A review by dlrosebyh
Final Offer by Lauren Asher

emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This book was definitely something, and not in the best way! Lauren Asher, this should have remained a manuscript. Normally, I don't want to post bad reviews, especially for books that are really appreciated, but who's going to stop me from doing this? No one! Personally, I believe that after Terms and Conditions' popularity, Lauren Asher became really pumped up, and she wanted to finish Cal's book as fast as possible to keep the anticipation alive.

I want to start by saying that this book was one of the ones I was most anticipated to read this year. And you know what it didn’t fail to do? Disappoint me— utterly AND completely.  Two of my very favorite tropes are the second chance romance and childhood friends to lovers. It ought to have been just up my alley, but it wasn't. As it was VERY WEIRD. Oh, and it gave me a VERY different image of Cal. Because Cal deserved to be in jail, which isn’t a surprised on why Favorite Crime was included in their playlist.

Why don't we discuss about the things I enjoyed before the icks? lana. I wish my girl hadn't taken Cal back; she loved him too much. I don't care if Cal knelt down and pleaded! She doesn't deserve him at all, thus I wish she wouldn't take him back. She deserves Cami alone, in fact. She would be a good single mom.  Did I actually like anything else in this book, except from that? not at all. I wished I knew more about the other characters since they all felt so hollow. It is odd given that this book has 600 pages. With such a big book, I ought to have gotten to know the characters extremely well.

First ick:  I've previously mentioned this, but AGE GAP! Listen, while I don't particularly enjoy the age gap trope, I don't mind it either. For instance, Terms and Conditions, which I really liked, featured an age gap trope. Although Final Offer wished it could, it wasn't like Terms & Conditions. The age difference was SOOO odd. Their age difference might have been reduced by Lauren Asher to a more normal two years, and nothing would have changed. Unfortunately, she didn't.

Second, I thought it was extremely... unusual how the addictions were written. Who in their right mind would link an alcoholic with a child? And I don't know, Cal just stopped drinking after they had sex? It isn't coherent. I wish Lauren Asher had looked into alcoholism more.

Thirdly, I thought Cal's ADHD was quite stereotypical because I have ADHD. I was surprised by how stereotypical it was considering Lauren Asher has previously written other neurodivergent characters and did such an excellent job with them—with those characters, it was so obvious that she actually did research on those—but with this one, she might have just clicked on the first three websites she could find and called it a day.

Fourthly, I prayed to the gods that Cal's personality wouldn't change because of Lauren Asher. And I prayed. Everyone adored him since he was the sole golden retriever among the three brothers. But God, he sure was tedious. He didn't have any humor in this book. Cal from The Fine Print and Terms and Conditions felt different from the Cal in Final Offer, despite the fact that he may have had some humorous lines. And it's not because we got to see his addiction; it's just because he was poorly written.

Last but not least, why is Alana's skin tone so light? This isn't exactly a critique of the book but more of the official art. She ought to have at least a tan. I would have thought she was a white woman if I hadn't known what her race was. Given that the official artwork for the last two books NAILED it, this is actually rather upsetting. I'm very let down by this book. I want the memory of it to dissolve.
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