to picking up her YA work next.
Lily is a publishing assistant who yearns to work in children’s publishing. She wants to help publish diverse books that make Black kids feel the way her favorite book made her feel.
Nick is the author of that book.
The two email, become close, and then he ghosts her, only to later learn that Lily is none other than his new neighbor.
I love bookish books, so this premise was everything. And of course, the secret identity lent itself to plenty of angst. I honestly loved both him and Lily so much. Their chemistry was great, and they were both such compelling characters. Nick, especially. Did he drive me a little crazy with his constant negative self talk? Yes, but I also felt for him so strongly. I hurt for him like Lily did.
But that does bring me to my main gripe with the book: Nick needed therapy. He needed so much therapy. That negative self talk and also just the traumas that he had experienced had me basically screaming GET THIS MAN IN THERAPY at the book. This was one of those cases where it’s so obvious that he needed therapy to be able to heal and have a successful relationship in the past. These issues and struggles that he has, which play into every issue that Nick and Lily face, that impede their relationship again and again, are not the kind that he could reasonably work through on his own over the course of the two months in which the book takes place. And that fact felt so obvious to me. I understand that there are many reasons a person wouldn’t go to therapy, but it wasn’t mentioned at all in the book. It’s like it didn’t exist, and that honestly frustrated me to no end, and made it a bit hard to root for Nick and Lily, because he was messed up. He wasn’t in a place to be in a stable, healthy relationship, and it felt like he never took real steps to get to that place. Even in the end of the book, it felt like it was more the circumstances falling into place with his mom, not him putting in the work to heal.
I definitely enjoyed the book. It was fun, it was sweet, it had depth, but because of that I just don’t feel sold on the idea of their Happily Ever After.
Age Rating: 18+
Over All: 4 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
Despite the fact that one of her YA novels has been sitting on my shelves for the better part of two years, this is my first Kristina Forest novel—and I think it was a good one to start with, because I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to picking up her YA work next.
Lily is a publishing assistant who yearns to work in children’s publishing. She wants to help publish diverse books that make Black kids feel the way her favorite book made her feel.
Nick is the author of that book.
The two email, become close, and then he ghosts her, only to later learn that Lily is none other than his new neighbor.
I love bookish books, so this premise was everything. And of course, the secret identity lent itself to plenty of angst. I honestly loved both him and Lily so much. Their chemistry was great, and they were both such compelling characters. Nick, especially. Did he drive me a little crazy with his constant negative self talk? Yes, but I also felt for him so strongly. I hurt for him like Lily did.
But that does bring me to my main gripe with the book: Nick needed therapy. He needed so much therapy. That negative self talk and also just the traumas that he had experienced had me basically screaming GET THIS MAN IN THERAPY at the book. This was one of those cases where it’s so obvious that he needed therapy to be able to heal and have a successful relationship in the past. These issues and struggles that he has, which play into every issue that Nick and Lily face, that impede their relationship again and again, are not the kind that he could reasonably work through on his own over the course of the two months in which the book takes place. And that fact felt so obvious to me. I understand that there are many reasons a person wouldn’t go to therapy, but it wasn’t mentioned at all in the book. It’s like it didn’t exist, and that honestly frustrated me to no end, and made it a bit hard to root for Nick and Lily, because he was messed up. He wasn’t in a place to be in a stable, healthy relationship, and it felt like he never took real steps to get to that place. Even in the end of the book, it felt like it was more the circumstances falling into place with his mom, not him putting in the work to heal.
I definitely enjoyed the book. It was fun, it was sweet, it had depth, but because of that I just don’t feel sold on the idea of their Happily Ever After.