Just Stab Me Now

by Jill Bearup

A desperate mother. A dubious escort. And a deranged author who won’t leave them alone.

Caroline Lindley is determined that her new romance novel will be her best one yet. Fantasy! Formal gowns! Fencing! And, of course, a twentysomething heroine to star in an enemies-to-lovers plot with all of Caroline’s favourite tropes.

But Lady Rosamund Hawkhurst is a thirty-six-year-old widow with two children, her sole focus is facilitating a peace treaty between her adopted nation and her homeland, and she flatly refuses to take the correct approach to there being Only One Bed.

What’s an author to do?

Based on her popular Fantasy Heroine YouTube Shorts series, Jill Bearup’s debut novel brings us the best of worlds both meta and medieval-inspired. Terry Pratchett aficionados will enjoy the political intrigue paired with convivial, tongue-in-cheek satire. And then there's the slow-burn, fade-to-black romance too . . .

If you loved Stranger Than Fiction and The Princess Bride, you will soon find yourself cheering on enemies-to-BFFs Rosamund and Caroline as together they learn what it means to be the hero of your own story.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction, Humor, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Historical

309 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 5, 2024

Reviews

[Beka]

A satirical, meta book about historical/fantasy romance tropes? This book is *made* for me, and I’m only mad I’m not the genius who came up with it.

Also, a heroine in her mid-thirties? BLESS.

The moment ARC calls go out, I’m snapping this one up!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first thing you should know about this book: it's the meta fantasy romance of your Dreams. It's Absolutely Fabulous; I adored the characters and plot, and it's clean, and it's not toxic or nasty or completely implausible.

If you haven't yet seen the Fantasy Heroine series, you should watch it first, and then enjoy this delightful novel. Jill pulled off the transition between video and book charmingly.

My new favorite description for this type of book is "this is not fluff, but it's what fluff should be." I want to read more novels like this, please, instead of all the YA "fantasy" being published nowadays.

I don't know how else to describe Just Stab Me Now. If you like good, fun fantasy, healthy relationships and especially ✨romance✨ which makes fun of of common clichés, you will enjoy this novel.

[brynn]

it arrived and it's so pretty omg <33 i'm so excited to read it
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preorder placed !!!
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ooooo the cover <33 it just fits the whole vibe of the story so well
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considering this is based on her youtube shorts series (which i love) i'm expecting this to be a light-hearted humorous satire. though either way, i'm curious to see how it plays out (also praying we get a good cover please)

[Katie Hanna]

DNF. This definitely wasn't my cup of tea. I'm noticing more and more that satire and parody can be extremely hit-or-miss for me, and I think it's because satire is extra subjective, since you can't ignore the message: the message has to be front and center for the satire to work.

Just Stab Me Now is a satire of bad fantasy romance and bad fantasy romance authors. Whether you enjoy it depends on your definition of "bad fantasy" and "good fantasy."

The book has a meta-narrative structure where the author protagonist, Caroline, is struggling to write a fantasy novel. Caroline spends a lot of time arguing with her characters, trying to force them into certain predetermined tropes (which tropes Just Stab Me Now argues are bad.) Around the halfway point, Caroline decides to let her characters "be themselves" and run the plot according to the tropes THEY want to follow. These tropes, it's implied, are Better.

The problem is, I didn't like the new direction any better than the old one. The new plot revolves around a political arranged marriage where the characters repress their feelings and just forge ahead out of "duty" and "self-sacrifice" and "what's best for the family" and what-not. And if you know me, you know that's my absolute LEAST FAVORITE TYPE OF ROMANCE, whether in a fantasy world or a historical one. I don't want to read about characters entering a political marriage out of duty, even if they fall in love later on. That premise is not interesting or appealing to me.

So obviously, I'm not the target audience here. But I also felt irritated by what I perceived as the book's superior attitude, how impressed it was with its own satire. To me, it seemed to be saying, "look, those other fantasy romance novels are Bad and Silly. This one is better, and different." I didn't feel that it was better; but I also didn't feel it was even particularly new or different. I've definitely seen Leo and Rosamund's romance dynamic before--awkward but gentlemanly male lead, strong-willed woman who ignores her emotions and focuses on lOGIC, slowburn tension, etc. etc. etc. These are common romance staples, not new inventions. In that sense, I don't think Just Stab Me Now necessarily understands the genre it's satirizing.

[Leandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, I want to thank the author for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Secondly, a little disclaimer: I have the impression that my review still might be a little biased by the fact that I followed the Shorts series this book is based on from the very beginning, so I was quite excited to see everything put into paper. But other than the vibes (which I loved!), there are two more points to consider:

Format/writing style -> this is, of course, the biggest and most difficult aspect of this book, and the one I was the most curious about. Going from the more direct and dialogue-driven construction of the shorts to the slower-paced written word was a challenge for certain, since the task was to, somehow, create a connection between a made-up-and-yet-independent-story-and-characters, and the real life of the author writing it. Sometimes it worked so well that the result was absolutely chef's kiss; other times, the two worlds remained a lot more compartmentalized, and it left somehow a void where that connection should have been. Overall, it was quite well written for being a debut novel, and given the difficulty of the style chosen, I'd give the writing a 3/5.

Plot and characters -> let's be honest, none of us took this book in their hands for the p l o t. Still, in its simplicity it is quite entertaining, and it makes the perfect background for the characters to grow and develop their relationships. This story is incredibly character-driven, yet the plot is not neglected, and the result is an enjoyable, light read with perfectly balanced moments of tension and comics exchanges.
The only downside in this complexity is Henry's character, which I would have loved to see slightly more of in the form of his texts with Caroline or comments to her draft. A lot more focus was put into the fantasy relationship, and the comparison to the "real life" one wasn't as strong as it could have been. Still, it gets a 4/5.

All in all, the perfect read to escape from your problems for a while! Everything flows smoothly, perfect length, enjoyable plot. Point just for the fact that I had Jill Bearup's voice in my head while reading, the writing was 100% her style.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was my most anticipated book of the year. It did not disappoint. I do wish some more flashbacks to Hugo had been included. I recall some of them had been released as bonus material on her website. Perhaps a prequel is in order? It manages to take the series of shorts we know and love and make it fresh by expanding on the characters. Leo is the best romantic lead I've read in a while. Sabers at dawn to anyone who says otherwise. This is a very meta book. It made my literary theory and criticism brain happy to see how art imitates life, and life imitates art both in the story and the commentary on how fans pestered her into writing this book, and yes there really is fanfiction already.

[Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the absolute pleasure of doing the last round of developmental/supplemental editing this novel and absolutely loved it! I can’t wait for the finished version and am sure it will be even more delightful then! This is what the Romantasy genre should strive to be - fun, lighthearted, witty, and swashbuckling and actually healthy relationships! Honestly a meta Princess Bride what more could you ask for?

[Laura Beauvoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, the way this book is written there is essentially 3 worlds:
1. Is the real world where Caroline is living her day to day life, doing her job, dealing with a crappy boss, having a crush of her editor Henry, and most importantly writing her book.
2. Is Rosamund’s fantasy world. It’s about her journey with her “Hot Enemy” Captain Leo Collins to Rosamund’s country of origin with a letter from the queen of her current country where she and her children live, to try to initiate peace talks and end the war. This is the actual book Caroline is writing, word for word.
And
3. Is inside Caroline’s head. This is not her real life or her novels, but instead her imagination as she talks to her characters and works through the story. It appears as the fantasy world freezing, except for one character for Caroline to talk to. Many of these scenes are written from the character’s perspective, and they don’t remember these conversations as the novel continues, but it can leave them with vague impressions of what to do next.
So, as a reader what I would expect with these parameters is for both Caroline and Rosamund to have well developed interesting personal storylines, and for the conversations between them to be both funny, but also show how Caroline works through her story struggles and how Rosamund as taken to having a mind of her own, and for their relationship to go from one of butting heads to understanding aka enemies-to-BFFS as promised.
This is a lot to balance, and on top of this it’s not just Caroline and Rosamund who have povs, but also Leo who’s Rosamund’s love interest, Robin who’s Rosamund’s childhood friend, and Henry, Caroline’s editor and love interest. So, there’s 5 povs spanning over 3 worlds with 2 different storylines, which is a lot to balance.
And while I did enjoy the book, I don’t think it struck the best balance.

Overall, my main points are:
1. Caroline’s storyline isn’t utilized that well. The beginning of the book doesn’t feature Caroline’s life much at all, and she’s the only character from the real world is actually fleshed out. I like the parallels between her real life and the fantasy story both with her love interest and her villain. However, I feel like we barely see her life until the end and at that point I don’t care about the solution, because I was barely there for most of her life. Especially, her romance with Henry which was barely relevant. I think Caroline’s story either needed to be more simplified and smaller just kept to her interactions with her characters, and her comments with Henry on the book document, or it needed more meat so that her world, that is actually supposed to be the real world, felt more fleshed out and lived in.

2. The fantasy storyline is my favorite part. It’s a simple plotline, since the romance and characters are the main focus. And I liked that simplicity, it was fun and wholesome. Instead of the story being about a bunch of crazy action and magic it was able to focus on the characters. It’s in a vaguely historic setting. There’s not really any magic, just two fantasy birds the caladrius which their tears can glue wounds together, and phoenixes which their blood can be drank for medicinal purposes. The focus is Rosamund’s slowly growing relationship with captain Leo during their journey to end the war between the kingdoms of Bevoria and Abrenia through diplomatic means. There are several fight scenes, and several more dangers they face, but overall the what is most important is their relationship not the action. The action scenes are fine, but very short so the story can continue. The vast majority of this novel is Rosamund’s story. Unlike Caroline’s story, Rosamund’s story is fleshed out with a fully written beginning, middle, and end. Due to it being a “first draft” within the context of the novel it is not always as fleshed in setting descriptions, and one scene is something Caroline says she’ll write in the next draft, but reading the book Rosamund’s didn’t feel like a book within a book, it just felt like an actual book. The character’s in Rosamund’s world felt real along with their world. It’s very true to the original Fantasy Heroine shorts series and if you like the shorts this expands upon them in a very faithful and enjoyable way.


3. The next level of the story is Caroline’s interactions with her characters. I enjoyed most of these interruptions, but sometimes I wasn't a fan. The way they are formatted results in Rosamund’s story coming to a complete halt, so they often messed up the flow of certain scenes without enough payoff to justify them. Due to the format Caroline’s presence is not s seamlessly integrated into Rosmund’s world since we are essentially just reading Rosamund’s story instead of Caroline always being present as a narrator. So, there were a couple quips I felt were unnecessary, but overall I enjoyed almost all of the longer scenes, and a lot of the short quips. These scene were the best part of the story to add meta commentary, were some of the silliest parts, but could also be surprisingly deep allowing us to see the inner depth of the fantasy characters and they discussed their thoughts with Caroline.

Now I want to talk about the characters since this is probably the main draw of this book, and is the main focus. First, I want to start with the 3 pov fantasy characters. The characters were really well written. They were all true to the shorts, but with expanded depth. I will say though due to there being so many pov characters I think there were multiple times where scenes that were more important to one character were given to another which overall weakened the impact of the scene. I did appreciate how this book didn’t force each pov character to rotate in a specific order chapter by chapter and instead chose the character needed most for each scene, but there were several times where I think the wrong character was chosen.

4. Rosamund was the most well-rounded character, and I really enjoyed her perspective. Her past felt fleshed out, and I loved being in her head. Rosamund didn’t feel like a character, she felt like a person. Her dedication to her mission, her love for her kids, her love and grief for Hugo, and her growing love with Leo felt so organic and natural. On top of that her romance with Leo felt so genuine and it didn’t feel tropey. And my issue isn’t when a book has a trope, but when a book feels like an amalgamation of tropes that’s when it becomes an issue. However, with this book their romance felt real. It wasn’t overexaggerated or campy, but subtle and believable. It was a nice sort of slow burn on Rosamund’s part. Not too slow, because look and the size of this book, but I would qualify the romance between Rosamund and Leo as one.

5. Speaking of Leo, he was also well written, but I feel he could’ve been fleshed out more when it came to his past. However, overall I enjoyed being in his head. He’s the quiet type, but instead of being angsty he’s shy and it was cool getting to know him. He was kind of adorkable when it came to social interactions he wasn’t used to. Specifically, Rosamund’s children. Also, one of my favorite times Caroline interrupts in a scene is to talk with him, because I think it especially commented on some of the unhealthy romance trope people like, but not in a preachy way. I also think it made Caroline think more about her characters and how she was writing them, along with fleshing Leo out.

6. Robin was the funny friend character. He wasn’t a particularly complex character, but it was nice to have an extroverted fun character to balance the quiet and serious Rosamund and Leo. However, I also like how Robin isn’t just a fun character. He also helps the other characters work through their feelings, and actually gives them good advice. Specifically, Leo and Charlotte. I also like how Robin was the most meta character having originated from a different novel idea Caroline had, resulting ideas from his past story slowly bleeding into this one, because try as Caroline might she couldn’t just strip Robin of his origins. Also, there’s a sentence near the end that gives Robin some extra depth, but I won’t elaborate here.

7. The fantasy side Characters. One thing I think this novel does well is making characters likeable and interesting in a short period of time. For example, Rosamund’s two kids Edmund and Charlotte are not introduce until the end, but the little we get of them is done with so much care. A lot of times kids are written as just one note and existing to make other characters look better, but these kids feel real. This is a romance novel about a widow with two kids, so understandably they have thoughts on what’s going on and their trepidations are treated both seriously by the author and the other characters which I really like. Also, there is a flashback scene to when Rosamund met her husband, and the author really does a good job fleshing him out and making me sympathize with Rosamund and her love for Hugo in such a short period of time.

8. Now let’s go to the real-world story and start with Caroline. While I do like her character, due to the limited time we spend in her world I’m not as attached to her journey. Caroline’s struggles are pretty average. She has a crappy boss, hates her job, and is too shy and unsure to ask out the person she likes. Her real life loosely reflects her novel, though her and Rosamund are pretty different, and part of her journey is realizing she needs to be brave like her character. Which I like that idea for her character, but with her scenes being so limited it didn’t have as much of an impact as it could’ve. And then there’s something about her learning to appreciate those around her, and stop isolating, but it’s essentially one throwaway conversation and it doesn’t feel particularly meaningful when we never meet these characters mentioned. I think we either needed more of Caroline’s storyline fleshing out her life and the people it it more and her relationship with Henry more, or for Caroline’s story to be cut out and for this to just be the finished story of Rosamund.

9. Now for the worst pov character… Henry. Henry’s personality is that he is a stickler as an editor and that he likes Caroline. Both of these feel kind of like informed traits too. Now this book only really needed Caroline and Rosamund’s povs, but I don’t dislike Leo and Robin’s. I dislike Henry’s pov being included. All the povs in this story are Caroline or her characters, they all come from Caroline’s mind and are essentially Caroline’s pov. So, Henry’s pov feel out of place. On top of that all we learn from his pov is that he’s in a similar living situation as Caroline, renting a house with a bunch of strangers who can be annoying at times, and being a hermit is his room, like Caroline. And the other thing we learn from his pov is that he likes Caroline. The thing is if we only learn about characters through their own point of views they start to feel like disconnected people in a vacuum. I think the romance between Caroline and Henry would’ve benefitted a lot more if instead we learned more about Henry by having him and Caroline interact and get to know each other instead.

10. Let’s talk about the side characters in Caroline’s world. They were the barest of bones barely even characters. The only ones we really saw in person were her boss the CFO of her company George, and the CEO of her company Eunice. Which even then they’re just the bad boss, and the good boss… that’s all there is to them. And I think this has more to do with a lack of time and maybe even interest spent on Caroline’s story, because I thought the side characters in Rosamund’s story were enjoyable. One character I did enjoy was Caroline’s mom, mostly because she kept ordering striped shirts online to be mailed to Caroline because, she knows Caroline likes them, even though Caroline now feels she has more than enough. That was very momish to me, and I liked that. However, even then Caroline’s mom becomes a confidant to her, but only at the end of the novel when she’s not talking to Henry as much. This isn’t due to an evolving appreciation of her mom, but moreso because, the mom wasn’t ever mentioned until she could be a prop for the story. Which I’m not a fan of.

11. Finally let’s talk about the writing. I love the word choices and sentence level writing of this book. The formality of how the characters speak really does transport me to an older time. I feel a lot of fantasy book I’ve read recently read like modern day, but these characters speak like they’re in a fantasy world which added to the immersion of the story. I was sucked into Rosamund’s world almost instantly.

12. The setting. The characters and writing did suck me into Rosamund’s world and I believed I was there. However, there wasn’t much setting description. I will admit my brain tends to fill things in, so this isn’t very detrimental to my reading experience, but it is definitely a factor. I think this book was able to away with this more due to it technically being Caroline’s first draft of Rosamund’s story, but even then, the settings aren’t described in Caroline’s world either. Overall the descriptions were sparse, and left more to be desired.

13. Finally, let’s talk about the pacing. This book is 311 pages has 5 pov characters and two completely different worlds with different; storylines… I think you can figure it’s fast paced. However, I’ve notice a lot of fast paced books nowdays fall into the problem of feeling like they’re specifically for people with short attention spans who’d rather be watching tiktok. However, despite the fast pace this book does have down time. There are quite a few moments where characters are traveling or working when so there is a nice flow to the story. My two biggest issues with pacing is how back heavy Carolines story is being sparse at the beginning of the novel, and then being given a more reasonable amount of page time near the end. Then the second issue if how there are two really important, and exciting scenes in Rosamund’s story that should’ve been written straight through, but instead get broken up by other characters perspectives unnecessarily. Which ultimately hurt the pacing.

So, my overall thoughts on this book is that the main draw is the characters. The plot is simple and straightforward, and I like the story. I do think Caroline’s story wasn’t given the time it deserved, but I loved Rosamund’s fantasy storyline. I enjoyed the writing, but the setting descriptions were sparse.
If you are a fan of the original fantasy heroine shorts, I would definitely recommend this book. I was a fan of it too and I really enjoyed getting to see the story given more detail and a more wrapped up conclusion. And I especially enjoyed the characters being fleshed out, in a way that both added depth, but was also very true to their characterization in the shorts. That was spot on.
If you’re not already a fan of the shorts I don’t know if you should pick this up. I think it has to do with if you like the premise, and if you prefer character driven stories and don’t mind the critiques I gave.
However, despite my critiques I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun quick read, that added depth to the story and characters I was invested in. And I would say while Caroline’s storyline was fine, I liked what it was going for, I loved Rosamund’s story. It was a simple fantasy with a simple plot, that allowed me to just sit back and enjoy the wholesome romance and the loveable characters who felt real.

[Brend · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might not have been my perfect book but I will be thinking about it forever (not hyperbole, I have great memory and still think about some books I read in 2012 like once a month) due to how unique it felt.

Pick it up if you think you enjoy:

-A real mix between high fantasy and contemporary
-The fourth wall breaking constantly
-A protagonist in her late 30s
-Characters who are not... dumb
-Imagining yourself as part of your fav tv show cast/crew
-Leaving the cinema feeling like you're part of the movie (at least for the next 2 hours)
-High stakes but not really. No real danger, but the characters don't know that.

[Eli24 · Rating 4 out of 5]

این کتاب خیلی حس خوبی به ادم میده
داستان راجب یک نویسنده تازه کار هست که همیشه فن فیک مینوشته و برای بار اول میخواد کتاب خودشو بنویسه اونم تو ژانر انمیز تو لاورز و تاریخی اما خوب... همه چیز طبق نقشه پیش نمیره چون شخصیت‌های داستان بجا اینکه شخصیت‌ها باهم بد باشن تصمیم میگیرن به هم کمک کنن 🤭😂(اخ که چقدر کارولین از دست شخصیت‌های کتابش حرص خورد😂)
یعنی عملا ما ۲تا داستان توی یک کتاب میخونیم
۱- تاریخی عاشقانه رزاموند و دشمن جذابش
۲- داستان امروزی از زندگی روزانه کارولاین که نویسنده هست
داستان عاشقانه رزاموند و دشمن جذابش خیلی ملیح و دلربا بود از اونا که فقط حس خوب بهت میده و داستان کارولاین و چالش‌های شغلیش و درگیری‌هاش با شخصیت‌های داستان هم خیلی خوب بود و در تمام طول مدت داستان یه طنز باحالی جریان داشت😍
اخرسر هم اینکه دنبال یه داستان خیلی خیلی قوی نباشید این کتاب متوسط هست اما پر از حس خوب و دوست داشتنی🫠

پ.ن۱: یک دشمن جذاب هم نداریم
پ.ن۲: یک رابین هم نداریم 🚶🏻‍♀️🚶🏻‍♀️

[Maja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a lot of fun with this one! Sadly it didn't quite live up to the YT Fantasy Heroine series. But still, a lot of fun. Caroline's interactions with her characters is definitely my favourite parts of the book.

[Rachael Acree · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started watching the author’s Fantasy Heroine Short series on YouTube last year, and as an author who loves the fantasy genre myself, I was hooked. Then I learned there she was going to turn it into a book and I was ecstatic.

Just Stab Me Now is an absolute delight to read. It is a humorous romantasy with a fast paced and compelling narrative. The tension between Rosamund and, well, everyone, leaves the reader wanting to keep turning the page. I would say it has something for most people. Swords, intriguing political plots and subplots, romance, and more. It will appeal to fans of the enemies to lovers trope as well as forced proximity, arranged marriages, and self-sacrificing heroes. I read this as an ARC and I cannot say enough good things about it.

[Starr ❇✌❇ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4

Pretty much exactly what I expected/wanted from a novelization of this series! The writing isn't always stellar but it's a debut and a strange premise that needed lots of balancing that doesn't always totally mit the mark.
*Full review to come*

Pre-review comments below
am I a little worried about how this is going to actually read? yes. am I preordering it anyway because I loved the video series? .....absolutely.

[Kelsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf at 41% this was a jumbled mess, full of grammatical mistakes. I liked the concept but the writing was just not good.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought the book because I very much enjoy the author's videos on Youtube, and the Fantasy Heroine series of shorts was delightful. So I went in expecting to like the book (I already knew the plot and enjoy the Bearup's humor, which presumably translates from video to page). At the same time, I expected to have it give it some grace, being written by a Youtube content producer who has never written (nor considered writing) a book before and accomplished it in roughly a year.

Honestly, I thought the book was better than most recent fantasy I've read. It's utterly delightful and much more fleshed-out than the videos. Without already knowing it, I'd never have expected this was essentially a fan-service by someone who has never tried to write a book before nor ever intends to write one again--it's actually a well-written book. (And for those of us who care: the editing is superb--it's not riddled with errors like some self-published novels and even some mainstream.) In contrast to the dark and gritty stories that have become so popular recently, it's the sort of light, clean, swashbuckling romance that tends to find a permanent place on my shelves.

And it's actually romantic*. Very slow-burn, and the payoff is wonderful in the end. The romantic tropes are frequently subverted, but not in the usual ways (as some subverted romantic tropes have become so common that they're cliché.) As much as it jokes about being Enemies-to-Lovers, it isn't really; there's no heated bickering with sparks flying that accumulates to the leads letting passion take the better of them. Rosamund and Leo are way too pragmatic and, honestly, way too kind. She's dealing with grief and fear for her children; he's doing his best to protect her (and not just physically--emotionally, she's been through the ringer and he's very sensitive about it).

*Sex does not a romance make; it's all about the emotional connection between leads. And while Marital Consummation is important to the plot, it's part of the payoff in the end (and fade-to-black).

People like to liken anything and everything to The Princess Bride; but this is one instance where I'd say, if you like the Princess Bride film, there's a good chance you'll like this. It's similar low-magic fantasy, with sword-fighting, a bit of revenge/justice, and, eventually, true love. The plots aren't alike, but it has a comparable light-hearted, swashbuckling character to it, along with the sense that it's a story being told (or in this case, written) with "real-world" intrusions. Just delightful.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to confess: I binged this one within a few hours during the afternoon so it might not hold up to how much I enjoyed it. But I am going to round up for the vibes.

This was such a great audio book. Light, easy, and funny. I liked the tongue-in-cheek look at writing and authors exorcising their own demons through their characters.

The fantasy setting is lightly sketched but still compelling. The 'contemporary' story was cute and ended on a more open ended note, which was surprisingly satisfying.

Overall, very glad I listened. Thank you for the recommendation, Kris!

[Caroline Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 quick read & a fun change of pace. follow along with frazzled author Caroline (shoutout!) as she tries to get her stubborn characters to stick to the classic romantasy tropes.

[Matthew Galloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one just made my heart feel all warm and cozy.

It takes the idea that characters sometimes take a life of their own -- much to their authors' consternation -- to the extreme. Caroline, the author, finds that her characters are all strong willed and, for the most part, ridiculously practical. It gets in the way of all the enemies to lovers tropes she's hoping to use, trending towards a slow burn... if there will be any burn at all.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Caroline has her own issues with work and love and critiques!

It's a humorous, witty ride that is JUST as good as the skits it's based on. (Seriously, go look them up on Bearup's YouTube or TikTok channels!) They're so iconic I could HEAR Bearup as I was reading, sometimes, even though I'm not usually that auditory with my reading!

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars is 100% because of my slumpity slump slump.

It wasn't bad. I enjoyed many things about it—the meta-ness of the world, Rosamund, Leo, and Robin, and while I appreciated the first-drafty nature of it all, I think I ultimately wanted...more? There was so much happening in this book, with the relationship between Caroline and Henry, Caroline and the Mystery of her Job, and then the entire fantasy book being written and Caroline's constant interjections, that it didn't feel like all the things had enough time to be properly developed.

But as a fun, lighthearted and cozy read complete with a very logical, very rational heroine, it was a fun romp.

[Kasey]

10/26/2023: I. Cannot. Wait. I love the YouTube series, and I am thrilled she turned it into a book.

[Kate Kuykendall · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was really really really not good. It’s supposed to be an author’s draft of a book, so I believe that’s the excuse for a lot of the inconsistencies and poor (or actually no) world building. It’s barely a romance as all the relationships are completely unbelievable. Truly every single one. The only evidence that the main couple are supposed to be together is because there is no one else around, so why not. Writing was cheesy at best, and childish at worst.

ALSO this is not a fantasy. You can’t call something a fantasy just by making up a new country name, having everyone talk a made up fantasy language, and making the time period in some vague medieval years. The only thing fantastical about this book was the ‘romance,’ that was not real in the least bit.

I am grateful this is done. The last time it took me this long to finish a book was that summer in 7th grade when I was supposed to finish Tale of Two Cities and I’m still working on it to this day.

[༚˳⁺✧˚Jennifer ˚✧⁺˳༚]

I’m not going to give this a star rating because it feels unfair given how fast I DNFed this book, I didn’t even finish a chapter. That being said this book is very meta, with the characters and the author writing the book interacting on page.

The meta aspect as well as the immediate introduction of way too many fantasy characters and locations was a turn off. I couldn’t keep anything straight because half of what was being discussed was unexplained fantasy stuff.

I’m sure this is fun for some people but this book is just not for me.

[Catherine Hawthorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this because I thoroughly enjoyed the YouTube shorts. I will say that I absolutely enjoyed this version as well. I would say that this is definitely a book for adults, simply because of the *hem* rather intimate details of a marriage in the book.

[Josie (thebookgoblin13) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This was my bookclub pick and it was a blast to read. At the beginning I found myself going back and forth between how I felt about the story and the characters. At times I liked it everything and other times I was like do I? I did however love how unique this feels. This story/characters are entertaining, sassy, and adventurous. This felt so original and if it's been done before I just haven't read it. I love that you have the author arguing with herself, her characters, and her editor all while dealing with crippling anxiety and real life issues. By the end you have the perfect amount of growth between all the author and her characters.

[Nora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5 stars... Maybe.

This is an original idea (I think) of the author chiming in on their characters' story. At first, I found it irritating but quite quickly got used to it and even kind of enjoyed it at times. It was also entertaining to quite literally be part of the creation of the plot and how the author's own life influences the characters and vice versa.

So, the premise was relatively interesting, but the plot is what ultimately became my issue. It's very cliché and I'm pretty sure it was intended that way, but I was hoping it to be more original. Most things were just scratching the surface, like the secret brotherhood thing that was going on with Leo, Robin and Hugo that was basically not explored further after being introduced to the reader. Leo also fell SO HARD for Rosamund after what felt like five minutes and I just didn't buy the intensity of his feelings.

Mainly though it was Caroline's personal life I didn't understand why we had to follow it. Sure, it was cute to see more of her relationship with Henry but it also wasn't necessary for the story. And don't get me started on her work drama which had no real purpose — it was just a waste of words. I'd much rather we would have been able to read more about Rosamund and Leo and skip Caroline's storyline altogether.

[Susanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a full romance fan. Not that I don't like that, but I don't like when it is the main and most of all only point. It is nice when it shows how this intersects with life and what it can bring, and most of all when it is also a tool for commentary.

This just does it full force. I devoured the second part of the book, even though I knew most of what would happen (if you haven't seen the youtube short series, do yourself a favor and do, you won't regret it) and I liked it slightly less then the first half due to one, spoiler, reason, but I just appreciate the very well done meta commentary on tropes, so much.
Also, so much appreciation for... Let's call them aesthetic choices. Bravo.

A 9/10 that has to become a 5 star because this is just that unique. Lovely.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was this very deep or complex? Not really. But it was very funny, clever and occasionally thoughtful. It did what it was intending to do to perfection. This will probably get a few rereads by me, because it was just start to finish absolutely fun to read

[Matilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐

It was cute and I enjoyed it. At first I was rather annoyed with Caroline, it didn't feel like she cared at all about her characters feelings. But she had good charactergrowth and wad worried about Rosamund's feelings.

I just wish there was a proper closure between Caroline and Henry since it was clear they had feelings for eachother but neither dared to confess.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering how great the premise is, I was really expecting the actual book to be funnier idk.

[Iris · Rating 1 out of 5]

The YT series was fantastic - fresh and well-executed. The book version is a poorly written story, although I don't regret purchasing it. I'll explain why later.

Like any adaptation, 'Just Stab Me Now' should be able to stand on its own. Unfortunately, it fails to do so. It's a mess of awkwardly filled gaps between the shorts. There is no world-building. The romantic interests are created solely for the girls' sake without any agenda of their own. The villains pose no challenge to the protagonists and are whiny, incompetent, devoid of charisma fools. Additionally, neither protagonist pays the price for her mistakes or choices; being sad or worried doesn't count. It's ironic how a satire falls into the same traps it tries to make fun of.

I don't believe it's intentional or that the 'Oh, it's a first draft, it's supposed to be jarring' argument holds water. Mainly because Caroline's storyline is even worse than Rosamund's. Plus, the overall story suffers from treating its momentum like something you can hand-brake repeatedly. The book simply didn't convince me the author has enough skill and understanding of the medium to justify the low-quality writing. At least, not yet.

However, I appreciate the efforts put into developing the characters that I already liked from the shorts. There is love, hard work, and consideration of the fanbase. I adore the kids' reactions to Leo and the ways he wins them over. It shows the author has wonderful insights regarding life, romance, and fantasy. I hope she continues sharing them with us in better-written books.