A review by jkreads
The Love I Could Have Had by C.J. Connolly

emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

The premise of this book was so intriguing to me! I felt like the story had great potential, though I realise I should have tempered my expectations a little given that this is a New Adult romance. As a result, the plot centred around the romance (duh) and didn’t really unpack any of the other elements. I felt it didn’t really deliver on Liv having “a chance to do all the things she never did”, as she never really attempted to do things differently or alter her life course in any significant way.

The main thing I didn’t love about this book was that it switched between first-person POV (in Liv’s chapters) and third-person POV (in Jake’s chapters). This may have been a stylistic choice that was just lost on me, but it felt jarring every time it switched. I sort of thought it may have been leading up to an “and then I woke up” style ending where it turned out Liv had been thinking as Jake which would have explained the POV switch, but THANKFULLY it didn’t end that way, so idk what the POV switching was about 🤷🏻‍♀️