I received an ARC of Never Kiss Your Roommate by Philline Harms thanks to the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review:
Never Kiss Your Roommate is about a group of teens who live in at a boarding school for various reasons. The story POV alternates between two main characters, Seth and Evelyn. Both are fun characters, although Evelyn feels a bit forgettable. She doesn't have something that makes her 'unique'. Coming out is major, but (I hate saying this but) when every other character is out, her struggle feels less genuine. I know it totally is and her history explains her reasoning but I just wanted something else to define her. Yes, she is likable and I enjoyed her interactions with others, but... I don't know... I prefer the other characters.

I did really enjoy watching the relationships develop, both friendships and romance. The writing was fantastic and all of the LGBTQ+ rep is amazing. I like the 'unknown' antagonist of The Watcher and how that unfolded. However, I wish there was more. I guess most of my complaints come down to wanting more depth, even if it resulted in a longer book.

There was no doubt that I was going to finish, even if it was only to see more of Jasper and Elle and watching the romance build.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. It reminds me of She Drives Me Crazy, which might be part of why this review is hard to write (I sound like I'm repeating myself a bit). However, if you enjoyed She Drives Me Crazy, I highly recommend Never Kiss Your Roommate but put a few weeks between them.

The second I finished reading NEVER KISS YOUR ROOMMATE, I came here and left a fairly positive review. I tend to do that—let the high of finishing a book cloud my critical judgment of the actual content. I should’ve waited. I couldn’t stop thinking of all the problematic aspects of this book as I went about my day. Ultimately, I decided I couldn’t leave my 3 star review with such glaring issues staring me in the face.

I was apprehensive going into this book, as I haven’t quite enjoyed any of the releases coming from Wattpad Books. Still, I was willing to give this enemies-to-lovers boarding school slash Gossip Girl-style book a try simply for the wlw and mlm relationships.

Boy, was I wrong.

The fact that the one (1) single Black character, Noelle, who doubles as the innocent and perfect (white) Evelyn’s love interest/roommate, was repeatedly referred to as intimidating, rude, standoffish, and a “slut” (yes, we’re really calling girls sluts in the year 2021 as if we haven’t learned any better)—it was all off-putting. There was one other Black woman in the story, but the headmistress played such a minor role that it doesn’t even matter. Pair all of that with the complete and utter lack of any other non-white characters (and the weird, caricaturized portrayals of French and Italian people), and it’s pretty clear that not a single sensitivity reader laid eyes on this book.

Beyond the harmful racial stereotypes, the genre was pretty confusing (romance meets mystery meets thriller), the pacing was all over the place, the school gossip blog didn’t make much sense in the way it was used, and I’m still not sure why or how the title was chosen.

There are too many beautiful, actually diverse sapphic books already out there or soon to be published to be settling like this.

This book is riddled with racial strerotyping and constantly perpetuates harmful representation of Black women. The Black girl in this story goes to an all white school (like, literally no other diversity in this cast) and is type casted as the bully. She's aggressive, violent, rude, father-less, over sexualized, and a smoker. Then the white girl comes along to save the day by "fixing" her personality. Absolutely not recommending this to anybody, I can't believe this book wasn't put through sensitivity readers. It's 2021, the publishing and writing industry needs to do better than putting out garbage like this.

Never Kiss Your Roommate is a very over-the-top story with lots of queer rep and great characters!

I really enjoyed the relationships in this book! There is both an f/f and an m/m relationship that I enjoyed reading about, but while I did have fun following these characters, I am definitely more of a plot-driven kinda person, and due to this book having a very messy plot, this story didn't fully work for me. I'll definitely read more by this author, and overall this was a pretty fun book!

This book was incredible! The characters, the angst, the romance, the plot. It was EVERYTHING! Plus, add that element of a "gossip girl" character, and it's nearly perfect! I absolutely adored this book. My only issue was that it had this one plotline towards the end that was a bit unbelievable, but other than that, absolutely amazing!

I absolutely loved this book! For the fans of Her Royal Highness, this book also takes place in a boarding school and has lesbian, pansexual, and bisexual representation. I loved how the author embraces the variety of sexualities people can have and weaves it through so naturally. I loved the discussions of topics like consent and how it destigmatized being in the closet. I would read up on the trigger warnings as the book discusses some heavier topics. Other than that though, I can't wait for everyone else to read it and fall in love with it as much as I did. It helped fill the queer void left by certain other boarding school series. A perfect read to kickstart the summer. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Never Kiss Your Roommate is the perfect comfort read. With loveable characters, the sweetest romances and writing easy to sink into, it’s a wonderful story to get lost in. Harms’ talent shines through her characters whose distinct voices and personalities make you feel like you’re talking to a friend and whose relationships you can’t help but root for. Never Kiss Your Roommate is corny and full of clichés in the best way possible and an absolute joy to read.

This is not a book to pick up for the plot which was admittedly a bit over the top and all over the place at times but the strength of the characters rendered that inconsequential. These characters and their relationships were impossible not to root for and empathise with, even coupled by the overdramatics. They just had some quality that I can’t quite put my finger on that makes them feel alive and tangible and I fell for them early on. The relationships, both romantic and platonic were so believable and had such great chemistry that I was immediately invested and ate up every little interaction.

And that’s not to say the plot was terrible – I really enjoyed it, particularly relating to the romances. I did feel that the Chitter Chatter blog could have played a more significant role as it didn’t really come into play until later on and never seemed to be the Big Bad it was suggested to be. The plot acted mainly as a vehicle for character and relationship development and did so effectively while remaining entertaining and easy to follow, if a touch predictable and over the top. What I did find was particularly well done was the look at sexuality, particularly for Evelyn, our main character. She arrives at Seven Hills terrified of being out and struggling to accept herself following previous negative experiences and watching as she slowly learned to accept herself and grow confident in her identity was just incredible. This is such an authentic, relatable experience and I think it’s going to mean the world to some readers – I know it would have for me had I picked this book up a year ago.

If you, too, were active on Wattpad a few years ago (and maybe even now?) you will recognise many aspects and tropes this book employs, from secret pasts, teaching your crush how to punch (who actually tucks their thumb in??) and an unbelievably dramatic climax scene. I personally found this return to a structure I was so familiar with really comforting and fun to read and I imagine many others will feel the same, whether they’re familiar with the structure or not. However, I know that this book will divide readers, as some find it all too much and unrealistic and must admit that there were points where I felt this too.

Never Kiss Your Roommate is at once nostalgic and refreshing, taking a well loved structure and filling it with queer characters and a touching look at sexuality, coming out and self acceptance. I mean this in the best possible way when I say that this book reads like fanfiction – lovingly crafted characters and expert trope usage written with reader satisfaction and joy as the main goal. This book isn’t going to be for everyone but if you, too, are a lover of clichés and slightly ridiculous romances then I think you’ll adore Never Kiss Your Roommate.

Never Kiss Your Roommate by Philline Harms, was exactly as I imagined it to be. It was a Sapphic/Queer Gossip Girl Mash-Up (and I was here for it).

First things first, the characters were well fleshed out for the most part, I enjoyed the sincerity of Evelyn, the growth that we witnessed from snarky and entitled to warm in Noelle, and Seth by far had the best sense of humour, Jasper was less visible in the text, and not as well-developed among the others, but overall the characters are deserving of much praise.

As for plot, I feel like that's where the book struggled. Part of me wonders if it is due to the author's age, that the book became more character-centric versus plot. Since that is how we see our lives when we are younger (don't get me wrong, characters matter) but I found that plot truly suffered here. The conflict initiated by The Watcher, wasn't as intimidating, or haunting, as I anticipated its presence to be (i.e. Gossip Girl). The majority of the conflict didn't appear until toward the end of the novel, and by then we had mostly been witness to the day-to-day lives of the characters, who they are and what they want. This would have been fine, had I not been expecting more based on the blurb and reviews.

Third, as a Queer woman, Queer reader, and #OWN Voices writer, parts of the story felt like being Queer in the novel only existed, so that the book could simultaneously benefit from a queer character's pain.

Lastly, the book was good. Did it overwhelm me and blow my mind? No. But I can see why others read it and enjoyed it, I can see where a younger audience might benefit from a book like this. I worry some about the larger and darker themes that you aren't quite prepared for, but the book can hold its own. despite that fact. I think the author is still young yet, and we'll likely see her writing grow with her.

This book was cute and it was good but it wasn't fantastic or anything. I really liked the characters and it definitely has some really great things going for it.
First off this book is very much character driven and not really plot driven which is you are into that then this is for you. It also definitely feels like a fanfiction which again isn't a bad thing at all. I have read plenty of absolutely outstanding fanfics. This is just very much written in that style so future readers should be aware of that.
The only thing about this is that its just not all that original. It is definitely a plot and story I have seen and read before but that didn't make it bad that is just why I only gave it three stars.
I say if you enjoy this sort of cute romance or boarding scheme style stories then you will definitely like this. Also the author is only 19 and she did a really good job. Just be aware this book does have some triggers so please go check out warring first!

Thank you to wattpad books and netgalley for this e-arc!

Overall I really enjoyed the book. I thought the relationships and friendships we saw evolve throughout the story were very sweet! I actually loved Seth and Evelyns friendship so much, but I didn’t enjoy reading Seth’s perspective as much as I did Evelyns.

The writing was fine and easy to read but nothing special in my opinion. Sometimes I found it a bit cliche, which I felt like didn’t work that well for the story or the characters. I wish it was a bit more nuanced.

I loved the romance, and that’s partly why I kept reading. But when I saw the mystery genre come into play almost at the end of the book, it felt a bit rushed and unnecessary. Although it wasn’t a surprise, since there were so many Easter eggs throughout the story.

Overall I enjoyed it and it was exactly what I needed to get out of my reading slump

I wanted to like this book but could not get over the racist character depictions and confused attempts at three different genres.

To start off with our main characters: Evelyn is the true main character and Seth is our forgotten secondary main character that doesn't get nearly as much focus or development as Evelyn, making his story and perspective feel last minute and useless.

This book only has white people with the exception of basketball-playing, cigarette-smoking, overly aggressive, rude, oversexualized, violent, rowdy black girl and love interest to Evelyn, Noelle. The headmaster who we see in a few paragraphs is also black and then that's it. The scary black girl and the pure, innocent, bookish white girl fall in love and it made me very angry and uncomfortable from start to finish.

The author could've taken a moment to acknowledge how the student body's perception of Noelle was influenced by racism in how she seems to be the one non-white student in the entire school but no- it was just a vague exaggerated misunderstanding rooted in Noelle's constant "bad girl" behavior. Noelle's blackness in the context of oppression and being a minority is brought up a whole two times in throwaway lines that lead to zero conversation about it.

This book also tried to be a rom-com, a mystery (a mystery that was easy to solve within the first couple of chapters, by the way), and a thriller and none of it blended naturally.

The depictions of French and Italian people also felt very cartoonish.

Overall, I'm left very confused as to what I was supposed to take away from this story.

3.5/5 stars

This book was good- kind of. I really enjoy the beginning (like first 50% of it), but from there it went downhill. And honestly, I thought this was going to be a five star read, but unfortunately, it was not.

First of all, this book tried to be too many things. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a rom-com or thriller. I really, really would've liked this more if it just stuck with the rom-com genre. And of course, cross-genre/multi-genre books can be good- but only if they're done well. This one definitely needed work.

Second, you could tell this book used to be a wattpad book. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just something to note. Especially with the characters, who all felt kind of one dimensional.

Another thing that really bothered me at one point was that around the 76% mark, one character just acted out of character. It was as if they had switched personalities. Several other characters had little to no character development.

In terms of the good, I thought the romance(s) were very sweet, and the boarding school setting was super cool. I liked the pacing, too.

Overall, I think this book had a lot of potential, and that's what really bothers me. I adored a large part of the book, but the mystery part was just unnecessary and felt out of place. I would recommend this, but just note that towards the end things start going downhill.

*I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

I received a copy of this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I am going to give this book 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed it, especially the four main characters' developments. I guessed pretty early who the mastermind behind the Chitter Chatter was (also, the Gossip Girl vibes were real!), so it wasn't a surprise when we found out the culprit. All in all, pretty cute and sweet YA book.

I really wanted to like this book. I really did. But unfortunately, this book was not for me.

I did not enjoy the writing style at all. I tend not to enjoy books written in the first person, but if its well done i can get past it. This wasn't the case. Not only that, but the writing in general felt off. It made it really difficult for me to enjoy some of the nicer parts of the book. I will say that I enjoyed most of the dialogue and that there were a couple lines that were actually quite funny.

As a french speaker, the use of french in this book was just so wrong. The name Jasper? Not at all french. And the way he uses the word mignon bothered me so much. It made no sense. I tend to have this issue with a lot of books so I've gotten used to just ignoring it, but it was used so much throughout the book.

Another issue I had with the book was the pacing. At times it felt like the book was going very quickly and other times very slowly. It felt as though the book should've been set during a longer period of time, not just a few months. On top of that, most of the action takes place in the last 25% of the book and didn't make much sense. It lacked in development and should've been spread out more throughout the book. The mystery was very predictable and yet it only really became relevant to the plot about half way through.

The characters were my favourite part of the book, which isn't saying a lot. I'm a big fan of character driven stories, so I enjoyed that, but I felt like the characters were lacking. They felt very 2-D and underdeveloped. I feel as though there was so much background information missing about these characters. We got to know a bit about the characters, but for a character driven book, I feel as though there should've been so much more to these characters, and I think that these characters needed more time to be properly fleshed out throughout the story.

Overall, not the book for me but I think that some people may enjoy it.

📖Review: Never Kiss Your Roommate📖
By: Philline Harms
Genre: YA Romance
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
Provided by: Netgalley and WattPad Books

[TW: abusive relationship, (cyber)bullying, homophobia, kidnapping, forced outing, sexual assault, violence (including stabbing and blood), stalking, panic attack, claustrophobia, gaslighting]

🟢 What I liked:
↪️ Cute idea: the storyline idea of the book sounds really cute, but below the surface there are a number of important discussions about abusive relationships, sexual assault, outing and homophobia which was written very well
↪️ Representation: the main rep was obviously LGTBQ+ rep as it is a lesbian romance (OwnVoices), POC rep (not OwnVoices), dyslexic characters (CHECK)
↪️ Consent: the main characters value consent so much, even with physical touching or kissing, and the way that this was depicted was extremely important to see in a YA book
↪️ Easy to read: overall the book flowed well, making it a quick and simple read (quite easy to binge)

🔴 What I didn’t like:
↪️ Perfect characters: I really struggle to connect with characters when they are always described as super ‘pretty’, etc because that’s extremely unrealistic and 2D ... for example, there was a list with the ‘hottest people’ and the four main characters are the top four on the list. They also managed to become friends instantly (or very quickly), which I’ve always found unrelatable (but I am the most introverted introvert)
↪️ Seth’s POV: Seth, one of the main characters, has a couple of chapters from his POV, which I always found to be added in as an afterthought, mainly due to the fact that the ratio between his POV chapters and Evelyn’s were quite disproportionate and did not help build his character more, especially as the book focuses on Evelyn and Noelle (the book title and cover is dedicated to them)
↪️ Fanfic writing: the style did certainly feel quite fanfic-y (and was published by WattPad), with HP vibes through the boarding school, Great Hall and common rooms, and Gossip Girl vibes because of the anonymous Chitter Chat blog, revealing the latest scandals, gossip and secrets
↪️ Plot: especially towards the end, the plot was all over the place which was quite confusing; the book turned from a light romance to an intense mystery/suspense novel which didn’t overly contribute to the original storyline, mainly due to the unrealistic nature of the event

🟡 I recommend for:
↪️ Contemporary romance fans: I’ve heard that if you enjoyed Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins, you’d like this

If I had to sum this book up in a sentence, I would say this book is all the mcs being queer meets gossip girl meets pretty little liars meets being set in a UK boarding school. Sounds really good, right!! And I can say that this book mostly lived up to my expectations.

Before we go on, here are a list of tw (a short list was included at the beginning of the book which I really liked):
homophobia (off page)
outing
sex (fade to black)
bullying (cyber bullying)
assult
sexual assult
kidnapping

Ok, on to the review:

I think that the characters and relationships were hands down the best and strongest part of this book. Switching back and forth between Evelyn and Seth povs, you really get to know both characters and their love interests. I think both romances were done really well. Jasper was by far my favorite character :) his french accent lmao. Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate that all the mcs are queer. I don't think there is a single person who gets more than two pages of "screentime" that isn't queer which I absolutely love. I know that the bar is on the floor with me even saying this, but there was verbal consent literally every time anything physical happened and most of the time when anyone touched anyone else which I really appriciated. If I was just rating based on characters and relationships, this would be a solid four maybe five-star read. However, a book is more than that.

In terms of the plot, I was a little disappointed. I felt that the ending was rushed and slightly unnecessary. I don't want to spoil anything but around 80% through the book it just goes 0-100 real fast and then at about 95%, it goes back like nothing really happened?? You do learn some essential backstory about a character in this part and it wasn't at all hard to read, on the contrary, it was exciting and kept me gripped but it was very jarring compared to the pace and tone of the rest of the novel. The plot of the romance in the beginning of the book was good and I don't really have any complaints. There was a slight lull around 60% through once the characters get together, but nothing so major as to make me want to stop reading.

Overall, I'm going to give this a 3.5/5 but round up with my staring cause I did like the romance and I definitely would recommend this to anyone looking for a relatively quick, fun, queer read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

I absolutely loved this novel, so much so I finished in in just two days. The characters felt three dimensional and the author provided insight into their backstories that made me care for them and understand them deeply. The LGBTQ rep was phenomenal. Having all four main characters (Evelyn, Elle, Jasper and Seth) be either but sexual, pansexual or gay was refreshing and their backstories were rewarding. I expected a coming of age—and this book definitely has this—but there were so many layers (especially the third act that felt like a crazy turn of events!) My only want I longed for was more chapters from Seth’s POV! Can’t wait to read more from this author— I highly recommend this for those who like a little bit of everything with their YA fiction.

Thanks NetGalley for this book!

So I'm goin to try and go easy on this book a little because I know its the authors first book and I think she has a lot of potential. I'm a sucker for enemies to lovers and I think the plot was trope-heavy but somehow still pretty unique.

This book is a mix of rom-com enemies to lovers and mystery/thriller that didn't really work for me? I think there were three main problems with the book

1. I think that the main plot didn't start until so far into the book it took me by surprise. I think if the whole book was the dark-thriller bit it would have been good, or if it leaned heavy into the rom-com and just stuck to that it would have been good as well. But it tried to straddle the two genres (which can be done) and it did so poorly. It didn't have to get dark.

2. The POVs were so unbalanced. only about 25% of the book was told from Seth's POV. It makes you wonder how important it was and why it was included? Could things not be managed from a single POV? Either they needed to be more balanced or the story should have been cut. The narrators themselves were also super stiff. Some of the dialogue was a bit stilted (and very fan-fictiony) and the characters came to very well-crafter self-aware assessments of themselves way too easily. I think, especially because they're high schoolers, it could have felt more real if things were a little messier. More show, less tell.

3. The last thing I'll talk about is the Chitter Chatter plot line. It felt like it should have been either a bigger part or a way smaller part. Also I'm a little miffed at the resolution to it. <spoiler> literally what school would ever leave it up to 4 teenagers to decide whether a student can stay at the school?</spoiler>

I picked up this book for three reasons: it’s set in an English boarding school (attending one was my childhood dream), someone said that it was the book for people who feel let down by a certain author of a book about a wizard boy in a magic school, and because I did in fact kiss my roommate. Oh, and it’s super queer. After reading it: it’s got magic castle vibes without the magic, but it makes up for that with wonderful friendships and a great enemies to lovers romance.
When Eve and Seth meet on their train ride to boarding school they become fast friends, bonding over their love of the same Agatha Christie novel. They help each other navigate starting a new school senior year, difficult roommates, and their queer crushes. There’s an air of mystery but the mystery itself is mostly dormant until the last quarter or so of the book.
I was curious about the choice to follow both Eve and Seth’s perspective but focus much more on Eve, both in number of chapters from her point of view and marketing (even the cover leads you to believe it’s only a wlw romance). Later on, I found out this book was originally published on Wattpad and can see how this uneven structure came about—and I’m not saying I don’t like it, just that it’s an interesting narrative choice. I very much enjoyed reading this novel! It reminded me a bit of Sources Say by Lori Goldstein and Carry on by Rainbow Rowell.
I was provided with a digital copy of this novel in exchange for my unbiased review.

📚 Rep: #wlw #queer #bi #lesbian #mlm
⚠️ TW: alcohol use, kidnapping, homophobia; mentions bullying, sexual assault, dating abuse

3.5/5 stars

Evelyn is new to Seven Hills, having switched schools when she was outed and bullied at her old school. Seth is also new, shoved into boarding school by his parents who are going through a messy divorce. Together, they struggle to fit in at their new school. Evelyn’s roommate, Noelle, is super mean at the start but Evelyn is immediately attracted to her, slowly crushing on her as she gets to know her. Seth hates his roommate, who is super messy and inconsiderate, so he spends a lot of time outside his room. Through working on the school play, he gets to know Jasper, whom he had admired from afar. Slowly, both couples, Evelyn and Noelle, and Seth and Jasper, become closer. Unfortunately, the school gossip blog is determined to separate them for reasons unknown. Who is running this blog? Why are they so determined to paint Noelle in a negative light? What is up with Evelyn rising through the ranks of attractiveness so quickly? And what is Noelle hiding? Why is she so standoffish and secretive about certain aspects of her past? With a lot of fluffy, cute moments, there are also moments of uncertainty and anxiety as regards what it means to be yourself and be out and proud about it. What it means to really embrace being vulnerable to another person.

The chapters switch between Evelyn’s and Seth’s points of view. They meet while reading Agatha Christie on the train to Seven Hills, bonding over their mutual love of reading. Seth is more interested in the murdery mystery and crime solving aspects while Evelyn loves to lose herself in fiction as a retreat from the real world. Still, they are both in the same position of being new students at Seven Hills and form a fast friendship. They are both so uncertain in matters of love, both going into their first relationships. Seth, with his constantly fighting divorcing parents, doesn’t really believe in love but he’s willing to try, with Jasper. Evelyn is something of a romantic, believing in love and being all too willing to fall for Noelle. Their relationships are very mature, with each participant behaving rationally and expressing their feelings in a very real way, instead of just stomping about and trying to act all misunderstood when arguments are had.

The story is set at Seven Hills, a boarding school in a castle, very much giving me Harry Potter vibes. I honestly expected something magical to happen and was relieved to see that while the castle and its surroundings were hyped up in the beginning to set the scene, they quickly fell into the background.

The writing is well done, describing Evelyn’s motivations and thoughts regarding her crush on Noelle. It’s all very sweet and fluffy, with a good amount of school anxiety and stressful situations thrown in to tone down the fluff. I do think it’s odd that Evelyn and Seth fall for Noelle and Jasper, who are also best friends. It felt very much like a hot people club, where all the hot people get together and date each other, except a lot less heteronormative than a lot of other books usually spin it. Also, the title is something of a misnomer. It seems that kissing your roommate works out pretty well, so why is there a warning against it in the title?

I was very curious about the mystery surrounding Noelle and her behavior and presence at the school. She seemed to get in trouble a lot, but she wasn’t kicked out or expelled for her rule breaking behavior. And who ran the school gossip blog? Just the little mysteries kept me going, though to be honest I was there for the relationship fluff. There is a lot of emphasis placed on normalizing queer relationships and on asking for consent for even the most basic of touches. It is very respectful and mature.

This book is very cute and fun, the relationship stuff being dealt with maturely, for the most part. There is a little bit of freaking out and overreacting, but for the most part, the relationship drama is pretty low key. About two thirds of the book is very lighthearted and romantic, the last third delving into solving the heavy mysteries. It seemed a little unbalanced and disconnected in retrospect, and a bit rushed and overdramatic at the end because of this. Evelyn is also disproportionally represented, with more chapters from her point of view than from Seth’s. While I know Evelyn is the main character, it seems odd to tell the story from Seth’s point of view but not to give his story just as much weight. He has a lot going on in his life and his struggles seem cheapened because they weren’t given enough attention.

With the gossip blog, I get some serious Gossip Girl vibes, as well as some similarities with Private by Kate Brian. The emphasis on queer relationships and consent is much appreciated and is a good lesson. This book would be good for younger teens but would probably fall flat with older readers or people who read a lot. It also takes a turn for the last third that might be off putting for readers expecting an entirely light hearted relationship focused book.