I just loved this. It was such a fun read, with a touching love story...until it's not. Part rom-com, part thriller, and such great writing throughout.
Synopsis: Ava works for a company that sells build-at-home furniture kits (definitely not IKEA of course) and is basically sleepwalking through life since her fiancee and family were killed in a hit-and-run car accident five years earlier. Then her new boss is hired, the bro-iest of bros, and she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. But Mat isn't who he claims to be.
It read like a blend of Eleanor Oliphant and Horrorstor, and was overall pretty light, despite the darker themes of male entitlement, and grief. I loved Ava as a character, her quirks and watching her change with the new relationship (in good ways and bad). Even as I wanted to shake her for not seeing some red flags!
And Jaime! I wish there'd been more of Ava and Jaime's friendship. Honestly I really loved all the side characters. Even the ones that were meant to be unlikeable were still real.
This really has it all -- diverse representation, a fun story, great writing, great message. My only very slight negative was that one part of the ending was just...bizarre. I'm not sure how I feel about it. But still highly recommend checking this out!
Thank you to BookishFirst and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an early copy of this!
Synopsis: Ava works for a company that sells build-at-home furniture kits (definitely not IKEA of course) and is basically sleepwalking through life since her fiancee and family were killed in a hit-and-run car accident five years earlier. Then her new boss is hired, the bro-iest of bros, and she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. But Mat isn't who he claims to be.
It read like a blend of Eleanor Oliphant and Horrorstor, and was overall pretty light, despite the darker themes of male entitlement, and grief. I loved Ava as a character, her quirks and watching her change with the new relationship (in good ways and bad). Even as I wanted to shake her for not seeing some red flags!
And Jaime! I wish there'd been more of Ava and Jaime's friendship. Honestly I really loved all the side characters. Even the ones that were meant to be unlikeable were still real.
This really has it all -- diverse representation, a fun story, great writing, great message. My only very slight negative was that one part of the ending was just...bizarre. I'm not sure how I feel about it. But still highly recommend checking this out!
Thank you to BookishFirst and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an early copy of this!