Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Good Girl Complex

I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed Elle Kennedy’s previous work and wanted to read more of her work. This book was okay, it wasn’t outstanding, I just wanted more.

This book has two points of view. The first is Mackenzie Cabot and she does everything right so what could go wrong? Mac is a people pleaser to her demanding parents, her prep school friends, her long-time boyfriend. It's exhausting for her to always be following the rules. All she wanted to do is focus on growing her internet business, but first she must get a college degree at her parents’ insistence. That means moving to the beachside town of Avalon Bay, a community made up of locals and the wealthy students at Garnet College. Twenty-year-old Mac has had plenty of practice suppressing her wilder impulses, but that all changes when she meets Cooper Hartley. The second point of view is Cooper Hartley, and he is rough around the edges. Raw. Candid. A threat to Mac’s ordered existence. Their friendship soon becomes the realest thing in her life. However, Cooper doesn’t trust any clones in his town, he doesn’t trust anyone who comes and goes into his town, but Cooper soon realizes Mac isn’t just another rich clone and falls for her. And falls hard. But as Mac finally starts feeling accepted by Cooper and his friends, the secret he’s been keeping from her threatens the only place she’s ever felt at home.

There were too many loose ends for my liking. Did Mac finish the hotel? Did it do well? Did the locals finally accept her? Did Cooper’s business do well? Did they finish the house? I have way too many questions for the first book in the series. I really didn’t like the whole dare thing, it just felt like an updated version of She’s All That and as much as I loved that film, it just didn’t work within this book. I also thought the bet and revenge thing would have come out sooner rather than within the last five chapters. Even though I liked Cooper, he needed to grovel some more and more again, instead of using her website and her hotel. Again, all the chaos and the solution were done in five-ten chapters when I wanted it sorted it sooner. I liked the trope of rich boy x poor girl and rich girl x poor boy, but it was just slightly predictable, and I found myself skimming through the bits that we knew was going to happen.

I liked that there were discussions about how parents can be shit parents whether you are rich or poor. Cooper had shit parents and managed to make a life for himself. Mac had shit parents and managed to make herself a billionaire and make a life for herself. I liked the gang within Avalon Bay and how they are all getting up to trouble but they also go to bat with each other and look after each other. I liked the growth between Cooper and Mac and how they’ve managed to stop judging everyone and getting to know someone before you judge them.

Hopefully the characters will grow on me within the next book in the series and the loose ends will be tied up and we might get some more answers to the questions that we didn’t get in this book.

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akswhy's review

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emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Diverting enough for one day, but I won’t be continuing the series. The characters didn’t really grow all that much, they just needed the occasional prod from their friends to act right. Also there were a couple things that were so unrealistic that they pulled me out of the story (Mackenzie’s success at 20, the perfect ridiculous caricatures that were her and Preston’s parents, etc.). Some of the stuff they fought about was just a function of them being in their early 20s, which I suppose is the most realistic part of the book. Their brains are clearly still cooking.

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catarina_pego's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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britwalsh16's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Elle Kennedy has done it again! The only thing I didn’t like was that there was no hockey in it. Lol Mac & Cooper are the perfect example of opposites attract, and the passion they have for eachother even when they are fighting is inspiring! I want passion like that!! And though it may have started out as a revenge plot, Mac is much better off without Preston. He is such a dick! I feel bad for his future wife! Lol

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