MY OPINION: ***
With all the hype and raving reviews and bluster about this book, I can tell you I expected way better.
I'd like to start out by saying it definitely wasn't bad. I've read far worse rom-coms and I actually liked the banter and characters within this one. I just simply expected so much better. I thought it was gonna surpass my love for Aaron Blackford. I thought I would be reaching for the stars with how much I would love this book just like everyone else on Tiktok.
Eh.
I think the book was very mediocre. The writing was not bad, the characters were cute and unique, the setting was typical. I don't know what it is about this book that has everyone convinced it's god on earth but for me, it was very meh.
Chloe has fibromyalgia, a disease I've never heard of before prior to reading this book. Basically, she has chronic pain, with a whole bunch of side effects (fatigue, headaches, difficulty walking long distances, etc). I loved the representation for this disability especially because I've never read about it before in any book. I think it was dealt with nicely as well. It didn't take up the entire plot of the book but wasn't cast aside as a simple character trait. It was just a part of who Chloe was and didn't seem to define her or be ignored, something I admired within Hibbert's writing.
Chloe's illness and overall personality has made her pretty hard on others and given her a fairly cynical outlook on life. She doesn't really sugarcoat things and may come off rude or cold. I liked that about her and admired her ability to just push past things and act like she didn't care that much. I would love to be like that and at the very least pretend like things don't bother me.
Redford is an artist, covered in tattoos, who rides a motorcycle, and is also the handyman/landlord-esque dude for Chloe's housing building. I want to say I loved Red. I definitely loved his personality. I think he was funny, kind, passionate, and strong and didn't let his insecurities take over his life and control his every decision. However. I am so so sorry. But every time I read about his overalls and long red hair I could only think of one guy.
Search up "red hair guy from the polar express movie" and you'll see what I'm talking about. I KNOW that's not what he looks like. I KNOW he's a handsome, tattoo-covered angel. BUT once that image landed in my head I couldn't get it out. And I WANTED to so badly but I could just see:
I'm sorry if you're a Redford stan and I just ruined your mental image of him but if I had to see it, so did you.
The emails were cute though.
Aside from that, I loved the chemistry between the two. You can see them starting to warm up to each other and begin to show their true selves, which I really appreciated. I loved watching them slowly fall in love, scared of what could happen but embracing the inevitable.
Chloe has a list of things she wants to do "get a life" since she's spent a lot of her life sitting at home, in pain. Red quickly promises to help her out and so it begins. I love the idea of the list and seeing the two of them grow closer as Chloe starts to accomplish everything on it with someone by her side. However, I really hated how Red didn't really seem to UNDERSTAND the true concept of the list and why she decided to make it. I think there was some miscommunication on both of their parts and I wasn't a fan of how that all played out.
I liked the premise of this book, but I think for the most part, I didn't really LOVE a lot of the different aspects of it. I would definitely recommend it to readers looking for a cute rom-com but I wouldn't place it as my book of the month. I do plan on continuing the series and am almost done with the last one, which I HOPE to finish before 2022.
Main Character: Chloe, Red
Sidekick(s): Eve, Dani, friends, family, etc
Villain(s): Misunderstandings, miscommunication, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
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