Churie

This honestly disappointed me. It wanted to be like My Dark Vanessa, and touched on some of the same topics as Lolita, however I feel those 2 titles handled the material far better.

Although I really liked McCurdy's prose in her autobiography, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much here. The constant tangential observations often felt like filler. Many of the explicit scenes were pure shock content rather than progressing story or character. Themes such as self-image, toxic relationships, and shopping addiction were dealt with in a heavy-handed way - it was a repetitive cycle, all done very literally, and never really felt like it progressed. In fact, the ending seemed more like the natural end of infatuation, and driving off leaving unfinished business and loose ends really hammered in the fact that I don't feel Waldo actually developed much as a character at all through the story - only the relationship changed. If we want to continue the theme of Waldo making her mother's mistakes and the cycle of abuse, then judging by the ending, Waldo also seems doomed to fall into the same patterns rather than breaking the cycle, which made the whole book feel a bit unsatisfying.

Additionally the 'voice' of Waldo felt the same voice as in McCurdy's autobiography to me, which also detracted from the story she was trying to tell. Combined with some shared plot points such as Mormonism and single-parent families, I wish it read as more distinctly different.

Furthermore, as pointed out in another review on GR (that I think describes the issue far better), Mr. Korgy almost falls into being a tragic romantic at times in the story, which was absolutely not the intention (I can see he was meant to be more pathetic groomer). However that doesn't change the fact that I didn't completely like his portrayal, and once again I feel this was handled better in other works I've read before.

Overall I don't think this was bad per se, just I personally didn't like the prose or handling of the subject matter, and as a result after enjoying her previous autobiography so much it was a bit of a let-down.

> No, I will not be rereading (or re-listening)

> No, I would not recommend

I'd be lying if I said this didn't make me a little teary at the end, but to get there is a slog. The protagonists' voices aren't particularly distinct, the constant repetition of "you only live once" gets very tiresome, and the murder plotline is incredibly contrived. The compressed timeline also doesn't help matters as I was not super convinced by the central "romance" - it felt more like two individuals coincidentally chained together for the day rather than real chemistry. Honestly, I kind of preferred the side story chapters. Overall - just ok.

> No, I won't reread, and probably wouldn't recommend.

Rating this 2.5 stars makes me feel like a killjoy, however it went way too far into cosy escapism for me, and ended up falling completely flat. Though I actually liked the central couple, I was completely disinterested in the story by the end of the book.

For positives, the dual protagonists had distinct voices and good character arcs. There were enough challenges to their relationship that some stakes were introduced but nothing felt too heavy to handle. Overall the heart of the story is a feel-good romance that was a light read.

Unfortunately though, I had enough issues with this book to warrant a list:

• This is billed as enemies-to-lovers, however not only did they stop being enemies and turn to lovers less than a third of the way through the book, but it never really felt like enmity to me - just a bit of one-sided jealousy that was very quickly overcome. The main obstacles they face are not because they're 'enemies' but instead external societal/familial pressures that they rally against together. The enemies-to-lovers tagline feels a bit like false advertising to me, especially as someone who prefers a true slow burn romance.
• There are no real consequences. This was intended by the author, but felt very 'and then everyone clapped'. Even things that you would expect to have severe negative consequences with huge ramifications turned out completely fine, to a suspension-of-disbelief breaking level - in particular the confrontation with the Queen. And if nothing has any stakes, then nothing feels like it matters in the story, either.
• Many of the political statements have aged like milk. They were jarring enough that I paused my audiobook to text my friends a few times with direct, unfortunate quotations.
• Predictable plot twists. This, combined with the lack of real consequences for any of the twists, made the plot deflate for me towards the end, and I ended up just wanting it to wrap up since the tension was gone.
• Nitpick: British slang usage. Most of the instances of 'bloke' had me cringing a bit, and I recall it being used multiple times by supposedly very posh characters speaking with the Queen's English.
• Another nitpick: the audiobook narrator's British accent. The pronunciation of some words threw me off; mostly I would say the narration was fine, but it was just another thing about a book I already wasn't feeling fantastic about.

To conclude, I would recommend for someone looking for a cosy romance that's not too serious. Ultimately I think I went into this in the wrong frame of mind which really impacted my enjoyment of this, but it's not a bad read - just not really a standout for me.

> NO, I wouldn't re-read

> MIGHT recommend to someone looking for cosy romance

(note: it also reminded me of Hetalia USUK fanfic... IYKYK)

Another fantastic read from Patrick Radden Keefe. Though I'm not a huge fan of true crime, this felt thoroughly researched rather than sensationalised, setting the tales of billionaires and dirty money against a very intimate family portrait.

Despite still being very binge-able, I would say this is weaker than Say Nothing or Empire of Pain. Some of the threads felt like dead ends, lacking the payoff, and others were meandering too far from the central thread.

It's also written from Zac's parents' perspective which is fine but a little limiting, as none of their own actions get the same scrutiny as everyone else's.

• Might reread, perhaps as part of a big PRK reread
• Might recommend - though would recommend Say Nothing first

I'm typically hesitant to pick up a book billed as "funny", however this had some genuinely very witty and clever writing that made me physically laugh out loud. Many of the plot elements are absurd, yet they follow on from each other on a way that somehow makes sense, along with excellent foreshadowing that keeps building and building to make a really great lighthearted read.

> YES will likely reread at some point

> YES would recommend - can personally attest it was a great holiday read