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A review by readingwithtrey
Lease on Love by Falon Ballard
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is one of those books that I had to sit and think about after finishing. I’m still not quite sure about my feelings on it, but I know overall, it wasn’t for me.
Sadie was not a lovable character at all. She was a lot. In the beginning of the book, she was so much of a brat that I seriously thought I’d have to call it quits on this. One thing that was really off putting for me was that her and her 2 girl friends used a certain word as a term of endearment excessively. This along with the overuse of modern cliche phrases, really made me second guess continueing to read. But when Sadie accidentally responds to a roommate listing (thinking she’s on a dating app), I thought the story would get better. It was a unique plot line with a lot of potential.
I didn’t buy the relationship between Jack and Sadie. Jack’s character completely fell flat. He really lacked a personality so we didn’t get to really know him. Due to this, it seemed to come out of left field when the relationship started to turn romantic.
The were a couple of nods to diversity in this book. When I came across the first one I thought “wow, unexpected diversity. Go author.” But then it’s literally just like 2 sentences. It really read as though the author was just checking off representation boxes without going deeper than surface level.
I went back and forth between giving it 2 or 3 stars because I know that some of the things that bothered me may not bother others & I try to keep that in mind when rating books. I settled on 3 stars because I did want to know how it ended; but honestly, I probably wouldn’t recommend it🥴.
Sadie was not a lovable character at all. She was a lot. In the beginning of the book, she was so much of a brat that I seriously thought I’d have to call it quits on this. One thing that was really off putting for me was that her and her 2 girl friends used a certain word as a term of endearment excessively. This along with the overuse of modern cliche phrases, really made me second guess continueing to read. But when Sadie accidentally responds to a roommate listing (thinking she’s on a dating app), I thought the story would get better. It was a unique plot line with a lot of potential.
I didn’t buy the relationship between Jack and Sadie. Jack’s character completely fell flat. He really lacked a personality so we didn’t get to really know him. Due to this, it seemed to come out of left field when the relationship started to turn romantic.
The were a couple of nods to diversity in this book. When I came across the first one I thought “wow, unexpected diversity. Go author.” But then it’s literally just like 2 sentences. It really read as though the author was just checking off representation boxes without going deeper than surface level.
I went back and forth between giving it 2 or 3 stars because I know that some of the things that bothered me may not bother others & I try to keep that in mind when rating books. I settled on 3 stars because I did want to know how it ended; but honestly, I probably wouldn’t recommend it🥴.
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Car accident, and Death of parent