If I Never Met You

ok i deliberated on rating this 3.5 stars and rounding up to 4, but after reflecting, i think this is a 3-star read for me. it was fun, i just wished it had gone in different directions multiple times, and felt like it was FAR too slow and muddled in parts. overall enjoyable, but i wanted a little bit more, i guess.

listen. i LOVE a slow burn romance, every time. and i ADORE a fake dating trope, every time! this was partially those things, but while it slightly subverted the fake dating trope in a fun way, i felt like this was much more of a character study than an actual slow burn romance. a fuck ton of character development happens in this book, and it's slow with it. at times that made it feel to me like it was dragging. some of it was very good though, which is why it was still a 3 star read. it just didn't feel like it hit the mark at every point for me.

i also super hated the ex and felt like, while i understand why it took so long and so much of the book, that whole 2/3ish of the narrative felt sooo super loooong and sloooow, especially to me specifically who literally cannot relate to this 18 year relationship thing lmao (and it didn't feel like it read relatably either, i had a hard time understanding the mc's thoughts and actions at times). but mostly it just felt like so MUCH detail and so many i reflective points for the mc which made all of that feel super drawn out and overly lengthy.

on a positive note, there were a lot of fun and interesting dynamics in this book, between the super toxic workplace, and laurie and emily's friendship, and laurie's relationship with her parents, and the super fake 30-somethings clique, and definitely her friendship with jamie. they all felt super real as actual people, and i loved that. there was some good intersectionality and representation in here, and great humor too in the dialog, though it definitely wasn't a romcom. anyway i don't regret reading it but i think maybe my expectations were a little too high.