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savvyrosereads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Out June 6, 2023 [Thank you so much the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!]
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Jess is a Black liberal woman who takes a job at Goldman Sachs after graduation, working alongside her college nemesis, a white conservative man named Josh. But when sparks fly between the two, what might otherwise be a “will they-won’t they” becomes a “should they-shouldn’t they” romance.
This is an extremely difficult book to review—I read it a few days ago and I’m honestly still not entirely sure how I felt about it. On the positive side: the writing itself was excellent and the book was engaging and flowed quickly (I read it in a few hours spaced over 1.5 days). There were a lot of thought provoking moments and themes, including a really great section on being a POC growing up in a predominantly white community and the unique challenges that can result.
That said, I had a lot of difficulties with the “romance” side of this book—I hated the MMC, and didn’t feel like he ever redeemed himself or demonstrated anything that would justify her love for him. The ending of the book also made me viscerally angry—I think I see what the author was going for (a kind of political satire reminiscent of a Jordan Peele film), but it did not land for me in the slightest and just made the entire “point” of the novel feel all the more confusing. My reaction can definitely be seen as a kind of positive (a book that can inspire emotion is usually a good thing!) but overall the ending dampened my reading experience.
Recommended if you like: literary romance; political novels; Jordan Peele
CW: Racism/misogyny/misogynoir; death of parent; grief
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Physical abuse
saibhandari's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
- Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC -
This book wasn't great - the two main characters, Jess and Josh, weren't particularly interesting and I couldn't tell you much about any of the supporting characters. I didn't really believe that they had chemistry, as most of their dialogue seemed to be insulting each other with zingy (but ultimately empty) comebacks. Rather than being an "enemies to lovers" novel, it felt more like a "people who have very little in common and don't even have a passion in the form of hatred to lovers who also don't really seem to like each other" and that just didn't make sense. I do wonder if, not being from the US, I missed some of the cultural context that would have made this book more interesting to me.
The second half of the book was a little bit more interesting (hence 2 stars rather than 1), as it explored the dynamic between Jess and Josh a bit more in terms of their differences and how their relationship is affected by said differences. I know this book has gotten a lot of flack from people on TikTok and I reckon a big part of this is because the blurb reads like a classic, cute, light-hearted romance novel, when that couldn't be further from the truth. Still, that doesn't make the book good, it's just not the weird, racist novel that people are portraying it as.
This book wasn't great - the two main characters, Jess and Josh, weren't particularly interesting and I couldn't tell you much about any of the supporting characters. I didn't really believe that they had chemistry, as most of their dialogue seemed to be insulting each other with zingy (but ultimately empty) comebacks. Rather than being an "enemies to lovers" novel, it felt more like a "people who have very little in common and don't even have a passion in the form of hatred to lovers who also don't really seem to like each other" and that just didn't make sense. I do wonder if, not being from the US, I missed some of the cultural context that would have made this book more interesting to me.
The second half of the book was a little bit more interesting (hence 2 stars rather than 1), as it explored the dynamic between Jess and Josh a bit more in terms of their differences and how their relationship is affected by said differences. I know this book has gotten a lot of flack from people on TikTok and I reckon a big part of this is because the blurb reads like a classic, cute, light-hearted romance novel, when that couldn't be further from the truth. Still, that doesn't make the book good, it's just not the weird, racist novel that people are portraying it as.
All in all, I wouldn't recommend this to my friends.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism
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