internalnonsense's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The premise of this story is a woman faking a haunting in her home in order to scare off her new husband-of-convenience. Of course, they fall in love instead. It’s a cute idea, but the pitfalls are present pretty immediately. Characters act in incomprehensible and downright unlikable ways. While I’m not afraid of problematic leads making dumb decisions, I need the story to know its characters are being dumb and make them mature from it. Instead, we have the lightest of consequences, the most basic self-examination, and we honestly only get the barest justification for why.
The story we have is the female lead actively gaslighting her husband, who’s been entirely considerate of her, and recruiting other members of the household to deceive him. Even past the point where he’s clearly no threat to her or her autonomy, she’s actively disturbing his sleep, lying to his face, and trying to push him out of his family home. Her excuses for this are so flimsy, and the male lead’s behavior so above board the entire story (other than the occasional sarcastic comment, overblown for drama), it completely killed any sense of romance for me.
To the book’s credit, it is a part of a larger series but is very approachable as a standalone. While I sensed we were supposed to be more familiar with some of the characters, it re-established them without much trouble and the backstory of the previous books didn’t overshadow our main story here. The writing is fine. There are cute moments that didn't end up working for me but others who click more with this style and are more forgiving of the premise might enjoy a lot.
The story we have is the female lead actively gaslighting her husband, who’s been entirely considerate of her, and recruiting other members of the household to deceive him. Even past the point where he’s clearly no threat to her or her autonomy, she’s actively disturbing his sleep, lying to his face, and trying to push him out of his family home. Her excuses for this are so flimsy, and the male lead’s behavior so above board the entire story (other than the occasional sarcastic comment, overblown for drama), it completely killed any sense of romance for me.
To the book’s credit, it is a part of a larger series but is very approachable as a standalone. While I sensed we were supposed to be more familiar with some of the characters, it re-established them without much trouble and the backstory of the previous books didn’t overshadow our main story here. The writing is fine. There are cute moments that didn't end up working for me but others who click more with this style and are more forgiving of the premise might enjoy a lot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Classism, Sexism, and Bullying
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