The quirky blurb from This Love Story Will Self-Destruct made me smile. Then I started reading the book, and to my dismay, I had a difficult time getting through the first half of the story. It didn’t grab me and I wasn’t invested in the main character, Eve.
When I read about two main characters in the blurb, I expected to see them early in the story. Of course Eve was there, however, Ben came in way too late. I kept thinking: Get on with it! Where is this Ben guy?
Eve and Jesse’s part of the story was…exasperating. I get the fact this relationship reflects Eve’s insecurities, but the rambling in her mind gets boring after a while. The incessant interior thoughts went on…and on. Multiple pages of italics? Sigh. After a while, I began to skim through them. I could have easily put the book down and walked away, but I wanted to give this story a fair chance.
Halfway through the book I arrived at the meat of the story.
Finally, the guy I've been waiting for...BEN! I absolutely adored him. The blaring conflicting personalities of Eve and Ben worked somehow. I laughed out loud at a particular scene. It was so well written I could visualize it.
Eve is basically diving head first into a box and scrambling for a new tube of toothpaste, and Ben is trying to drag her away by her feet. Hilarious.
I loved the conflict and self-growth of the characters, especially Eve's. All the secondary characters are relatable, and likeable--except Jesse, I kind of despised his self-centered skewed personality. I was pleased when the story quit honing in on Jesse’s issues, and more on Eve and Ben’s relationship.
I wanted to like this book more. I really did. There aren’t any blaring plot holes, bad editing, or lack of character development. This story simply took too long to grab me. I didn’t turn the pages with anticipation.
For that reason, I can’t give it a higher rating than 3 stars.
ARC courtesy of Net Galley. All opinions are my own.
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