I found this one a hard read. Not only because of the subject matter but of the main character April's need for alter ego Gretel to work through her messed up views on relationships and what men want. While there is a lot of ugly truth in this story I just couldn't totally relate to her as much as I wanted to.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley for my honest review.

I was instantly drawn in to this hilarious, and totally relatable, story of one girls trials with Men and modern dating. I was laughing hysterically from the very first paragraph, and found myself sharing a few more chuckles throughout the story. I liked what Holly Bourne did with the premise, using it to shed light on how society has women thinking they need to act in today’s dating world. There were certain aspects of the story that, and maybe it hit a little too close to home, but I felt they were a little over done or too far fetched. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the catfishing aspect of April’s story, as that truly is an issue in current dating society, but that’s just me and my opinions. The ending was cute and wrapped it all up nicely.

Overall I rate this book a 3.5 stars, as I didn’t love it as a whole. I found the humor tasteful, and the heavy subjects well written, but it’s not a book I’ll find myself reading again. Mind you, please take my review and opinions with a grain of salt, as I know many people whom will thoroughly enjoy this story and whom I look forward to hearing thoughts from.

I can’t say enough amazing things about Pretending by Holly Bourne. It is raw and real and humorous and gut-wrenching and just absolutely incredible. Pretending is about April a thirty something single woman who works at a non-profit that deals with a lot of sexual assault. April herself has dealt with this and that is what drew her to the job a few years ago. Now, she is dating and can’t seem to get past five dates with a guy. She constantly compares herself to “Gretel” which is an imaginary dream girl, she is everything that a guy wants. April, being fed up with herself and the way she is decides that she is going to become Gretel so she can date and for once she can be the one with power instead of the man.

Be warned if sexual assault and trauma is a trigger for you this is not the book for you; however, this book is so beautiful in the way that Bourne deals with trauma and grief. The book is in first person perspective from April’s perspective and the writing style and voice that Bourne gives to April is so incredibly relatable. I had to put the book down after the first chapter just to scream, “YES!! YES!! This is what I am feeling.” Bourne puts into the words things that many women feel and don’t know how to voice. The self-doubt, the powerlessness, the anger, and feeling we are never enough. Bourne gets it all so right.

This book will make you laugh out loud and burst into tears. I have never felt so seen and so heard than when reading this novel. Every woman should read this, especially if/when you feel alone, and every man should read this to have a glimpse into the world that women live in everyday simply because we are women. This is a book I will never stop recommending.

*I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.*

In "Pretending", April, the main character, makes it clear that she hates men. She works at an organization that provides help to abusive relationships, and sometimes her job reminds her constantly of why she hates men. She also is single and looking for someone. But did I mention that she hates men? So the search gets really hard.
Overall, I would say that the book is interesting. At times her internal dialogue with herself gets long and tedious (I get it, she hates men), but the book itself is pretty interesting and there is a story about trusting people somewhere in there.

"Pretending" can't figure out what it wants to be, and ends up swinging wildly between a manifesto on sexism and the predictable beats of rom-com. It's unsatisfying as either one, adding thoughts about subtle gender discrimination, sexual pressure and straight-up assault in a fairly generic romance with a completely forgettable man as the heroine's goal. This has interesting moments but is neither a thoughtful look at sexual abuse or a fun love story.

I was expecting a run of the mill chick lit light read, but that's not what this book is. It's way better. April came across as so real and genuine and speaks for what so many women are feeling. And it got me re-watching Dawson's Creek.

TRIGGER WARNING: I am putting this up front and center because this book has a lot of trigger warnings for sexual assault. I loved this book, but it could very easily harm some.

April is your normal 30 year old girl. She has her baggage, but no more than anyone else. So why cant she get past date 5? April is tired of men and their games. It’s time to bring in Gretel. Gretel is the girl that always wins the game. Only problem is…she doesn’t exist. April however, pulls from her inner Gretel and starts dating anew. Only problem is she might be starting to have feelings for the guy she has spent the past dates lying to. How long will April be able to continue pretending?

Ok, so now that the warning is out of the way…this book was much heavier than I expected, but it was so damn good and so freaking accurate. I don’t know how Holly Bourne could bring herself to write about this issue without having faced a situation like this, or having a very close friend or family member that has. For that, I send you a huge virtual hug Holly. If you are someone that stands up against the “witch hunt” or continues to say they it wasn’t “that bad” you need to read this book. The struggles the main character faces about feeling unlovable, not good enough, and damaged are ones I think we have all faced at one time or another. This book dives into some seriously deep subjects in an amazing way.

This is a HEAVY book which covers heavy topics like trauma and assault. I just wish the depth of the characters had matched the depth of the story. They felt oddly immature. Also, we live in a world where women are hurt by men, sometimes often. But I'm not sure we needed quite thus many man-hating rants. Again, the length and quality of the rants came off as immature to me. This book just wasn't for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a pretty intense book. In April’s own words; she’s damaged. A violent assault in your past has a tendency to do that to you. Needless to say, she hates men, and when the latest in a long line of men lets her down, things start to fall apart. The anger April holds inside starts to bubble up and overflow into her life, work and friendships.

That’s when April invents Gretel. Gretel is confident and everything that men want in a woman. Gretel is the one in control and holds the power in the relationship. Sadly though, Gretel doesn’t exist and when a new relationship starts as revenge but becomes something more, April isn’t sure when the pretending is going to end.

My heart really went out to April. Pretending is a mix of anger, heartbreak, friendship and Dawson’s Creek. With likeable characters that make you really care what happens to them, you really root for April to finally be able to face her past and start to heal.

I’ve seen a few reviews call this a feminist masterpiece and I would certainly argue against that seeing as both April and her best friend Megan seem trapped in a world where women love Dawson’s Creek, Laura Ashley cushions and spend their time pining over men. However, that being said it doesn’t take away from the interesting gender power debate it raises and confronts the reader with all hidden with a girl meets boy storyline.

Yet another book this year that I have immensely enjoyed, and one that (just like “Want”) where I had to step back after reading and pause, because something the protagonist said or did was so uncannily like me I swear that I’m being observed by the author. ⁣
This book had me hooked from the very first sentence. Reading about some of the ways April was treated by men triggered my own memories of being in toxic relationships. Her dating woes & feelings about loneliness and desperation were also extremely close to my own experience, and it was refreshing to read about a character who shared how I felt. The more I read about the way April was treated, I deeply sympathized with her and her behavior. As a sexual assault survivor, our trauma & healing process manifests in different ways. It’s made evident how the author put such care and attention to those details of April’s life, and never made her come off as a caricature. ⁣
I felt that April was a fully developed character, and I appreciated how the other characters weren’t cliches at all. I loved April’s dynamic with her roommate Megan and her co workers. As I approached the end, I wasn’t quite sure how things were going to wrap up, but I’m more than pleased with the result. I can see how other authors might have tied up April’s life in a pretty bow and pulled a happy ending out of nowhere, and this one is much more realistic. This book wasn’t always easy to read, but it was still one of the best I’ve read this year. ⁣

I went back-and-forth with my opinions on this book. I really enjoyed parts of it, but I really loathed other parts. The man-hating rants, at times, were a bit long & I feel could have done with some editing. On the other hand, the topic is one that did need to be covered & I appreciate the rawness of the delivery.

That being said, I found this book rather difficult to get into. This was, quite simply, not a book I would read again.

Such a cute and fun read! Perfect distraction in life right now. Really enjoyable characters and story and hard to put down!

Pretending by Holly Bourne tells the story of 33 year-old April and her experience navigating the dating world as a thirty-something woman with past trauma. April keeps meeting men that seem like a perfect match only for everything to go south before the fifth date. She is convinced that she's the problem and makes a plan to completely change how she handles relationships, even choosing to call herself "Gretel" and adjusting her personality to fit what she believes is the archetype of the ideal girlfriend. What she didn't expect was to meet Joshua, a man who seems almost too good to be true. Will April stay in control or will her true feelings get the best of her?

Going into this book I was thinking it was going to be a light-hearted funny read. April's character had me laughing out loud and making me feel like I was on the phone with a long-time friend hearing her vent about her dating life. I was thoroughly entertained, and then things took a turn. A couple of chapters into this book you start to get more of an insight into April's past and what kind of trauma she has experienced. We get to see the side of April that's deeply affected by the actions of men in her past, and who, above anything else desires to feel safe again. This is what makes the book go from a light read to a thought-provoking story. However, there is a lightness to the way the author approaches tough topics which I found to be refreshing and a good way to not trigger readers.

Overall this book was easy to read and enjoyable. I didn't give it 4 stars because I do feel like the men hating rants could've been heavily edited since they didn't really add a ton of value to the core of the story.

Thank you Harlequin and Netgalley for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute story but I couldn't get over the fact that she had to pretend to be someone else in order to get attention. I know that's the title of the book, and I should've seen it coming, but still.

This was not the light hearted read that I expected from the description. The amount of trauma surrounding the main character was disheartening and there are some definite trigger warnings surrounding sexual assault, depression, and suicide that should be given.

I was expecting a really light and fluffy book and this was not that.

April has experience severe trauma which has molded her into the person she is today. She has no self-confidence whatsoever, especially when it comes to men. She decides to create a new persona “Gretel” which is basically the opposite of who she truly is. When “Gretel” meets Josh, things get complicated as she realizes she truly knows and likes him but he doesn’t know the real her.

Overall, I liked the idea of this book and there as some really positive character development. Pretending had a really relevant topic in today’s catfish crazy world. Josh and April definitely had good chemistry. I think my biggest issue was this book was just not what I was expecting or in the mood for including heavy topics like mental health and sexual assault. I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t gone in expecting a contemporary romance. That being said, Holly Bourne is a talented writer and I would read more from her in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Sexual Assault

Eh....I feel like the author is confused on what kind of writer she wants to be.

This book is 2 types of books in one - it's a feminist take on dating - sexual assault, self worth, imposter syndrome, etc are all discussed.

But then...it kind of reads very YA. There's no....bulk to the characters. No real...heft. It's thin white women. It's fatphobia. It's cliche after cliche.

Not for me. At all.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Real talk about how trauma can alter your very essence. The ending wasn't the most important piece of the story, and I honestly had no idea how it was going to wrap up but the author did a bang up job of keeping it real right through to the last page.

This was a very challenging book to read. April has a significant trauma in her past that has shaped who she is and her relationships with other people especially men. She thinks that she as April is unlikeable and unlovable so she invents a persona "Gretel" that she thinks men will actually like. Then she meet Josh who seems to be completely unlike any man she has ever met, and might actually like her as "April" but she is hiding April behind this persona of Gretel. The reason I say the book is challenging to read is because the description makes it sound like its a contemporary romance, when it is anything but that. There is a lot of repetitive, judging language of how terrible 'men' are and how they are all 'bad'. I had some difficulty getting through all of that repetition. I did like how April/Gretel was such a complex person and evolved over the course of the book. I enjoyed the scene where she stood up for herself and assault victims against Josh's buddy Neil. I also liked how Josh's character was handled. They did seem to have some chemistry when April/Gretel let her guard down. Probably would have given it a four if there had a been some substantial editing of the all the repetitive 'man' bashing.

i really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I really enjoyed the catfish plot.