i recieved this book in my once upon a book club book box. i'm not going to lie, despite it being marketed as my favorite trope (eneimes-to-lovers), i was worried i wouldn't like this. the first contemporary romance i received from this subscription service was a solid two-star read----i am looking at you, By the Book (see review here!). i was worried that By the Book reflected on the taste of the curators.
i can’t properly explain to you how much i love everything about this book. in fact, as of right now, this is my favorite book of this year. rowan and neil were the cutest, most fun characters i’ve read in a long time. enemies to lovers is my favorite trope and they did it so well. their chemistry radiated off the page. even after they decided they liked each other, the wit and old-married-couple banter stayed. what is even better is the fact the characters were great on an individual level. the relationship between the two wasn’t forced. nothing seemed to be rushed, it all flowed naturally. as this novel takes place over twenty-four hours, i was worried it would be. especially because this book is marketed at hate-to-love. it's hard to create a solid romance in a day when characters have spent years hating each other, but rachel lynn solomon did it. she went there. this book covered many things and did each topic justice. between rowan’s closest friends being on rocky terms, antisemitism, religion, weed, empowerment, feminine sexuality, you name it!
as i’m not jewish, i can’t speak on how well these two characters represented the jewish community. for what it’s worth, my best friend is jewish, and i saw a lot of her and her family in these characters. the author, rachel lynn solomon, is jewish. in fact, all of her novels center around jewish characters.
speaking of representation, rowan’s two closest friends are LQBTQ+. kirby is a lesbian and mara is bisexual aND THEY’RE DATING!! this isn't a spoiler because you find this out within the first few pages----and thank god, because i loved them. i really enjoyed the plot, writing, and pacing of this—which i feel like go hand-in-hand for this novel. as stated previously, this takes place over a twenty-four hour period. by doing this, there is a chance that the pacing could be thrown off. however, it was perfect. the writing style combined with the pacing enabled me to fly through this. the writing style really fit both the plot and the characters. the plot was interesting yet realistic enough to the point where i could see this happening (to some extent, haha). i also enjoyed this because i saw myself in rowan. not just a bookworm who loves a good romance and wants to dismantle the patriarchy while fighting for what she wants. i saw traits of myself in her. i felt like i could be in her shoes and make the same choices she did. i think this is what helped me to fall head over heals with neil and this entire story.
yes, neil is my new book boyfriend. yes, he will be yours too.
⠀⠀✧ • ° . ◦ *⠀┊ five stars
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