A free copy of this book was provided thanks to NetGalley, Emma Hughes, and Random House UK Publishing.
P.S. The dog in the background is called Albert and he's an absolute softy!
Dates read: 22/11/2021 to 03/02/2021
Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Word to describe: Unenthusiastic
Genre: Romantic Fiction
No Such Thing As Perfect by Emma Hughes follows the same format as all the well-loved romance novels before it. The overworked female, who isn't looking for love, ends up finding a lover after being pushed to start dating by someone they know, whether that be a best friend or family member. However, unlike its predecessors, I feel like this book failed to hit the mark that makes it stand out from all of the other romance novels. The story felt lackluster and similar to every other romance book published.
The plot holds promise for a romance that is too good to be true. However, the actuality of it is that, whilst the plot is brilliant; the characters are bland and lack any form of personality development. The initial romance between Laura and Adam is so robotic (and I understand that was the intention) it was so distracting. The characters felt hollow and under-developed. I had a hard time enjoying this book and had to take frequent breaks because the main character Laura was incredibly boring and whiny! The constant inner monologue about her relationship with her sister was tedious. I was more interested in the story behind side characters like Laura's sister and her desperation for a child and her parents' complicated relationship than I was the actual main character.
Putting the main character aside, the plot does offer a great story of unlikely romance. But it was so predictable, even if it hadn't been explicitly written on the description, at the halfway point it became incredibly obvious that Laura was just not that into Adam. Anyone reading will have noticed that she was drawn to the searing sexual tension between herself and the rugged app developer. Even if the author aimed for this to be intentional, it felt like a wasted opportunity to really develop this story and the character's potential.
I really enjoyed the book for the first half, and then by the second half everything that made this book a worthwhile read simply evaporated from the page. The small moments of humour, character likeability, and especially the predictability of the plot simply made the latter half a drawn-out read. I guess you could say for this book there is no such thing as perfect.
I received a free ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley, Emma Hughes, and Random House UK Publishing.
Comments