Cher 'N Books's Reviews > Funny Story

3 stars = Good and worthwhile but something held it back from being great.

You can’t force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don’t.

I reached for this one because I was looking for something light, funny, plot-driven and easy to listen to while doing chores. It fit the bill perfectly. Julia Whelan’s narration was a solid performance with distinct voices and a suitable amount of emotion.

If a person lets you down, it’s time to reconsider what you’re asking of them.

From the very first chapter, you learn that the main character’s fiance has left her for his lifelong best friend a month before their wedding date. Scrambling to find an affordable place to live quickly, the MC moves in with the other woman’s now ex-fiance. The four of them were friends with several years of double dating, so they were not total strangers.

This is as close as I get to life on the edge: a milky tea and a near-white rug.

The first half of the book flew by with several lol moments and enjoyable awkwardness as things begin to settle. The MC and her new roommate end up pretending to be a couple to hurt their philandering ex-fiances and naturally this leads to a real romance. Fake lovers to real is one of my two favorite romance tropes, the other being enemies to lovers. This one is written realistically with a slow burn romance.

Every time I dole out a kernel of my history to someone who’s not going to become a fixture in my life, a piece of me gets carried away, somewhere I can never get it back.

The last third of the book was not as much fun. More serious with less laughs, but mostly drama as all the adults start to make difficult life decisions. I appreciated that the author showcased a couple of unhealthy parental relationships, something that is prolific in real life but underrepresented in fiction. In general, the moral of the story is to not accept poor treatment from others. I enjoyed this one and would recommend it to anyone else looking for a summer rom-com type of story.

You, my girl, are whoever you decide to be. But I hope you always keep some piece of that girl who sat by the window, hoping for the best. Life’s short enough without us talking ourselves out of hope and trying to dodge every bad feeling. Sometimes you have to push through the discomfort, instead of running.
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First Sentence: Some people are natural storytellers.

Favorite Quote: You can’t untell someone your secrets. You can’t unsay those delicate truths once you learn you can’t trust the person you handed them to.