bekand1's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I never skim books but I skim read major chuncks about then at 80% really just flicked through to see what happened and let me say… I love romance but this book infuriated me.
The pacing was dull and the puns painful. The characters were caricatures of the tropes.
I hate when fertility or conception issues is the major conflict in a book - gives me major ick. Also pre-implantation genetic testing is a thing so it was completely invalid anyway. He’s a billionaire also pretty sure in the UK it’s covers on NHS. It didn’t mention whether her heart couldn’t handle a pregnancy just that she would pass on her genetic condition.
There was also some tasteless jokes at the sake of a gender diverse person saying that a side character dating them is the reason they use they/them pronouns now. Whilst continually misgendering them.
Super frustrating. Most hated book of the year easy.
The pacing was dull and the puns painful. The characters were caricatures of the tropes.
I hate when fertility or conception issues is the major conflict in a book - gives me major ick. Also pre-implantation genetic testing is a thing so it was completely invalid anyway. He’s a billionaire also pretty sure in the UK it’s covers on NHS. It didn’t mention whether her heart couldn’t handle a pregnancy just that she would pass on her genetic condition.
There was also some tasteless jokes at the sake of a gender diverse person saying that a side character dating them is the reason they use they/them pronouns now. Whilst continually misgendering them.
Super frustrating. Most hated book of the year easy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual content
Moderate: Infertility and Death of parent
lovelymisanthrope's review
emotional
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I heard about this book on TikTok and the premise interested me.
"The Interview" is a dual perspective book that follows Mimi and Whit. Mimi is a 24-year-old woman who wants to finally live following her brother's, Conner, tragic death. She is tired of living in fear, and she wants to enjoy what life has to offer, so she moves to London for a few months to indulge in a grand adventure. Her temporary boss in London is Conner's best friend, Whit. Whit made a promise to Conner to look out for Mimi and keep her away from "guys like us", but now, Whit wants to be the guy for Mimi.
Despite these characters having a brief past and having met before, this book did feel slightly insta-lovey. Mimi has always had a crush on Whit, so it is kind of believable that she would pursue him without much thought, but Whit never thought about Mimi in that way, so for him to come around to "dating" her so easily, did not feel as plausible.
The very first scene in the book is Mimi showing up at Whit's apartment for an interview, but Whit thinks she is someone else, who is there for more nefarious purposes. They end up having a very spicy night together and only after it happens does Whit realize who Mimi is. I found this very difficult to believe. I realize they have not seen each other in person for years, and Mimi and him were never particularly close, but I think he would have recognized her or at least suspected something when she showed up with a resume in hand. Mimi was all too eager to finally indulge in her fantasy, but I feel like she would have questioned this scenario at least a little bit.
One element of his book that kept taking me out of the story was that the conversations felt very circular. All of the characters had the same handful of concerns or personality aspects and they continuously only spoke about them. For example, Mimi kept brining up that she was only in London for a few months, and this cannot work. I felt like the book could have been shortened by 200 pages and the reader would have had the exact same experience because there were so many repeated scenes.
I also think the character development is a little lackluster. Whit grows a lot as a character, but it felt a little too quick to be believable. When work is your whole identity, I think it will take more than a week of a whirlwind romance to have you skipping meetings.
The spicy scenes were written very well, and I think that really saved the book for me. Donna Alam definitely has a talented for writing sex.
I was a little disappointed by this book, but I will still give Donna Alam another try sometime in the future.
"The Interview" is a dual perspective book that follows Mimi and Whit. Mimi is a 24-year-old woman who wants to finally live following her brother's, Conner, tragic death. She is tired of living in fear, and she wants to enjoy what life has to offer, so she moves to London for a few months to indulge in a grand adventure. Her temporary boss in London is Conner's best friend, Whit. Whit made a promise to Conner to look out for Mimi and keep her away from "guys like us", but now, Whit wants to be the guy for Mimi.
Despite these characters having a brief past and having met before, this book did feel slightly insta-lovey. Mimi has always had a crush on Whit, so it is kind of believable that she would pursue him without much thought, but Whit never thought about Mimi in that way, so for him to come around to "dating" her so easily, did not feel as plausible.
The very first scene in the book is Mimi showing up at Whit's apartment for an interview, but Whit thinks she is someone else, who is there for more nefarious purposes. They end up having a very spicy night together and only after it happens does Whit realize who Mimi is. I found this very difficult to believe. I realize they have not seen each other in person for years, and Mimi and him were never particularly close, but I think he would have recognized her or at least suspected something when she showed up with a resume in hand. Mimi was all too eager to finally indulge in her fantasy, but I feel like she would have questioned this scenario at least a little bit.
One element of his book that kept taking me out of the story was that the conversations felt very circular. All of the characters had the same handful of concerns or personality aspects and they continuously only spoke about them. For example, Mimi kept brining up that she was only in London for a few months, and this cannot work. I felt like the book could have been shortened by 200 pages and the reader would have had the exact same experience because there were so many repeated scenes.
I also think the character development is a little lackluster. Whit grows a lot as a character, but it felt a little too quick to be believable. When work is your whole identity, I think it will take more than a week of a whirlwind romance to have you skipping meetings.
The spicy scenes were written very well, and I think that really saved the book for me. Donna Alam definitely has a talented for writing sex.
I was a little disappointed by this book, but I will still give Donna Alam another try sometime in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Terminal illness, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol
Minor: Infertility and War
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