Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The American Roommate Experiment: A Novel

While I liked this better than TSLD, I just...I don't know. There were no stakes, there was no real reason why they couldn't be together.
For a definite positive - I think Armas has a real skill for writing male love interests. Aaron was the best part of the first book and Lucas is adorable. However, the FL in TSLD is obnoxious and in this one she's just wishy washy nothing. Also Lina being back was, uh, not my favorite. It's a bummer.
I think I also struggle with the prose in these books. I'm not someone who needs the author to wax poetic, but a lot of Armas' writing is telling and not showing, which is not super fun to read.
I also have one really glaring issue with this book and that is the treatment of Rosie's younger brother, Olly. This is not a sex or sex-adjacent work positive book at all and I definitely understand that things can get dangerous but from the get go his work as a dancer was looked down upon and seen as bad. Also ALSO - the part where they almost fooled around in a BED in a STUDIO APARTMENT when her brother was ON THE COUCH?! Ew and none of that.
Also, there was a lot of bathroom located spice in this book - I mean it was just two scenes but that's still surprising. The scene at the party was odd because it being a public bathroom was not utilized in a way that made any of it sexy. The other bathroom scene was good, no complaints.
Last thing, but the epilogue was UNNECESSARY. If you've read my previous reviews you know I love an epilogue but NOTHING HAD CHANGED. I wanted to see how their lives had progressed and grown and we didn't really get that?! It could have been the next day for all I knew.
I dunno, I'm probably going to sit out the next book unless I'm convinced otherwise.

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kottengoesbork's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

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the_ninja_librarian's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

Considering I gave the Spanish Love Deception 1 star, this is a huge improvement. It's a 2.5, but still, a huge improvement.

The characters were more likeable than in SLD and had a bit more depth to them: more personality, hopes and dreams than just being obsessed with each other. I mean there was plenty of that too, but it was nice to have some personality independent of that. Armas explored injury and anxiety and the shame surrounding that a little bit which was interesting to read, within the context of a relationship, if a little superficial.

Things that improved it for me: Taco the dog - a dog will always make a book better for me. And it was a nice, easy read whilst stuck at home with Covid.

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bexaxo's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-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

4.75

Well Elena Armas has definitely redeemed herself with this book because I absolutely loved it 😍😍it made my poor little heart ache for love. She definitely knows how to write romance and cute romantic dates! I struggled with the Spanish Love Deception and was so nervous with trying this one, but I wholeheartedly enjoyed this book. It was a bit slow at the beginning but then through the middle is when I got the most enjoyment from. The only thing I noticed was some spelling errors that could’ve easily been spotted and at times they distracted me from the sentences.

My favourite date was when they were dancing to ‘Dancing Queen.’ It brought back memories when I used to listen to it on the TV, I really did love dancing to this song and even played it on YouTube while reading the scene. Another favourite was the restaurant as the candles were such a nice touch and they really had a fun cooking session XD.

I loved Rosie but she was a bit too oblivious to how Lucas felt about her. I know it’s not always easy to tell when someone has a crush on you. But I feel like at times it’s pretty obvious that the person is not just doing it to help you anymore and there’s something more💀like I bet
Lucas can sing to her a song, calling her a rose and “I love you” in several different languages and Rosie will still be like “he doesn’t see me the same way.”

Lucas was an absolute sweetheart🥰🥰loved him to bits, and I also loved seeing Aaron 🥰🥰but Lina just annoyed me to the core 💀💀I wanted to scream shut up at times to her 😭.

But I wished we could’ve explored more of Lucas’ traumas a bit. I think it being resolved in the last few pages wasn’t enough and there could’ve been more exploration on his nightmares and stuff. I also wished we could’ve gotten more of Olly and his situation, I was looking forward to that when it was first introduced😅.

But I’m really proud of Elena for only mentioning their eye colour at least 3 times in the whole novel, instead of 1738393773 times like her debut.

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rhigunn's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

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liltastypuff's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you liked Love Deception I think you will enjoy this as well. A fun, slow burn, faking dating romance. I keep seeing this rated as very spicy and while there is some spice, if you are specifically looking for a spicy read you maybe disappointed.
Rosie and Lucas are both loveable characters. I especially loved Rosie, not overly sweet or perfect, and 'flawed' just enough to be relatable without bring frustrating.

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bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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tayadam's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted sad medium-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

5.0

This book got me out of a four months long reading slump! I’m one of those obnoxious people who usually can’t stand the main girl but I LOVED Rosie (and I wasn’t even a fun of our previous sweetheart, Lina - despite adoring the book- so that means a lot). As someone who struggles with fear of failing my loved ones with what I want to do and be, I understood her struggles - I might not be brave as Rosie to publish my writing but I might be someday. And oh my god LUCAS; first of all, can we talk about the name? Because that’s a personal favorite of mine that I don’t see enough of. Second of all, I’m a sucker for the regular broody dark haired mysterious grump, but I never realized how much I love the golden retriever energy giving ball of sunshine of a man until now (perhaps that’s why I’m still single). Lastly, and I’m taking a more serious note here, I’m currently recovering from an injury that has knocked me out of the set course of my life and the mental struggle is sometimes so much worse than the physical one. The subject was portrayed so beautifully here through Lucas that it actually helped me push through. The past months in my life has been difficult and this book helped me in more ways than one. Thank you Elena.

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