A review by analenegrace
The Rom-Com Agenda by Jayne Denker

emotional hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I went into this book hoping I'd enjoy it quite a book, but during the middle, I actively turned to my roommate and said, "this book is terrible," something I don't often say. While by the end, it got better, I still did not enjoy this book like I thought I would. The MCs were so mind-numbingly stupid at times, and the side characters were so frustrating throughout the book, that it was hard to enjoy the actual romance. 

Also, there are multiple Harry Potter references that are not necessary for a book published in 2023, we all know JK Rowling is transphobic, antisemitic, and more, it's time to leave Harry Potter out of your pop culture references (especially when you write a Queer Character into your book.)

Leah's character was the most interesting throughout the book, much more than Eli, but even still, her plot as an aged-out foster child dealing with caregiver burnout
after having both her biological and foster moms die
felt so overshadowed by everyone else's "problems" that it wasn't until the literal last 25 pages that anyone cared about her issues beyond Eli, sometimes when he wasn't being dramatic. Leah dealing with caregiver burnout and dealing with it was quite good, and if the other plotlines hadn't been written as more important, it could have been really good. Leah being written as a complicated foster child who had a relationship with her bio mom and foster family is really important, and
showing her reconnecting with her bio mom before she died was a nice touch.


On Eli, who proposes after four months like that and then, when he's rejected, decides to win her back almost a year later?? It felt like a huge case of not respecting Victoria's boundaries constantly, between constantly texting, calling, and stalking her Instagram. Her character felt written so one-dimensionally that not another character could really say much good about her, not even Eli, who was supposedly in love with her. He seemed not to realize he loved Leah until
Victoria was no longer available at all, and that rubbed me the wrong way entirely.


As mentioned above, I found the side characters so frustrating. Their dedication to fully changing Eli was very annoying, and like, Jenna
throwing out his favorite hat from when he coached Little League
was so insane of her. Jenna was probably my least favorite character in the book, as everything she did was actively mean or demeaning to others. Her harassing some kids at the school where she worked was probably my last straw with her. Gray also made me actively upset as he was fully written as a bisexual stereotype of a slut who can't settle down even though he loves someone. It made me very uncomfortable the entire time, especially since we get hints of
his and Delia's past and present relationship while he literally disrespects her and sleeps with people she knows.
The other characters were not memorable enough to discuss. 

The ending with the Will was insane, and as someone who has worked in an estate planning law firm, I was personally very invested in that plotline and would have loved to see a resolution!
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