A review by readwithcindy
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
5.0
Book Lovers does a lot of things right with subverting Hallmark movies with a cold girlboss protagonist who, instead of changing her ways or mentality, is still appreciated for who she is and what she values, especially by the love interest. I like that being career-oriented, valuing independence, living in the city, and being childless are qualities that aren’t villainized nor expected to change in order to have a happy ending. The banter is fun, and I can see how the MC and love interest pair really well together. What gave the book more depth, though, was its focus on the MC’s own issues and relationship with her sister. This helped round the story to be both a combination of romance and interpersonal/family struggles.
Perhaps I just have low standards when it comes to 3rd act conflicts in romance books, but I was impressed with how the author tackled this one. Rather than relying on misunderstandings, the conflicts presented felt more realistic and honest. I was even more surprised that there were not one, but multiple realistic conflicts that made it difficult for the MC to have her happy ending - and I appreciated that, because that's how life actually works. “There’s no happy ending for a woman who wants it all.”
Sometimes it gets little info-dumpy for the sake of characterization and relationship building, and one could argue that the love interest isn’t fully developed, but I’m OK with letting these things slide. Book Lovers has much more positive things going on than negative, so I’m totally fine with rounding it up to 5 stars.
Perhaps I just have low standards when it comes to 3rd act conflicts in romance books, but I was impressed with how the author tackled this one. Rather than relying on misunderstandings, the conflicts presented felt more realistic and honest. I was even more surprised that there were not one, but multiple realistic conflicts that made it difficult for the MC to have her happy ending - and I appreciated that, because that's how life actually works. “There’s no happy ending for a woman who wants it all.”
Sometimes it gets little info-dumpy for the sake of characterization and relationship building, and one could argue that the love interest isn’t fully developed, but I’m OK with letting these things slide. Book Lovers has much more positive things going on than negative, so I’m totally fine with rounding it up to 5 stars.