All Your Perfects

This book is sad, it's probably the saddest thing I've read since Zlata's Diary. Heart-breaking page-turner is an apt description; I didn't put it down until I was done. That said, if I am honest with myself, I wish I could unread it. That's not to say that this book is bad, there are strong characters and a gripping premise, it's well written, sweet, and profound, but it's also a devastating exploration of subjects I prefer not to grapple with (namely infertility).

I'm not sure if I have this right since I am essentially a virgin to contemporary romance novels but it seems to me that the genre is split down the middle. There's spicy romance replete with extended and explicit sex scenes, then there's whatever this book was. Let's call this other half sad romance, where the sex is beside the point, and it seems like the author is doing their best to make you cry. I am sure some readers really appreciate emotional catharsis, and I'm guessing that those people are die-hard Colleen Hoover fans. Call me out of touch with my feelings, but I don't really enjoy books whose main purpose is to make me sad regardless of quality. It seemed to me to be sadness for sadness' sake, I read depressing and bleak stuff all the time but I guess it hits differently when it's grounded in reality like this book is (as opposed to more cosmic/general sadness, or the horrors of a bleak future, etc.).

Let's talk tropes. It seems to me that when it comes to Romance novels the quality of the writing isn't the main appeal, there's a baseline for quality obviously, but what separates these books from their peers is largely a question of which tropes and themes the author chooses to incorporate. This applies generally, across most genres, but when it comes to Romance the tropes are the MOST important indicator of whether or not a reader will like the book. If I had to tag this novel I would probably say that this is a “love-conquers-all” story with a little bit of “second chance at love” mixed in there. There is also an undercurrent of “fated lovers” going on here which is a trope that personally hate because of how it undercuts the believability of the story. Thankfully it's only mentioned a few times and is never a viewpoint that the narration adopts.

I read this book because of Fourth Wing. It was mentioned in a discussion that there was a correlation between people who thought that book was average and the male audience. The implication is that boys + romance is the reason it was mid and not a reflection of the quality of the book. I chose this Romance novel from the Best of booktok list at random and gave it a read. I can safely say that I didn't have an issue with the quality of the book at all, this is head and shoulders above 4W in almost every way. The characters are real, the premise is grounded, the prose is consistent and unambiguous, and most importantly the whole scenario is generally believable. The difference between this book and 4W is stark, where this romance is carefully crafted and well thought out, 4W was lazy, horny, and all too fond of taking shortcuts.

This is a sad romance. If you like sad romance you're probably the reason Colleen Hoover keeps making the best-seller list and you don't need me to plug this. If you're in the mood for a good cry, or the idea of a grounded romance about two people working their way through something awful sounds amazing to you, give this a read. Points for quality, but I didn't really enjoy it.

PS: This book is set in new england, the MC is the estranged daughter of an irascible and wealthy mother who really only cares about wealth and standing. If this is ringing any bells it's because this is the setup to Gilmore Girls. The MC is Loreli, Graham is Luke, and her mother is Emily.