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My spoiler-free review:
The beginning of this book is rough and really made me question all the glowing reviews. Between too much constant detail (what everyone looks like/is wearing/is eating, what floor her office is on, etc) and smacking you in the face with the “foreshadowing”— even the would-be clever nods come across as obvious— I almost gave up, I won’t lie. But the concept intrigued me and was well-handled when it could have been an instant mess, so I soldiered on. And it ended up worth it, the second half wildly improves. Honestly I just wish I could edit the whole thing, because the potential for it to be truly great is there, it just needs a few dozen less drops of obvious brand names and the eye of an actual New Yorker.
EDIT: I’m dropping this from 3 stars to 2, cause frankly I just read The Dead Romantics and it’s so shockingly better and doesn’t suffer from 90% of my complaints with this one.
The beginning of this book is rough and really made me question all the glowing reviews. Between too much constant detail (what everyone looks like/is wearing/is eating, what floor her office is on, etc) and smacking you in the face with the “foreshadowing”— even the would-be clever nods come across as obvious— I almost gave up, I won’t lie. But the concept intrigued me and was well-handled when it could have been an instant mess, so I soldiered on. And it ended up worth it, the second half wildly improves. Honestly I just wish I could edit the whole thing, because the potential for it to be truly great is there, it just needs a few dozen less drops of obvious brand names and the eye of an actual New Yorker.
EDIT: I’m dropping this from 3 stars to 2, cause frankly I just read The Dead Romantics and it’s so shockingly better and doesn’t suffer from 90% of my complaints with this one.
I’m really stunned at the difference in reviews for this vs The Seven Year Slip, because this was WILDLY better to me. Yes, Poston still has her fair share of timely references, but wildly restrained here compared to 7YS, and mostly sensical— name dropping romance authors in a book about romance publishing makes more sense than brand-naming everyone’s clothes down to that one coworker. And because most of this one didn’t take place in NYC, there were less glaring errors there also— plus she lives in Hoboken with a roommate. Much more realistic and accessible.
The grief factor was more fleshed out here for me also. Florence’s dad felt like a person if a bit over the top, whereas Clementine’s aunt just seemed like a knockoff Mame.
But the biggest improvement in this one over the other was things in it actually took me by surprise at parts. And even the plot points I guessed weren’t completely given away. The “foreshadowing” in 7YS came up and smacked you in the face demanding that you see it or else.
I loved the romance in this but I also loved that it was more about Florence as a person than just this relationship.
I hope Poston can get back to this and not the referential mess that was 7YS.
The grief factor was more fleshed out here for me also. Florence’s dad felt like a person if a bit over the top, whereas Clementine’s aunt just seemed like a knockoff Mame.
But the biggest improvement in this one over the other was things in it actually took me by surprise at parts. And even the plot points I guessed weren’t completely given away. The “foreshadowing” in 7YS came up and smacked you in the face demanding that you see it or else.
I loved the romance in this but I also loved that it was more about Florence as a person than just this relationship.
I hope Poston can get back to this and not the referential mess that was 7YS.