99 Percent Mine

I have to be upfront with the fact that I am not one of those huge fans of The Hating Game and this might be an equally unpopular opinion. I really just wanted to give Sally Thorne's writing another chance, especially because this one has my favorite friends to lovers trope, and I was very excited to get approved for the ARC. Now, I'm just not sure what to make of my feelings.

First off, no one is an endearing character here. Darcy comes across as emotionally closed off, selfish, self-pitying, jealous while also being confident enough to stand up for herself and not take s*it from anybody. It was refreshing to see a character with a chronic heart problem, dealing with the affects and managing her life accordingly, but the problem is that she doesn't manage her health issues properly, is very neglectful to the point of being reckless with her life and I kept wishing that she wouldn't end up in a hospital. However, despite not liking her initially, I warmed up to her as the story progressed and I feel she grew as a person and also understood what she wanted from life.

Tom is Darcy and Jaime's best friend and he is quite a shy person despite his imposing figure. It is quite evident from the beginning that he loves Darcy and she him but each have their own insecurities preventing from fessing up their feelings. Tom is especially scared that once the renovation is done, she would leave again like usual. He is not exactly a pushover but he does tend to do everything the twins want, and tries too hard to live up to their expectations of perfection from him. He is too scared of losing them and ends up making mistakes in the process. I liked that he and Darcy were able to communicate more honestly in the latter half of the book but there was just something missing for me.

Jaime is a very disagreeable person and if not for the last 10% , I would have downright hated him. He comes across as rude and uncaring and completely  disrespectful of his sister - but the truth is we mostly know him through Darcy's perspective. So, his redemption towards the end felt too quick and unnatural to me. I actually enjoyed the other side characters more. Darcy's best friend Truly is a supportive one to have in her corner and I especially found the idea of her underwear business very amusing. The construction crew is also an interesting group of guys and I really enjoyed Darcy's fun banter with them. I just wish there was a little more story featuring any of them.

One thing I have to commend the author is her knack for writing an entertaining story - one you don't want to put down even if you are not completely invested in it. I also liked the character development arc that we got Darcy. But I guess it's time I admit that probably this writing style is not for me - it was too flowery and metaphorical for my tastes. There is also no actual “falling in love” that I could feel happening here. It was obvious that they were in love and just needed some courage to declare their feelings. But I never actually understood the why. There was never any reason for their intense feelings that I could fathom and that really disappointed me.

Finally, I just want to say that the book was an entertaining read but not really a memorable one. However, if you are a fan of the author, please take my review with a grain of salt and definitely give this one a chance.