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A review by jkreads
From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
3.0
After reading a grim YA novel I chose a romance next for something more lighthearted & enjoyable. It was lighthearted for the most part, but I can’t say I really enjoyed it. As a general rule, I don’t enjoy first-person writing in fiction. I have to REALLY like a character to be stuck in their head for an entire book, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case here. It is written from the perspective of Jasmine, who has a prickly personality which isn’t bad but I felt like there was so much made of it throughout the book & by a certain point it felt redundant.
She’s also an over thinker & given that you’re stuck in her head for the entirety of the book, it was almost unbearable to read at times. There were multiple times she would be having a conversation with another character & there would be an entire page with no dialogue between them, just Jasmine’s thoughts about the interaction. When I’m reading a first-person POV I much prefer for it to be a bit more dialogue-heavy so that I can see the relationship unfolding almost as a third-person observer, rather than solely through the MC’s eyes.
I’ve seen this book recommended by so many people as a slow burn, enemies to lovers romance which I should have loved because those are some of my favourite tropes. It was certainly a slow burn, in that the first half of the book played into the “they’re just being mean because they like you” mentality, and the second half was the MMC putting out the most blatantly obvious signs that he was in love with the FMC but her being either unwilling or unable to notice. So many references to ‘a funny feeling’ in the FMC’s stomach when the MMC said or did something nice or thoughtful for her. I know it’s a slow burn but by the end I was practically screaming at my book “you are in love with him!”. People who are ‘just friends’ don’t squeeze your thigh under the dinner table! People who are ‘just friends’ don’t KISS YOU ON THE LIPS! Girl, come on. Overall this was quick & easy read but not one I’d go back and re-read.
She’s also an over thinker & given that you’re stuck in her head for the entirety of the book, it was almost unbearable to read at times. There were multiple times she would be having a conversation with another character & there would be an entire page with no dialogue between them, just Jasmine’s thoughts about the interaction. When I’m reading a first-person POV I much prefer for it to be a bit more dialogue-heavy so that I can see the relationship unfolding almost as a third-person observer, rather than solely through the MC’s eyes.
I’ve seen this book recommended by so many people as a slow burn, enemies to lovers romance which I should have loved because those are some of my favourite tropes. It was certainly a slow burn, in that the first half of the book played into the “they’re just being mean because they like you” mentality, and the second half was the MMC putting out the most blatantly obvious signs that he was in love with the FMC but her being either unwilling or unable to notice. So many references to ‘a funny feeling’ in the FMC’s stomach when the MMC said or did something nice or thoughtful for her. I know it’s a slow burn but by the end I was practically screaming at my book “you are in love with him!”. People who are ‘just friends’ don’t squeeze your thigh under the dinner table! People who are ‘just friends’ don’t KISS YOU ON THE LIPS! Girl, come on. Overall this was quick & easy read but not one I’d go back and re-read.