Scan barcode
bloody98's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
marykatemoriarty's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gingoffthehing's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
leaanna_l's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
liked this a lot although it took me some time to get into it at the beginning. also why were the chapters so loooong 😭
i could have probably finished this book sooner but i didn't really have much energy to read with settling back in in school and all.
can't wait to watch the movie, i hope it's good. <33
i loved their emails exchange and all the literature quotes.
they're really cute! i loved their joking and banter such as their cute, more serious moments <33
(honestly dunno what else to say. reviews are so weird for me because sometimes i manage to write a whole essay about a book and sometimes i don't know what to say other than that i liked the book, plot and characters 🤷🏼♀️)
i could have probably finished this book sooner but i didn't really have much energy to read with settling back in in school and all.
can't wait to watch the movie, i hope it's good. <33
i loved their emails exchange and all the literature quotes.
they're really cute! i loved their joking and banter such as their cute, more serious moments <33
(honestly dunno what else to say. reviews are so weird for me because sometimes i manage to write a whole essay about a book and sometimes i don't know what to say other than that i liked the book, plot and characters 🤷🏼♀️)
isabelbrieler's review against another edition
5.0
EDIT: 10/10/20. I've now read this book four times since it came out a year and a half ago, and I think I have an even better idea of why I love it so much.
I mentioned the political catharsis of the book in my original...original review, but I actually want to take a second to get into it. This is a book about a Texas Democrat who becomes President and it comes up over and over again. Alex's Texas binder, about how centuries of gerrymandering and restricting voting rights have left the South consistently red. And as a leftist from a red state, I cannot overstate how much reading that kind of stuff means to me. I love my home, I love the people. There are huge problems, yes, but no state is immune from these problems and the Democrats can get as riled up as they want when Trump blames COVID deaths on blue states but I have seen them dismiss red states again and again as racist pits not worth their time. In my home, in 2018 the senate race was split by just over 100,000 votes. In a state with a population of 6 million. (If that's not swing state material I don't know what is.) Blue voters in red states are fighting tooth and nail and they deserve energy put into them.
EDIT: 11/5/19. I've now read this book three times since it came out six months ago and I think I have a slightly better idea of why I love it so much. Firstly, the writing and characterization are just so good. You can tell how much McQuiston put into these characters, especially if you followed them on Twitter around the time the book came out (lol). They feel real. There's an issue with older authors writing younger characters right now because the generation gap genuinely is so big due in no small part to the internet. Alex and June and Henry and Nora feel real -- they talk the way my friends and I talk (I'm two years younger than Alex, for reference), they text the way my friends and I text. This bleeds into the writing as well. McQuiston writes in the syntax of how people tend to communicate online -- sentence fragments and capitalization to indicate emphasis, a more stream of consciousness feel. It's the first and only time I've seen an author write like this in a published book and I love it. In a way, I feel like it recognizes this version of language that we speak over text and online as legitimate. And in some ways, I feel like it's a good way to write -- it's a way we've found to communicate tone without writing out tone explicitly in the third person, something that's necessary over text, and in a way feels like the ultimate showing, not telling.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
To be honest, I don't really have anything to say that hasn't been said in every other review, but I'll repeat those things because I really just have to gush rn.
Have you ever thought to yourself "I love enemies to lovers romance but it's never quite right?" Well folks, I give you the book that got it right. Alex and Henry are perfect. No, I will not be taking questions.
There are so many parts of this book that hit extremely hard, and I sobbed through the last 50 pages or so, as you do. What I didn't really expect to move me so much was the political catharsis. Just the fact that this book is set in an alternate universe where badass mf Ellen Claremont was elected president in 2016 was enough to get me in the passages about that election. And let's just be clear. I didn't really ever cry because I was sad, or because of the tough things that happen to the characters. I cried tears of pure, unadulterated joy because this book is so goddamn hopeful. It makes me believe that maybe the world is better than it feels like it is sometimes.
I really, really don't want to spoil anything because I would recommend that literally everyone read this book as soon as they possibly can, so I think I'm going to stop here. Just...wow.
I mentioned the political catharsis of the book in my original...original review, but I actually want to take a second to get into it. This is a book about a Texas Democrat who becomes President and it comes up over and over again. Alex's Texas binder, about how centuries of gerrymandering and restricting voting rights have left the South consistently red. And as a leftist from a red state, I cannot overstate how much reading that kind of stuff means to me. I love my home, I love the people. There are huge problems, yes, but no state is immune from these problems and the Democrats can get as riled up as they want when Trump blames COVID deaths on blue states but I have seen them dismiss red states again and again as racist pits not worth their time. In my home, in 2018 the senate race was split by just over 100,000 votes. In a state with a population of 6 million. (If that's not swing state material I don't know what is.) Blue voters in red states are fighting tooth and nail and they deserve energy put into them.
EDIT: 11/5/19. I've now read this book three times since it came out six months ago and I think I have a slightly better idea of why I love it so much. Firstly, the writing and characterization are just so good. You can tell how much McQuiston put into these characters, especially if you followed them on Twitter around the time the book came out (lol). They feel real. There's an issue with older authors writing younger characters right now because the generation gap genuinely is so big due in no small part to the internet. Alex and June and Henry and Nora feel real -- they talk the way my friends and I talk (I'm two years younger than Alex, for reference), they text the way my friends and I text. This bleeds into the writing as well. McQuiston writes in the syntax of how people tend to communicate online -- sentence fragments and capitalization to indicate emphasis, a more stream of consciousness feel. It's the first and only time I've seen an author write like this in a published book and I love it. In a way, I feel like it recognizes this version of language that we speak over text and online as legitimate. And in some ways, I feel like it's a good way to write -- it's a way we've found to communicate tone without writing out tone explicitly in the third person, something that's necessary over text, and in a way feels like the ultimate showing, not telling.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
To be honest, I don't really have anything to say that hasn't been said in every other review, but I'll repeat those things because I really just have to gush rn.
Have you ever thought to yourself "I love enemies to lovers romance but it's never quite right?" Well folks, I give you the book that got it right. Alex and Henry are perfect. No, I will not be taking questions.
There are so many parts of this book that hit extremely hard, and I sobbed through the last 50 pages or so, as you do. What I didn't really expect to move me so much was the political catharsis. Just the fact that this book is set in an alternate universe where badass mf Ellen Claremont was elected president in 2016 was enough to get me in the passages about that election. And let's just be clear. I didn't really ever cry because I was sad, or because of the tough things that happen to the characters. I cried tears of pure, unadulterated joy because this book is so goddamn hopeful. It makes me believe that maybe the world is better than it feels like it is sometimes.
I really, really don't want to spoil anything because I would recommend that literally everyone read this book as soon as they possibly can, so I think I'm going to stop here. Just...wow.
percy3's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It's gay
myfi's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
littlevix's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately it was a huge disappointment. The enemies-to-lovers trope is seemingly only there to lure people in. Alex and Henry are basically strangers who dislike each other for no particular reason, but then immediately fall into lust. I didn't like Alex and I didn't like the people around him. I did like Henry, though I barely got to know him. He seemed like a gentle and kind person.
The novel tries to be both a political commentary and a romance novel, and the love-story suffers as a result of it. Mostly, the story revolves about a fictitious US election that I couldn't care less about.
The novel tries to be both a political commentary and a romance novel, and the love-story suffers as a result of it. Mostly, the story revolves about a fictitious US election that I couldn't care less about.
lilysh's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
reading_21's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Cute gay rom com! Love the ideal world and love a prince with a secret!