I love Emily Henry which is why I requested the ARC but comparing this book to hers is just not it.

I tried so so hard to keep going but at 47% I had to give up and DNF.

The first chapter was nice to read and had a fun pep to it, but when they leave New York it just all goes downhill. This book is just not ready. And I know it says that this is an uncorrected version that can contain typos and stuff, but the typos are not the problem here (and there aren’t even that many).

The problem is that it is full of inconsistencies. I first assumed no one but the author had read it but I looked at the acknowledgement section and it is full of people who helped with the book and editors yet no one could point out any of the glaring issues?

Emily Henry has such a beautiful way of writing that inspires a certain feeling, but this book just feels dull. It is just action after action, no ambiance and little feeling, the characters are 2D and not fleshed out and there are so many that could be cut. Having the best friend Amy there feels redundant, she brings nothing to the story and seems very “how do you do fellow kids” about their friendship. Every five sentences she has to remind us that she is Kate’s best friend because apparently that’s her only personality and she just feels so out of place with all the other characters of this small town.

Kate as well gives me very immature vibes for a 24 year old. She literally runs away from any unpleasant situation instead of facing them and talking it out like an adult. The drawing out of her and Jason’s thing/fight by ignoring him even though she bumps into him every five minutes was getting really annoying. I’m guessing that a lot of the conflict is going to revolve around a big misunderstanding.

There’s also a weird sense of time (?) in this story, like time passes so quickly between two actions. And not in the sense of ‘I woke up, went to work and then came home’ that’s just fast story telling. This is more about actions that shouldn’t be as fast as they are. In the first chapter, she orders 4 complicated starbucks coffees and she barely has time to say one sentence that they’re already ready to be picked up. It’s jarring and happens a few more times as well like when she’s playing tag. I’ve noticed that a lot of the plot revolves around actions getting interrupted by other things.

The things I liked the most were the flashbacks to several years ago when kate’s 6, 9 11, 14 et. She somehow is more mature and likeable there than in the present. The things that happen in these snapshots actually feel relevant to the story and isn’t just filler. Also so far, Kate unfortunately feels like the bad guy in the broken relationship just because of how she is written and all that running away stuff. Even in the first chapter she goes on about how amazing her mother is, yet when her mother calls her about a family emergency she hangs up and repeatedly ignores her calls because it hurts her? Fine, you can hate your dad, but don’t ignore your mother who is in pain. That did not make her likeable.

The characters also seem out of character? There’s a huge cast with a variety of ages yet they all behave the same and speak in the same #girly way which is very off putting. The only interaction that felt natural was between Kate and Jack and that was barely five paragraphs. As for the inconsistencies, a major one was when she gets into bed to sleep, someone is throwing pebbles at the window, she gets up and climbs out the window while she’s wearing ripped jeans and a t-shirt. No issue there, she could have changed out of her sleepwear offpage, but no, it’s explicitly mentioned she thinks it stupid not to change because now she’s wearing inappropriate clothes for outdoor stuff. So she went to bed with jeans on?

I really don’t like giving bad ratings, so I’m going to give it a three even though I feel like I should rate it lower.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 ⭐️
The description seemed interesting, kinda drew me in, absolutely flew through the first 25% and I kinda had a suspicion of something but wasn’t exactly sure if I was right. Then it just felt like around the 30% mark I was like some of this is just not believable just not realistic in the slightest. I just didn’t understand how literally everyone in the entire town knew about something and it just stayed a secret???? The FMC’s mother and grandmother like knowing v well that the FMC’s believes something to be true but it’s not. That just didn’t sit well with me. Anyways the further I got into the book my suspicion was confirmed but it just angered me the entire town knew and she didn’t???
Despite all of that I did enjoy the book, it was a nice story. Kinda felt bad for the other love interest, he did seem like a really great guy!!
I also thought the FMC was a bit immature at times about situations.
Took a brief break after hitting 30% was thinking of DNF but stuck with it and ended up being a good story.
Could’ve been 5 ⭐️ without that whole big misunderstanding. But it also quite realistic as communication issues and miscommunications are big issues in relationships.


Thank you to NetGalley and Ashley Detweiler for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Really happy to have been chosen to review this book, this is the authors first book so I’ll be keeping an eye out for her future work!!

Thank you netgalley for this eARC!

Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it. I DNFed at 20%. The writing was great, but the storyline and the characters just felt underwhelming to me.