A review by shelvedthoughts
A Very Terrible Text by Elana Johnson, Elana Johnson

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

4.5

 

Reader’s Notes:

– this is part of a series, but can be read as a stand-alone

– this is mainly told from Hillary & Liam’s points of view (there are two chapters from Claudia’s points of view)

– Hillary’s parents care most about their status in society and how Hillary can reflect/make their status better

– Liam’s father passed away (past event)

Review:

This story was more like a 4.5 star story for me, mainly because I couldn’t understand why Claudia’s first chapter was where it was in this story or why it was in this particular book when her story is next & it was already mentioned that someone was likely going to retire. It didn’t exactly detract from this story but it also didn’t add to it, just gives us insight to how Claudia’s story would feel like & what her circumstances are. (It did make me more interested in Claudia’s story though!)

As for Hillary & Liam, I loved getting to know them and see them push each other’s buttons. I loved that they started off a bit like enemies with their firm stances on when it was appropriate/a good idea to mow the lawn and that Hillary ended up having to make nice with Liam later on in order to inquire about him possibly helping fix up the Big House for them. I loved when Hillary actually fell for Liam and they had more dates with Hillary truly wanting to get to know Liam instead of being wary of him. I loved seeing Liam’s mom doting on him and her immediate acceptance of Hillary when the two finally met. I also really liked getting to know a bit more about Hillary’s housemates and how they pushed Hillary to give Liam a chance, knowing the man he was when not bugging Hillary.

Summary:

Hillary can’t stand her neighbor. Liam is completely inconsiderate when it comes to waiting until a decent hour to mow his lawn, especially on a day that Hillary can actually sleep in. Not only that, he continuously pushes every single one of her buttons whenever they happen to cross paths. But all of that changes when Hillary makes a mistake and sends Liam a message meant for her prospective date that she met on Cider Cove’s popular dating app… and he accepts her offer of a date within minutes of her having sent it. With having Liam slated to do handyman work on the house Hillary is staying in with her friends, and those same friends encouraging her to take a chance on Liam, Hillary isn’t about to cancel her accidental date set up. When Liam proves to be someone very different from who Hillary expected him to be, she finds herself falling for him. But can she truly be as loved as she feels when she has two failed engagements under her belt?

Liam finds his neighbor’s fiery attitude to be enticing and can’t help poking the bear to see her flare up. Though Hillary seems to want nothing to do with him, Liam can’t get enough of her and is eager for any sort of interaction. Even if it means accepting to work on the house next door that she’s staying in with her as the go-between when he’s already got full days of work ahead of him. He hopes that maybe he can ease Hillary into the idea of dating him & that he isn’t the person she has in her head over their conversations about the work on the house. And when she unexpectedly invites him on a date, he’s so ecstatic that all thoughts of playing it cool fly out the window. This is his chance, and he’s not about to let it get away from him…