Aleks
Undoubtedly charming, but suffers under the weight of its genre obligations. Also, I just don’t buy this male character. I think it’s too much laid on too thick that he’s loved her from afar for years (semi-openly!), that he’s emotionally repressed but also incredibly emotionally articulate… tips too far over the edge of disbelief for me. At one point she’s like “I expected him to be mean to me!” But he literally barely has ever even been rude to you. It’s tough to make a character difficult enough to facilitate the narrative while also not a total asshole you want dead, and you can really feel Henry struggling with where to draw that line. Also I think it’s always so funny when a book like this ends with a stapled-on final chapter reassuring you that they got engaged. Like, true love— not quite enough! Readers need to know they made it legal, apparently. Anyways my favourite line in the whole thing was when she said her best friend “screams whenever she turns left”. Soo fucking real and such a tight, funny, vivid character moment— I wanted more like that and less “I’m the sexiest and most in touch with my feelings guy ever 😇 except when I’m not 👿”.
Undoubtedly charming, but suffers under the weight of its genre obligations. Also, I just don’t buy this male character. I think it’s too much laid on too thick that he’s loved her from afar for years (semi-openly!), that he’s emotionally repressed but also incredibly emotionally articulate… tips too far over the edge of disbelief for me. At one point she’s like “I expected him to be mean to me!” But he literally barely has ever even been rude to you. It’s tough to make a character difficult enough to facilitate the narrative while also not a total asshole you want dead, and you can really feel Henry struggling with where to draw that line. Also I think it’s always so funny when a book like this ends with a stapled-on final chapter reassuring you that they got engaged. Like, true love— not quite enough! Readers need to know they made it legal, apparently. Anyways my favourite line in the whole thing was when she said her best friend “screams whenever she turns left”. Soo fucking real and such a tight, funny, vivid character moment— I wanted more like that and less “I’m the sexiest and most in touch with my feelings guy ever 😇 except when I’m not 👿”.