A review by reba_reads_books
Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen

1.0

I read this for hours last night, getting half way through the book...thinking, why am I bored? Why am I angry? Why don't I care about any of these characters? I put the book down when the MC (I can't even remember her name) goes against Jacob's wishes and submits his creative content without his consent because she wants free cat litter. Nope. Not a joke. That's a major plot point. I immediately thought, "Oh, this is going to blow up because Jacob was probably the drunk driver, and that will come out when he wins the contest. So she'll have yet another character to apologize to." Reading these reviews, I was half right. The part I got wrong was the MC's reaction to Jacob...unforgiving and cold. Why does she think she has that right? I get it, get some boundaries. Stop neurotically scooping cat litter, thinking that's gonna make your parents happy. But jfc...some humility and compassion wouldn't hurt. For a better review, here. It said everything I don't want to repeat.