Christine Riccio

When I first saw the cover of this book--and then the description--I knew that I wanted to read it.
Unfortunately, I could not bring myself to finish. There was so much cussing (basically every page) and it seemed like the author was trying a little too hard to sound like the age of her characters.
I would have finished this if not for the language since the story had me hooked.

1/5

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.… (mais)

See the full review and more at baileysbooks.home.blog!

Recommended: no
Not recommended because this book promised big things and didn't deliver. Stay away if you like romance, likable characters, or critical plot points that aren't so gaping with holes they look like Swiss cheese.

Thoughts:
The more I thought about this book, the less I liked it. The first issue is that I didn't particularly like either of our main characters. The side characters interested me more, but as non-MC people we don't get much about them. In fact, we get startlingly little about them. How did no one ask "Why is your name Babe?" when they were discussing how weird literally everyone else's name was? -_-

There wasn't much romance, in my opinion. It hinged on their nostalgia and reminiscing to make things happen, and even that was painful to get through because they were both still very stubborn and whiny.

The ending is deeply unsatisfying to me because there are so many technical questions that are left unaddressed. I tried really hard to let that go and take everything with a large dose of salt, but ultimately the issues that would have occurred were way too big for me to ignore. The name of the book is perfectly clever though, I do appreciate that. However, despite the metaphors for starting over and learning from your mistakes, the story itself has some serious issues.

In short, for a romance book the romance was weak, and the unexpected technical aspects of it were too haphazard (and also completely out of left field) for me to enjoy that either. I am once again seriously questioning the Goodreads Choice Awards.… (mais)

I'm not a fan of dating shows, but I love watching Survivor. The idea of a combination of those two types of reality shows could only lead to some hilarity. I laughed out loud several times as I read about Orie, with her lack of self-confidence and fear of spiders as she braved the adventure. As much fun as watching her compete in the game was watching the relationships and alliances develop and play out.

Funny and romantic, this book belongs on your shelf. I can’t wait to read more by Christine Riccio!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.… (mais)