Kait
I thought this was a really fun story.
I'm not someone who generally reads contemporary romance, so I was kind of surprised how Goldbeck made me feel entertained and just invested enough to really enjoy myself.
I am not from New York, but I am from New Jersey pretty close to New York. I think this made it fun enough for all the references to the very New York places and mannerisms without picking them apart too closely, kind of like Manhattan is my weird cousin I only talk to on birthdays and holidays. This made it very fun for me, I love sort of knowing the in-jokes and I never get that when a story is set in LA.
I think Ari and Josh were great main characters for this type of story. They're both messy and very imperfect, but I think extremely well-adjusted people don't end up in a friend with benefits type situation.
Sometimes I find that too much texting feels choppy and breaks up the pacing of the book, but I liked that Goldbeck also included group texts. There was a scene where Josh was texting Ari while they were in the same subway car and I thought that was pretty well done.
I think, while I didn't like any of the characters, they all existed in the world believably and I was satisfied with their journeys. I think Josh and Ari confronted most of their hangups by the end and grew without completely giving up their identities as characters. The romance between Ari and Josh was mostly just okay, but I did like their banter. Goldberg was really good at putting them in funny or awkward situations that made me root for them to get out on the other side of it together.
The one thing I really disliked as it went on was Ari's fear of committing to Josh because she worried it would ruin their friendship. Their friendship was already irreversible damaged by their mutual crush before they even slept together, and I would've preferred for Ari to handle that a little more before actually doing it with him. Also, it felt to me like Josh kind of pestered her into sleeping with him. It seemed like she felt very pressured, both the first time and the morning after, into having sex with him. I didn't love that. The narration and the characters’ dialogue and thoughts made this better, but it still wasn't great.
Also, Goldbeck did this weird thing where she kept switching POVs without making it clear. One second we're seeing Ari’s thoughts, then we're getting a lot of information about why Josh did something, now we're back with Ari. This didn't annoy me as much as it has in the past with other books, but it still wasn't great writing.
Overall I liked this, I don't think it was anything astounding but I had fun reading it. It felt somehow comforting and familiar and it was a nice, easy, and silly read that didn't veer into too silly territory. The fact that this is Goldberg's debut book is impressive.
I thought this was a really fun story.
I'm not someone who generally reads contemporary romance, so I was kind of surprised how Goldbeck made me feel entertained and just invested enough to really enjoy myself.
I am not from New York, but I am from New Jersey pretty close to New York. I think this made it fun enough for all the references to the very New York places and mannerisms without picking them apart too closely, kind of like Manhattan is my weird cousin I only talk to on birthdays and holidays. This made it very fun for me, I love sort of knowing the in-jokes and I never get that when a story is set in LA.
I think Ari and Josh were great main characters for this type of story. They're both messy and very imperfect, but I think extremely well-adjusted people don't end up in a friend with benefits type situation.
Sometimes I find that too much texting feels choppy and breaks up the pacing of the book, but I liked that Goldbeck also included group texts. There was a scene where Josh was texting Ari while they were in the same subway car and I thought that was pretty well done.
I think, while I didn't like any of the characters, they all existed in the world believably and I was satisfied with their journeys. I think Josh and Ari confronted most of their hangups by the end and grew without completely giving up their identities as characters. The romance between Ari and Josh was mostly just okay, but I did like their banter. Goldberg was really good at putting them in funny or awkward situations that made me root for them to get out on the other side of it together.
The one thing I really disliked as it went on was Ari's fear of committing to Josh because she worried it would ruin their friendship. Their friendship was already irreversible damaged by their mutual crush before they even slept together, and I would've preferred for Ari to handle that a little more before actually doing it with him. Also, it felt to me like Josh kind of pestered her into sleeping with him. It seemed like she felt very pressured, both the first time and the morning after, into having sex with him. I didn't love that. The narration and the characters’ dialogue and thoughts made this better, but it still wasn't great.
Also, Goldbeck did this weird thing where she kept switching POVs without making it clear. One second we're seeing Ari’s thoughts, then we're getting a lot of information about why Josh did something, now we're back with Ari. This didn't annoy me as much as it has in the past with other books, but it still wasn't great writing.
Overall I liked this, I don't think it was anything astounding but I had fun reading it. It felt somehow comforting and familiar and it was a nice, easy, and silly read that didn't veer into too silly territory. The fact that this is Goldberg's debut book is impressive.