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The Unhoneymooners (Unhoneymooners, #1)

Christina Lauren

Start date: May 1, 2022

Finish date: May 31, 2022

Discussion: ❃Book of the Month (BOTMs)❃

Why we're reading this: May Romance Book of the Month
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❃Book of the Month (BOTMs)❃

* January 2023 - One of Us is Lying
By Alexandria , The Third Book Nerd · 1 post · 18 views

last updated Jan 04, 2023 08:32AM

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December 2022 - Red, White & Royal Blue
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last updated Jan 04, 2023 08:32AM

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What Members Thought

Sep 10, 2021 aurey rated it liked it · review of another edition

I don't really understand why this book is recommended so much.

I can't even begin to count how many times I was recommended this book. I was told it was an enemies-to-lovers with fake dating and had a rom-com feel to it. I just... don't know if The Unhoneymooners lives up to those descriptions.

Hiding the rest of the review for spoilers :)

(view spoiler) I don't really understand why this book is recommended so much.

I can't even begin to count how many times I was recommended this book. I was told it was an enemies-to-lovers with fake dating and had a rom-com feel to it. I just... don't know if The Unhoneymooners lives up to those descriptions.

Hiding the rest of the review for spoilers :)

(view spoiler)[I guess my first grievance with this book would be the fact that Olive and Ethan were not actually enemies. I love enemies to lovers soooo much. I was looking forward to two people who hate each other being in forced proximity but that's not what I got. Ethan and Olive don't actually hate each other, IT'S A MISUNDERSTANDING. I loathe misunderstandings. You're telling me that for YEARS they had a misunderstanding and just pretended to hate each other after that? Because they just assumed they both hated each other? WHAT???!

I will be honest though, I did enjoy some of the banter. *SOME* of the banter was actually good and made me laugh. The constant Harry Potter references on the other hand made me want to gauge my eyes out and burn my Harry Potter books. I hereby challenge millennials to not include Harry Potter references in their books. PLEASE, I'm on my knees begging.

I know this book is supposed to be rom-com but the 'com' parts of this book were just embarrassing. I have horrible SHE (second hand embarrassment) so I wish that authors would stop equating embarrassing scenes to comedy. All that is accomplished is me hating myself and the book. Stop, please.

The fake dating was... okay. Coincidentally, the book I read prior to this also had fake dating and I guess I just like how that book did it better. (The Upside of Falling by Alex Light for anyone curious) I guess I feel this way because the reason they had to fake date was so stupid and unrealistic. Like her new boss AND his ex were at the same resort? Fat chance.

I also feel like there wasn't romance, only lust that we were told was romance. I just didn't feel their love. It also felt a bit anticlimactic to have fade to black scenes. I don't mind fade to black whatsoever, but there was so much tension and then it suddenly dissipated.

The story also fell kinda flat for me when they got back from the trip. It also made me hate Ethan. If my boyfriend did what Ethan did I would have never spoken to him again. Ethan, Dane, and Ami are all assholes. Ethan and Ami in particular pissed me off. They literally made Olive feel crazy, even when she was right, all because they said she was cynical and saw the bad in everything so they wouldn't believe her. Hello? What? It just ruined those two characters for me.

Also the way Ethan apologized made me want to gag. If a man ever invaded my place of work and begged for forgiveness in a tacky tourist shirt I would move out of the country. AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE EPILOGUE. I skimmed through it I just COULDN'T. Call 911 because I'm dying of embarrassment. (hide spoiler)]

Overall, I think this book had a lot of potential but I ultimately just didn't like the way it unfolded. I also hate quirky, cringey, IDK-how-beautiful-I-am MC's. With all that said.... I didn't hate it. There were actually parts where I had fun. Up until about 70% through the book, I actually wanted to rate it 4 stars. But because I got bored and because I hated the way the plot unfolded I knocked it down to a 3. Not bad but definitely not as good as people make it out to be. ...more

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