A review by karlayrt
The Day We Met by Roxie Cooper
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I don't know what to think or say about this book. It wasn't what I expected.
I loved Stephanie and Jamie but sometimes I hated them; well, that's not really fair, I didn't really hated them, I just got mad at them for their decisions.
I really liked Steph's therapy sessions with Jane and how they talked about her life, their relationship therapist-patient was really nice and I think it was well written, how she sometimes cried, but not always, she spent time not going, then came back, Jane rarely told her what was going on and mostly listened and made questions leading her to figure out what she needed to figure out. How she explained the reasons her relationships were how they were, and why she chose as she did; also, Jane's calmness was on point, and really professional.
At times the interactions were a little weird and unnatural, specially in the first interaction between Jamie and Helen, but for most of the book, it was fine.
I don't know what to make of Jamie and Helen's relationship, I believe that Jamie did loved her, but not how he made it sound all the time, and for about half the story it wasn't love, it just wasn't, maybe it was the remnants of his younger self's love for her but not his current one, perhaps it was the comfort of years being together, the feeling of owing loyalty to her for their marriage, for Seb, wanting to give him a family, the guilt of having cheated on her emotionally and sexually, I don't know what he really felt for her or his reason for staying so long, there are to many options and I really wished that the author would have gone deeper into the character, from his childhood traumas to the complexity of his character, we had it with Steph and I think that this helped a lot so that in difficult moments I would be inclined to support and defend her instead of him, despite the fact that they are both protagonists of the story, we don't get a chance to actually know him outside of his love for Steph, and the troubles that love causes in his and his family's life, and feelings, like what about his mother, how is his relationship with her? how does he feel about his dad? on what level has it affected him? even his feeling about Helen and their marriage were surface level.
In conclusion, it was good, it could have been better.
I loved Stephanie and Jamie but sometimes I hated them; well, that's not really fair, I didn't really hated them, I just got mad at them for their decisions.
I really liked Steph's therapy sessions with Jane and how they talked about her life, their relationship therapist-patient was really nice and I think it was well written, how she sometimes cried, but not always, she spent time not going, then came back, Jane rarely told her what was going on and mostly listened and made questions leading her to figure out what she needed to figure out. How she explained the reasons her relationships were how they were, and why she chose as she did; also, Jane's calmness was on point, and really professional.
At times the interactions were a little weird and unnatural, specially in the first interaction between Jamie and Helen, but for most of the book, it was fine.
I don't know what to make of Jamie and Helen's relationship, I believe that Jamie did loved her, but not how he made it sound all the time, and for about half the story it wasn't love, it just wasn't, maybe it was the remnants of his younger self's love for her but not his current one, perhaps it was the comfort of years being together, the feeling of owing loyalty to her for their marriage, for Seb, wanting to give him a family, the guilt of having cheated on her emotionally and sexually, I don't know what he really felt for her or his reason for staying so long, there are to many options and I really wished that the author would have gone deeper into the character, from his childhood traumas to the complexity of his character, we had it with Steph and I think that this helped a lot so that in difficult moments I would be inclined to support and defend her instead of him, despite the fact that they are both protagonists of the story, we don't get a chance to actually know him outside of his love for Steph, and the troubles that love causes in his and his family's life, and feelings, like what about his mother, how is his relationship with her? how does he feel about his dad? on what level has it affected him? even his feeling about Helen and their marriage were surface level.
In conclusion, it was good, it could have been better.