A review by carlyjoann
By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

3.0

I was so excited for this one after reading a few of the other Meant to Be books, plus Beauty and the Beast is my favorite movie. But this just fell flat for me unfortunately. Out of the three I have read in the series this felt the least like a modern take on the story and more like a pre-written book with BatB references shoehorned in.
The FMC constantly storming out after yelling at the MMC was very annoying after the first time. She was always defensive and angry when he didn’t have all the context for her life and then if it was the same situation with the MMC getting upset at all she would lash out all over again. Then the MMC always had to apologize first. When they finally admitted their feelings it was 0 to 100. Everything became about them as a couple and the storyline felt like it got thrown to the wayside until the end. The notebook parts at the end were way too long. I didn’t need to read every single entry to know what it was getting to.
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