While the premise is exciting, the execution falls short. The writing is often confusing and the distinction between Xandria's internal thoughts, the dialogue, and the commands from the AI were not easily delineated.

The back and forth between present-day and memories is unclear and makes for a confusing reading experience. The pacing is uneven.

The story was confusing and lacked intrigue. The world of alternate Shanghai seems fascinating, but it was not clear what the rules of the world were and where the story was going.

Didn't care about anything that was happening. No movement of the plot.

This is my 2nd Nikki Payne book, and while I finished the first Pride and Protest, some of the same issues I had in that book, I had in this one. For a contemporary romantic comedy, Sex, Lies, and Sensibility moves too slow. There are moments of funniness and hilarity, but the romance is entirely too slow going, and there’s no major character development to compensate for the glacial pace at which we move. What made me give up on this one instead of powering thru, much like how I did in Pride and Protest, is that I realized at 48% that I truly did not care about these characters. They were not engaging or enticing (like the protagonists in Pride and Protest were), and that coupled with the glacial plot development made me realize I needed to put the book down. I am looking forward to seeing if, in her third book, Payne can tighten the plot, enhance the romance, and deliver engaging protagonists because I do think she has important messages built within her novels.

Bored.

Bored.