Genre: Romance

Light-hearted, good-natured, and comfortably predictable, Kristy Greenwood’s The Love of My Afterlife is a perfect example of understanding the assignment and hitting all the bullet points to get the job done, nothing more nothing less. This book is a casual read that’s catered directly to fans of cozy chick lit rom-com novels looking for an easy and pleasant time. Devoid of anything that could be remotely triggering or controversial and full of the genre’s expected hijinks and romance tropes, it’s a competently written book that doesn’t really have any glaring weaknesses. On the flip side, it also takes zero risks and feels complacently good but not great. For me personally, I found The Love Of My Afterlife to be a bit underwhelming although I thought its overall tone and plot were great. I picked this book up purely based on the intriguing premise (before it started trending on booktok I might add) fully knowing it probably wasn’t going to be to my taste, but I was surprised by how pleasant and quick it was to read. Unlike other romance novels with magical realism elements that skirt or cheapen their gimmick, The Love of My Afterlife sticks pretty close to its…

With beautiful rose-tinted postcard snapshots of various European locals, an endless array of food porn-worthy food and beverages, and two attractive horny bisexual ex’s (technically leaning more towards pansexual but I digress) stuck on a dream vacation itinerary, Casey McQuiston’s The Pairing has a stellar recipe on paper. And if I were to compare this novel to pastry on display, it certainly looks exquisite and intricately decorated in presentation (please bear with me and let me run with this bit). Unfortunately, once you cut the cake and start tasting it, it quickly becomes evident that there was too much literal (Theo) salt in the batter and maybe the cake was a bit burnt in places. My experience with reading The Pairing was similar to this poor hypothetical and metaphorical pastry in that the elements were good but a few crucial elements made this book difficult to enjoy. My biggest gripe was despite McQuiston pushing really hard to sell this as a past ex’s enemies to second chance loves trope, the enemies arc leaves a lot to be desired and the relationship dynamic between Theo and Kit has a dry and acidic aftertaste. I feel like this story would’ve worked considerably…

Weddings can bring out the best and worst in people, but in Alison Espach’s The Wedding People, it brings out new discoveries about people that they didn’t realize in themselves before. Accidentally booking the top suite in a seaside hotel that was also completely reserved for Lila and Gary’s wedding, Phoebe leaves her entire withdrawn and broken life behind for a final last check-in at the Cornwall Inn. After witnessing her life pass by in a distant marriage only to completely fall apart soon after, her dark one way trip to Newport is interrupted by an overzealous and perfectionist bride. Despite being billed as a chick lit romance, The Wedding People is very much a contemporary drama novel that focuses on Phoebe’s introspective journey to rediscover herself and regain interest in life. This one started off really rough and I struggled immensely to get through the first third of the book. However as it progressed and when it focused on Phoebe and Lila’s unorthodox friendship, I found it to be a much stronger read. Right off the bat, I will be the first to admit that I’m nowhere near the readers and demographics this novel is clearly written for. A…

I had read quite a few critically-written books lately and was in the mood for a more casual comfort read and had added Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material to my reading list last year during my post-Red White and Royal Blue movie watch (yes, I still have not read the book itself, working on fixing that soon). While Boyfriend Material is indeed comfortably casual at the surface, I was pleasantly surprised at how relatable and earnest it was. Beyond the expected laughs and genZ pop culture references, I found the story itself to be consistently-paced, well-executed, and quite solid all-around. I was skeptical (as I usually am for all top-rated books here) that it ranked so high on Goodreads’ best romance category in 2020, especially since queer romance novels are usually ranked much lower than heterosexual romance books, but I now understand and agree with the hype. Side note, although it has nothing to do with the book’s content, I love the graphic design for the book’s cover design that’s simultaneously English-looking and also very classy and appealing. Beyond being British, I would be lying if I said the book’s cover didn’t have any influence over me choosing this to read…

Full disclosure, I shockingly had neither read nor watched (apart from a few short clips) Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians, so went in completely blind to Lies and Weddings. TLDR, I found Lies and Weddings to be solidly written, well-researched, tightly plotted, and at times, genius in its satire and social commentary. Following (from what I’ve been told) similar themes and commentary as his previous works, Lies and Weddings was a great book that wasn’t quite for me. I was stuck between a 3 or 4, objectively it’s good but my enjoyment was much lower. However, my reservations and disinterest with the novel’s content are all subjective reading preferences and despite not personally enjoying the read, I have to commend it on its story’s strengths and accomplishments. It took me a long time to grow interested in the main plot and I think most of that could potentially be attributed to the book’s synopsis and description. While the printed description does an excellent job at highlighting the zany and drama-filled moments, I found it to be a surprisingly inaccurate summary of Lies and Weddings. Yes, there are lots of lies and several weddings and yes, Rufus Gresham is put into…