Books to Borrow – Page 4 – Zakiya N. Jamal

Book Review: The Silence of Six

Posted on August 22, 2016August 22, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Borrow

Synopsis:

“WHAT IS THE SILENCE OF SIX, AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?”

These are the last words uttered by 17-year-old Max Stein’s best friend Evan just moments before he kills himself after hacking into the live-streaming presidential debate at their high school.

Haunted by the unforgettable image of Evan’s death, Max’s entire world is upended as he suddenly finds himself the target of a corporate-government witch hunt. Fearing for his life and fighting for his own innocence, Max goes on the run with no one to trust and too many unanswered questions.

Max must dust off his own hacking skills and maneuver through the dangerous labyrinth of underground hacktivist networks, ever-shifting alliances and virtual identities–all the while hoping to find the truth behind the “Silence of Six” before it’s too late.

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Review

*I received a free copy of this book from Adaptive Books. This did not influence my review of this book in anyway. This is an honest review of the novel as I saw it. This novel is now on sale.*

To be honest I don’t read a lot of sci-fi books but The Silence of Six sounded interesting to me and gave me Mr. Robot vibes. However, I think my lack of really any knowledge about hacking and only a basic understanding of computer programming made it difficult for me to get into this novel. There were a lot of things that the main character, Max, did that I didn’t understand and had to just take the book’s word for it, which made this book a little unbelievable to me. Again, I don’t really know a lot about hacking but it felt like at the start of this novel Max had a really hard time trying to decode the mystery his best friend, Evan left behind for him. However, towards the end of the novel it seemed like everything just resolved itself pretty easily.

Like I said I think a lot of this book went over my head so maybe I missed something but I expected something more climatic from the ending that I just didn’t get. Confusing plot points aside I really liked the characters, particularly DoubleThink. You’ll have to read the book to know more about their personality because I refuse to spoil it but I thought that character was really well done and surprised me. I also liked Max a lot. I didn’t swoon over him or anything but he didn’t bug me in any particular way either.

Overall, I feel indifferent about this novel. I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it either. I just thought it was fine. I probably won’t reread it but I will read the sequel because I’m curious. Hopefully the next book is a bit more exciting.

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Book Review: It Ends With Us

Posted on August 16, 2016August 13, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Borrow

Synopsis:

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

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Review

I wanted to love this novel. Everyone told me I would love this novel. I was sure I would love this novel. I did not love this novel. That being said I think Colleen Hoover handled the subject matter really well and I could tell this was a very personal novel for her. Still, this is my second least favorite book I’ve read by her, followed closely by November 9.

The truth is my issues with this novel really comes from the fact that there was too much of Ryle (who hated) and not enough of Atlas (who loved). However, I don’t think Hoover could’ve written this book any other way to get her point across so I feel bad faulting her for this but it’s truly how I feel. I wanted to see way more of Atlas than what was given and that drove me crazy. I was not satisfied at all with how this book ended and I desperately wanted more than what I was given. Moreover, I really liked Lily but I didn’t really love her or any of the other characters in this book. I can’t even remember the name of Ryle’s sister (I checked, it’s Allysa) and her husband (Marshall) right now because they left no impression on me.

I’m not sure what I was expecting going into this novel. I guess I was expecting to cry like so many people said they did and that didn’t happen until I finished the book and read the note from Colleen, where she talked about how her mom inspired this novel. That brought me to tears but this novel did not. Again, I really wanted to love this book but for me this is definitely not a book I’ll be reading again. If you disagree feel free to tell me in the comments. I’d love to discuss this one.

Also, please note if you plan on reading this book it deals heavily with physical abuse so if that’s triggering for you please read this book with caution.

Stars:

Favorite Line:

“In the future…if by some miracle you ever find yourself in the position to fall in love again…fall in love with me.”

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Book Review: How to Lose a Bachelor

Posted on August 4, 2016August 2, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Borrow

Synopsis:

Revenge has never been so fun…

Rochelle Ransom has big plans for winning the prize money on a dating show to help her favorite charity–and if she wins the hot bachelor’s heart, even better. But at the last minute she finds out the bachelor is her ex-boyfriend, Grant Drake.

Now she’s determined to get herself voted off as quickly as possible–even if she has to embarrass herself on national television. But Grant has a different plan for the woman who stole his heart.

Purchase From:

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Review

After finishing the Harry Potter series it was nice to read a quick and fun romance novel. How to Lose a Bachelor was cute, funny, and kind of cheesy but in the best way. Rochelle and Grant have amazing chemistry and the lengths they go to get “revenge” against each other are hilarious and outrageous. If they were my friends I would tell them to get it together because their relationship issues could’ve been easily solved.

Still, their antics and hijinks are what made this book fun to read. I also really like Maya, another contestant on the game show Rochelle participates in. Maya is sweet, a great listener, and honestly if I didn’t want Grant to end up with Rochelle I would’ve rooted for Maya to win the game. I would love to see a sequel/companion novel about Maya. I think that would be so fun.

Overall, I read this book in a day and I loved it. I didn’t think the epilogue was necessary but otherwise the book was really good. I’d definitely recommend if you’re looking for a quick, easy read. Still, I probably won’t be reading it again, which is why it’s a borrow for me.

Stars:

Favorite Line:

“I seem to have forgotten my name. Maybe we could both get in the shower and you could scream it for me.”

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ARC Book Review: You Know Me Well

Posted on June 7, 2016July 12, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in ARC Reviews, Book Reviews, Books to Borrow

Synopsis from Amazon:

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.

That is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.

When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other — and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

*I received a free digital advanced reader’s copy of this book from St. Martin’s Griffin via NetGalley. This did not influence my review of this book in anyway. This is an honest review of the novel as I saw it. This novel will be released on June 7, 2016.*

I wanted this book to be like Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares (which I loved) and not like Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List (which I didn’t finish). This book fell somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. I really liked Mark. I thought he was sweet, witty, and kind of dorky and I totally related to his relationship/friendship with Ryan. I also liked Kate. I understood her anxiety and her fear and I found that 100 percent relatable. I hated her friend, Lehna, though. She was so irritating and I kind of skimmed her dialogue and I agreed with Kate in that I didn’t understand why they were friends.

Truthfully my biggest issue with this book was how it was written. That’s not to say that the writing itself was bad. It wasn’t. It was really good actually and I feel like I learned a lot about the LGBTQ community and some of their struggles that I myself as a cisgender straight woman could never understand. What I didn’t like was that the chapters didn’t say if it was Matt or Katie’s point of view. For the most part they just switch back and forth except there are two chapters of Matt back to back at one point and that threw me off for a second before I caught on. I found that irritating and I just think it makes sense to identify the narrator when you have a book that alternates POV.

Also, based on the synopsis I was under the impression that this book would take place in the span of one night but it didn’t. It took place in the span of about a week, which is fine but it just threw me off. I also wish that we got to be a part of the fun party that Katie and Mark go to. We get details about all that really happened later but they just completely skipped it in the present, jumping to the next day, and that really bothered me. I wanted to know what happened. Like I said we get details later but I just didn’t see the point in skipping it and then coming back to it later.

Lastly, I had trouble believing Katie and Mark’s insta-friendship. I just didn’t buy it and it seemed kind of strange to me. Maybe this is just because I’ve never experienced this but they’re immediate friendship didn’t seem genuine or organic to me at all.

Honestly, I just didn’t love this book as much as I would’ve liked to. There were definitely some moments that made me laugh and the poetry slam made me cry, but the book as a whole just didn’t really do it for me. This one has to be a borrow for me.

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ARC Book Review: First Comes Love

Posted on May 24, 2016May 24, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in ARC Reviews, Book Reviews, Books to Borrow

Synopsis from Amazon:

Growing up, Josie and Meredith Garland shared a loving, if sometimes contentious, relationship. Josie was impulsive, spirited, and outgoing, Meredith hardworking, thoughtful, and reserved. When tragedy strikes, their delicate bond splinters.

Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. Josie, a first grade teacher, is single—and this close to swearing off dating for good. What she wants more than the right guy, however, is to become a mother—a feeling that is heightened when her ex-boyfriend’s daughter is assigned to her class. Determined to have the future she’s always wanted, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands.

On the outside, Meredith is the model daughter with the perfect life. A successful attorney, she’s married to a wonderful man, and together they’re raising a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Yet lately Meredith feels dissatisfied and restless, secretly wondering if she chose the life that was expected of her rather than the one she truly desired.

As the anniversary of their tragedy looms, and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover that they need each other more than they knew—and that in the search for true happiness, love always comes first.

*I received a free digital advanced reader’s copy of this book from Ballantine Books via NetGalley. This did not influence my review of this book in anyway. This is an honest review of the novel as I saw it. This novel will be released on June 28, 2016.*

For the record, although I personally wouldn’t buy this book I didn’t hate it I just didn’t love it as much as I had hoped I would.

First Comes Love is told in the alternating point of views of Josie and Meredith. While Meredith has a more type-A kind of personality and a seemingly perfect life, Josie is more carefree and a little crazy. The sisters handle the death of their brother, Daniel, very differently. For Meredith she feels like she has to be the perfect daughter for her parents and do whatever will make them happy. Josie, conversely, doesn’t discuss her brother’s death and tries not to think about it all.

I found Meredith to be irritating. I just didn’t really like her personality and I definitely sided with Josie for most of the novel, though Josie does make mistakes as well. I was also confused by the direction of the plot, particularly Josie’s storyline. There’s three significant men in Josie’s life: Will (her ex), Gabe (her best friend), and Pete (a guy she kind of dates). I was surprised by how Josie’s relationship with all three of them played out and honestly, I didn’t really like it. It just seemed like a strange ending to me and I didn’t get it at all.

I did, however, like how Meredith’s story ended, or more accurately, how it was kind of left open ended. Meredith definitely grew on me towards the end, but Josie is definitely my favorite of the two sisters.

Overall, I just didn’t love this book. Out of all the characters I think my favorite was Gabe but I still didn’t really connect with him. As always Emily Giffin’s writing was superb but the plot itself didn’t enthrall me, which is why I won’t be adding it to my shelf.

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Book Review: The Love That Split The World

Posted on April 7, 2016July 12, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Borrow

Synopsis from Amazon:

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start…until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

I didn’t love this book like I thought I would. I almost didn’t finish it but after I finished reading Maybe Someday I returned to it at the advise of many people on Instagram. However, it’d be wrong to say this is a bad novel. It’s not. Emily Henry crafted a well-written and thought provoking novel. It just wasn’t the book for me.

Throughout most of her life Natalie has received visits from a mysterious woman she refers to as “Grandmother.” One night during Natalie’s senior years of high school “Grandmother” warns Natalie that she only has three months to save “him” but of course, “Grandmother” doesn’t explain who the “him” she’s referring to is.

Enter Beau, an equally mysterious character that suddenly appears in Natalie’s life. And I mean that literally. He just pops up on the football field and Natalie’s the only one that sees him. Soon Natalie’s life is getting more and more strange. She’s seeing things that aren’t really there and what she thought was there one moment suddenly disappears. Beau seems to be the key to all of Natalie’s problems but she’s not sure exactly how everything’s connected and Natalie believes she must find “Grandmother” to get answers.

Unfortunately, after “Grandmother” gave Natalie the warning she didn’t come back. But with the support of her best friend who believes “Grandmother” is some version of God, and the help of a mysterious woman “Grandmother” tells Natalie to find, Natalie may be able to finally figure out the truth. But will she be too late to save someone’s life?

The cloud of mystery surrounding this novel was way too much for me. And I wasn’t at all interested in “Grandmother’s” stories and kept skimming through them even though I knew they were important to the book as a whole. I just couldn’t care enough to read them. I was bored. My favorite scenes were when Natalie was with Beau or talking to her best friends.

I think The Love That Splits The World falls into the magical realism category and I now know I don’t like this type of book. I didn’t like all the theoretical aspects of this book and although I think Henry did a great job of explaining why Natalie and Beau were the way they were in the end, a part of me just wished it wasn’t so complicated.

Like I said, I really wanted to like this book. I just couldn’t get into it. However, I can see why other people loved it. This one just wasn’t for me.

Borrow or Buy: Borrow.

Stars:

Favorite Line:

It’s true that nothing has the potential to hurt so much as loving someone, but nothing heals like it either.

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Book Review: How to be Bad

Posted on February 9, 2016February 3, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Borrow

Synopsis from Amazon:

Jesse, Vicks, and Mel each has her own reason for wanting to get away from their nowheresville Florida town. Add in a hot (and harmless) hitchhiker, an impending hurricane, and a close encounter of the gator kind, and the result is one sizzling road trip where the journey is far more important than the destination.

*This book is part of my POPSUGAR 2016 Reading Challenge.*

Out of the three authors of this book I’ve read books by two of them (Sarah Mylnowski and Lauren Myracle). Based on that I figured I’d give this book a try. Unfortunately, I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would.

Told in alternating point of views, Jesse, Vicks, and Mel embark on a road trip to Miami under the guise of getting Vicks to see her boyfriend, Brady, who just started school at the University of Miami. Although truthfully Jesse and Mel have their own reasons for wanting to leave their small Florida town.

My main issue with this novel is that I didn’t like the characters. Jesse is a holier than thou Christian who attempts to push her beliefs on everyone and is very judgmental. As a Christian myself I couldn’t stand this type of character because that’s not how most Christians are, in my opinion. Of course, this is part of her issues that she needs to work through on this road trip but it was just painful reading the way she treated her mother and Vicks.

Although Vicks isn’t innocent. Her whole dilemma with her boyfriend Brady stems from Vicks not being honest about how she feels. Throughout most of the novel I wanted to slap her and tell her to get over herself and stop pretending to be such a “bada**”.

If I had to say who my favorite was out of the three I’d have to go with Mel. Even though she definitely had some insecurities I felt more sorry for her than annoyed by her. I cheered for her when she finally stepped out of her comfort zone and started speaking up for herself. I also really liked the character, Marco, who the girls meet on the road. He was cute, funny, and added some more adventure to the story.

Overall, I thought the girls got into some pretty funny situations and the plot was good but I can’t say I loved this novel. I probably won’t ever reread it so for me it’s just not worth the buy.

Borrow or Borrow: Borrow

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Book Review: Paulina & Fran

Posted on December 31, 2015December 31, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Borrow

Synopsis from Amazon:

A story of friendship, art, sex, and curly hair: an audaciously witty debut tracing the pas de deux of lust and love between two young, uncertain, conflicted art students.

At their New England art school, Paulina and Fran both stand apart from the crowd. Paulina is striking and sexually adventurous—a self-proclaimed queen bee with a devastating mean-girl streak. With her gorgeous untamed head of curly hair, Fran is quirky, sweet, and sexually innocent. An aspiring painter whose potential outstrips her confidence, she floats dreamily through criticisms and dance floors alike. On a school trip to Norway, the girls are drawn together, each disarmed by the other’s charisma.

Though their bond is instant and powerful, it’s also wracked by complications. When Fran winds up dating one of Paulina’s ex-boyfriends, an incensed Paulina becomes determined to destroy the couple, creating a rift that will shape their lives well past the halcyon days of art school.

Crackling with bon mots and knowing snapshots of that moment when the carefree cocoon of adolescence opens into the permanent, unknowable future, Paulina & Fran is both a sparkling dance party of a novel, and the debut novel of a writer with rare insight into the complexities of obsession, friendship, and prickly, ever-elusive love.

I received this novel as a gift and honestly I don’t think I would’ve picked it up on my own. Paulina & Fran by Rachel B. Glaser is not by typical book but that’s mostly because it’s not your average novel.

Filled with details about crazy college parties at an art school that seems like a whole other world, this novel drew me in from the first page. It’s a short, quick read that follows the lives of the sexually adventurous Paulina and the elusive Fran. Paulina is who really drew me in. She’s all about having a good time and she’s constantly obsessing about how she appears to other people and in the same vain, who she surrounds herself with.

Although this is truly the story of Paulina and Fran, to me it felt more like Paulina’s story. Just as she has the ability to command a room, Paulina commands this story. At times I both wanted to be Paulina and pitied her. I wanted to know why she was so sexually curious and also wanted to shake her and make her see that the way she behaved and treated people clearly stemmed from some deeper issues she really need to deal with.

Similarly, Fran’s inability to act and go after what she wanted frustrated me. Everything she wanted was within her reach but time after time she was too scared to reach for it.

Overall, this novel was well written and the plot was perfectly paced, making me want to keep reading and know what happened next. However, the inconclusive ending left me feeling unsatisfied and angry. It was as if Glaser had set up the novel for a particular ending and then changed her mind at the last second leaving me with more questions rather than answers. I would have been fine with one loose end but instead there were 10 loose ends that had no resolution, leaving me unsettled and wishing for an epilogue or sequel.

Borrow or Buy: Borrow. Although I enjoyed this novel I don’t think I’d read it again.

Stars:

Favorite Line:

All month she’d camped out by his heart with little love of her own, but a stubborn need to star in someone’s life.

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Book Review: Not Okay, Cupid

Posted on December 24, 2015March 22, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in ARC Reviews, Books to Borrow

*I received a free digital advanced reader’s copy of this book from Entangled Publishing via NetGalley. This did not influence my review of this book in anyway. This is an honest review of the novel as I saw it. This novel will be on sale on Jan. 11, 2016.*

Synopsis from Amazon:

Hazel McCallister loves her life. Perfect grades. Perfect best friend. Perfect boyfriend. Until her perfect boyfriend cheats on her with her perfect best friend. Now Hazel’s in free fall—until her best friend’s brother, Felix, gives her the perfect idea. Reclaim her power by taking revenge on her cheating ex.

Felix James loves his life. Casual relationships. Loads of surfing. He’s as drama-free as they come. But he can’t stand by when his sister steals her best friend’s boyfriend, and the dude insists it was Hazel’s fault. So Felix vows to help turn Hazel into a girl her ex can’t resist—so then she can break his heart.

With an alliance in place, Hazel’s revenge is all but assured. But with each piece of payback, she feels a stronger attraction to Felix, even though revenge will turn her into a girl Felix could never be with. And soon Hazel has to make an impossible choice: revenge…or Felix, the boy who’s stolen her heart.

This book had the potential to be great if Hazel and Felix’s “revenge” wasn’t so ridiculous.

First of all, there was no evidence to prove that Hazel’s boyfriend, Jay, was “perfect” to begin with. Literally, the first time Jay shows up he’s flirting with Hazel’s best friend, Kimmy. On a similar note, I have no idea how Hazel and Kimmy are BFFs. Other than the fact that they’ve been friends since they were kids, it seems they don’t really know that much about each other.

Moreover, Kimmy and Jay didn’t even try to hide the fact that something was going on. They were caught in the lunch room. I don’t even think the word “caught” qualifies here because they were flirting out in the open.

I just think if I’m supposed to believe Jay is a “perfect” boyfriend and Kimmy is Hazel’s best friend there should’ve been more build up to this whole thing. Jay and Kimmy should’ve at least tried to keep this a secret and then be more apologetic about it happening.

Instead, Jay doesn’t seem to feel sorry at all and Kimmy, for reasons I couldn’t understand, seemed to think she was in the right.

Also, don’t worry about spoilers. All of this happens in the first three chapters or so.

Then we have Felix who of course is great but he’s a “bad boy” who dates multiple girls instead of settling down. And why is Felix so repulsed by the idea of getting close to anyone and being in a serious relationship you ask? Because he had his heart broken…IN FOURTH GRADE! Yes, that’s right. Felix has sworn off commitment because in the fourth grade a girl broke his heart.

I’m sorry but that’s some nonsense. Seriously? The fourth grade. I’m supposed to believe that a heartbreak in the fourth grade makes a guy give up on love completely. That makes no sense. And I’m not saying you can’t have your heart broken when you’re that young. I still remember the crushing feeling of having the boy I liked in kindergarten tell me he didn’t like me back. Those feelings are real and valid.

But I also remember quickly getting over it because I was young and I was still at an age where there was recess and another boy would give you flowers soon after and everything would be right in the world again. I can’t honestly understand how a heartbreak at the age of nine could make someone swear off love and I didn’t buy it in this book at all.

Lastly, of course readers are meant to come into this novel expecting Hazel and Felix to end up together. That’s a given. But at least build up to that. In the first chapter rather than seeing Hazel with her “perfect” boyfriend, it’s Felix she’s talking and joking around with. They even have pet names for each other. How am I supposed to believe they hate each other and don’t get along when they have cute little nicknames for each other?

I think if this book was developed more and things took more time and were drawn out a little bit I would’ve liked it more. But Hazel and Felix’s whole revenge plot seemed absolutely ridiculous to me and I just had trouble believing anything the author was trying to sell me with this book.

Still, Hazel and Felix were really cute and I think if this novel was sold to me as a “they’ve been friends for a long time and when Hazel’s boyfriend cheats on her Hazel suddenly realizes the perfect guy for her was there all along” kind of story I would’ve like it a hundred times more. But the way it stands now I didn’t believe it and I also kind of didn’t like that the book is told in Hazel and Felix’s POV. I didn’t want to know how Felix really felt about Hazel. I wanted to me surprised just like Hazel was. Instead, I just wanted to slap both of them and say, “Open your eyes. You’re in love idiots!”

Honestly, if you’re looking for a quick romance this will do but it’s not the best.

Borrow or Buy: Borrow.

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Book Review: The Girlfriend Request

Posted on December 17, 2015March 22, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in ARC Reviews, Books to Borrow

Synopsis from Amazon:

Emma has been best friends with Eli since she moved to his neighborhood ten years ago. Tired of being cast in the role of the girl next door, Emma creates a fake Facebook profile in the hopes of starting an online friendship with Eli, which would hopefully lead to more. Like…way more. From friend request to In a Relationship–it all seemed so completely logical when she’d planned it.

Eli can’t figure out what Emma is up to. He’s pretty sure she’s the one behind the Facebook profile, but then again, why would she do something so drastic instead of just admitting she wants to be more than friends? And who the heck is this new guy he saw her with? Eli starts to think that just maybe…he missed his chance with the girl next door.

Two best friends, one outlandish ruse. Their status is about to become way more than It’s Complicated…

I have so many mixed feelings about this book.

First of all, when I read the synopsis I was hesitant because in my head I already knew Emma’s plan was terrible and destined to fail. However, I figured I’ve read a bunch of good books where the protagonist doesn’t have the best plan but that’s what makes it funny and interesting and I was curious how this would all play out.

Before I go into what I didn’t like let me say what I did. I liked how the author, Jodie Andrefski, decided to write this in both Emma and Eli’s point of views. Granted it’s mostly Emma’s point of view but we also get chapters of Eli’s perspective. I thought that was a great way to do it because that allowed this story to go in a different direction than I was expecting.

Moreover, I liked the addition of another love interest for Emma. I thought that was another good twist to an otherwise cut and dry romance novel because, let’s face it, we all know how this story ends based on the blurb.

And that’s about it, unfortunately.

I really wanted to like Emma because I get it. It’s hard to tell someone you’ve been friends with for a while that you have feelings for them and on some crazy level I understood her whole “fake profile” idea. I thought it was a bad idea, but I understood.

But Emma just made way too many mistakes for me to forgive. And then on top of that I was excited to get Eli’s point of view but it turns out I don’t actually like Eli. I don’t understand why Emma went through all this trouble to “take their relationship to the next level” because he’s not that great. He doesn’t handle things with Emma well at all. Instead of being clear about what he wants he’s very cryptic about his feelings and yet somehow expects Emma to just know how he feels.

Truthfully, I liked Emma’s other love interest better until I didn’t because his personality suddenly took a nosedive for what I can only assume to be plot reasons.

Overall, I honestly think the concept of this novel isn’t as bad as I’ve seen others make it out to be. Yes it’s crazy but that’s what makes fiction great. Fiction’s allowed to be crazy. If you don’t believe me just read Fake Boyfriend by Kate Brian. That’s a good crazy book.

I was more disappointed in the characters and how they were developed. I also didn’t really believe Eli and Emma’s relationship and found it confusing. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been in love but I can’t understand how Emma believes what she feels for Eli is real love when it’s really just a very long, drawn out infatuation, which at one point she does say but then dismisses the idea entirely.

I wanted to like this book because it seemed like a cute, simple romance. Sadly, although it was simple and took me less than a day to read, it didn’t leave me with the butterflies in my stomach that I have come to expect from a good romance novel.

Borrow or Buy: On the one hand, this book is only $2.99 on the Kindle. On the other hand, you probably won’t be rereading it. Borrow it.

Stars: