DNF @ 51%

I just couldn’t. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. The cover and synopsis had me excited to read this. I’ve been getting into chick fic more lately. The beginning started off pretty strong but further along I found myself just not caring. I didn’t like any of the characters and it felt repetitive. I couldn’t bring myself to pick it up anymore. Perhaps I will try again some day, but for now it’s an unfortunate no go.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this ARC.

I really wanted to get into this but I just couldn’t. Idk if it was writing characters plot or what. Just not a fan sadly.

The Sweetest Revenge | Lizzy Dent
train wreck + cinnamon roll + the summer that launched THE career

Amy Duffy is not just one bad day in July. She is not a hashtag. She is not a trending topic. And Amy will keep telling herself that until she can actually believe it! After a big career setback followed by relational revenge that hurt her a lot more than it nailed him, Amy Duffy, up and comer in the television development world, finds herself hiding in London as a promo producer. Whispers of a merger and a new internal development team start circling. Two years after the humiliation of her life, she finds the tiniest speck of hope that things might turn out all right. Jake Jones, hot off his own moment of public humiliation, moves into the flat below Amy and she soon discovers that he is much more than a pretty face. Their connection and careers snowball into a stranger-than-fiction turn of events that is just as likely to end in chaos as a happily ever after…

The pining and chemistry between Amy and Jake is *chef's kiss* and while it’s a fade-to-black sort of literary situation, I’m not mad about it. This is the first Lizzy Dent novel for me, and it carried all of the Emily Henry vibes that I love: sharp and realistic characters, prime banter and electricity, as well as the descriptive setting that makes everything sparkly and magical. Despite the magic, (because there is no cinnamon roll hero without a little sugar) there is plenty of grit to balance out the sugar coating. I appreciated that they had both faced humiliation on a massive scale and the realistic approach to recognizing when to be disciplined enough to put a distraction on hold.

I would have liked a little more time in the last quarter of the book, but I always want more of the magic of everything (and everyone) falling into place. I would have loved to know more about the dreamy stories that Jake crafted and the realization of the connection that they put on hold for so long.

London + EmHen vibes + brilliant characters + sleeping (and bathtubs) under the stars earn The Sweetest Revenge 5/5stars from me

Hits the shelves 24 July 2023.
Massive thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC for review!

Jake and Amy both have history they would like to keep in the past, but thanks to technology, viral moments aren’t easy to erase. After becoming neighbors and bonding over a shared love for TV, they begin to collaborate on a writing project. However, their shared work soon morphs into a friendship and chance at a clean slate.

This book was good, but bit slow and didn’t have a wow-factor.

Lizzy Dent is one of my favorite authors as she is a pro at writing messy female characters that are slightly aggravating because they are so all over the place. But she also makes them substantially in their stories and gives them a good redemption arch.. I loved the setting of London and the television production industry, but I found the whole viral video storyline a little gross and immature. It was a bizarre story but I did love the chemistry between the two main characters and the '"revenge" at the end! I do think that this is unfortunately my least favorite of Dent's books.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

While I did enjoy the book at parts I really struggled to connect to it and get swept up in it. As I was reading I felt something was missing and couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

This was just middling for me. I thought Amy totally blew her embarrassment out of proportion and it seems unrealistic that she wouldn't see her family for two years over what happened. I also feel like the title of the book, the tagline, and the cover really don't match well with the plot of the story! I did like the characters of Amy and Jake though.

Excuse me, your honor, I’m in love with this book!

Lizzy Dent is 3 for 3 with yet another amazing read in The Sweetest Revenge. Amy, the feisty spitfire heroine is relatable and the story unfolds in a pace that feels believable, especially the slow burn romance!

Umm…I am ready to take a bullet for Jake! He is a delightful cinnamon roll darling and we must protect him at all costs. I loved the slow roll of their relationship. The happy moments felt earned and satisfying.

I can’t wait for Dent’s next project! She always comes up with interesting premises that make me wonder what it would be like to live that life and the style of her writing allows for that experience

4.5 stars
this was the perfect blend of character development, unique main character, funny best friend, and slow burn romance. I really really loved it 🤧 Jake was an absolute darling character and every interaction between them was so cute.

I loved the friendship between Amy and Jake at first and then the slow burn romance that they tried to ignore but just couldn’t hehe. I also liked how the book was REALISTICALLY focused on their careers and family drama. i TOTALLY recommend this one! it felt so real but still with that cheesy rom-com aspect 🙂

This was a cute story, and the characters were witty and funny. Perfect for a vacation beach read!

Thank you Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC!

This book was sweet for sure. In fact, it might have been one of the sweetest I've read in awhile. There was something magical about this story. From the first chapter I was hooked. Amy is a spitfire character who I can find a lot of myself in and for most of the book she had me laughing out loud. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed it so much was because I could see myself making the same decisions she made. Although the story is very easy to predict, there wasn't a moment that I found myself wishing something else had happened or that it'd all taken a different turn.

From the beginning, I enjoyed the humor of the story. It was what kept me gripped, if I'm being honest. A lot of times you get a romance novel labeled as a rom-com but it's very light on the comedy. This one? It's wonderful. It's also incredibly sweet and those sweet moments land even better after the comedy has distracted you for a moment. I found that the main love interest was also just as enjoyable as our lead heroine. Jake was the sweet guy we all want to have living next door. I enjoyed that he was in a similar situation as Amy when she first moved to London because it brought this level of connection between them that I firmly believed in. I also just really enjoyed that not all of the characters were out to get Amy. She was a normal human who was well respected and liked by her colleagues but also she wasn't on some very high pedestal which you sometimes see with characters like her. Her interactions and relationships felt so genuine and realistic.

The romance itself was perfect in my eyes. It gave me all the butterflies I could have ever asked for. I liked that both of them grew confident and brave because of one another and I actually didn't mind that they waited so long to really act on their feelings. I think it was important to both of their character arcs. I also just really really really rooted for them to be together and I'm so happy with how the story ended up. This was such a sweet romance novel that I can't wait to reread.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I was attracted to the cover and also the synposis. But wow 😲 the language is absolutely disgusting. You know when you are just a few pages in and they have dropped the F bomb about 20 times it is just going to get worse. I absolutely could not stand the main character. I feel like this was just written by a teenage tomboy with no feminine manners. I feel like these female authors thinks it is funny for women to be unladylike and vulgar.

It was a DNF for me. So disappointing.

This book started out really good, really caught your attention. Then it got really slow and i just couldn't finish it. I tried skimming some thinking maybe I could get back into it but I just couldn't do it.

This is such a cute read! First and foremost, the banter is top-notch. It's missing in most books, but not this one. Second, the relationships and people were realistic - the supportive best friend, the nagging mom, the supportive dad, the hurt-but-forgiving cousin. Even the MMC's mom and best friend are flawed people, but it's embraced and it's real. I love that Amy owned in the end what happened. It made me love her even more. And Jake was the consummate MMC. Finally, my favorite part about this book is the development of the MC's relationship through creating a TV show. It's unique and made me so much more invested in the book. We actually get to go through the creative process with them & I'm honestly left wanting to know what happens on the show!

I felt like it was a little light on background with Amy and Chris. He needed to wrong her in more ways than just not approving her TV show before the break-up, but we didn't get to see that. I also wanted more bonding between Amy and Jake. Their relationship developed really quickly over very little and felt a little insta-love-ish, which I'm not a huge fan of.

Overall, great read. Perfect summer read that I'll be recommending to friends. Can't wait to read more from Lizzy Dent in the future! Big thank you to Netgalley, Putnam, and Lizzy Dent for providing a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Sweetest Revenge by Lizzy Dent is a delightful romantic comedy that will have readers laughing out loud and rooting for the relatable protagonist, Amy Duffy. This book is a perfect blend of humor, romance, and self-discovery that keeps the reader engaged from the first page to the last.

Amy's character is charming, quirky, and flawed, making her feel like a real person rather than a fictional character. Her journey towards self-acceptance and redemption is heartwarming and relatable, and her interactions with the other characters are both hilarious and endearing.

The author's writing style is engaging and witty, and the pacing of the story is just right, keeping the reader hooked and invested in the outcome. The romantic subplot between Amy and Jake is sweet and swoon-worthy, and the tension between Amy and her ex adds an extra layer of drama and humor to the story.

Overall, The Sweetest Revenge is a charming and entertaining read that will leave readers with a smile on their face. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good romantic comedy with relatable characters and a satisfying ending. It's a definite five-star read!

Witty and charming, just like I've come to expect from Lizzy Dent. A perfect romance for the summer.

I did have to dnf. I could not get past her peeing on the car. I ended up skimming through the rest. The writing is relaxing and the story has promise just not for me. I will be recommending this to specific customers and for all readers who like a wild and strong reacting main character

The Sweetest Revenge crossed the line of tastefulness for me. It's really hard to support a main character that pees on the roof her once beloved's car. I know it was meant to be funny and absurd, but it was received as taking pity of the stability of the main character.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

Rounding up but probably a solid 2.5 stars imo. I ended up walking away w the thought of wanting more. More romance, more explanation on why/what Chris did (it felt a little convoluted). But I do think the banter was strong and I liked the message of this ultimate embarrassment not letting you get back out there and control the narrative. It was solid read but didn’t over the top shine for me.

What if we were only known by what we were on "the worst day of our lives"? How would we feel if our actions were the "sum of all of our parts"?! How would you go on? How would you EVER show your face again? Would we run, hide...enter witness protection?! Is Amy Duffy the sum of the parts of her WORST DAY EVER? Will she ever redeem herself? "The Sweetest Revenge" follows Amy Duffy, a TV executive, as she tries to make her comeback. From NYC to London, the cast of characters are fun, quirky, and conniving (you know who you are, Chris!). This is a quick, easy read. Perfect for a sunny beach day!