Good Girl Complex

I've read one other Elle Kennedy book – The Deal, because I'm a sucker for fake dating – and I doubt I'll read another after Good Girl Complex.

I liked The Deal well enough, but now I think I mostly liked it because it featured tropes I enjoy. Good Girl Complex has tropes I absolutely, positively, do not want to read.

These include:
-Rich/Poor relationship with chips on both characters' shoulders
-Bad Boy/Good Girl
-Not Like Other (Rich) Girls
-Worst of all: they got together because of a bet

I didn't connect to either Mackenzie or Cooper and honestly disliked them both. Mac is a twenty-year-old who doesn't want to be in college because she wants to focus on her million-dollar business, but her wealthy and influential parents want her to get a degree. (Geez, I wonder why I didn't connect to her).
Cooper got screwed over by Mac's ex, and Coop and his friends decide the best revenge is to get his girlfriend (Mac) to dump him for Cooper. One of the friends says it's a horrible thing to do to their credit. But still.

It got to the point in the story where I just didn't want to keep going. You know the bet will blow up in Cooper's face, and they'll break up for a time, then get back together. There wasn't tension? (And then they don't even work through things on screen? It's just “Yup, let's get back together and walk into the sunset without fully discussing the issues that made us break up in the first place.”)
I would have preferred if it dropped the bet plot way earlier in the story and then explored some of the other plot points more: Evan and Cooper's relationship with their mom. More of Mackenzie fixing up the hotel. More of them navigating their relationship instead of the annoying drama that's been done by a plethora of early 2000s teen movies.
So, unlikeable characters (that I think I'm supposed to be rooting for?) and an annoying plot – I'd definitely recommend skipping Good Girl Complex.

Audiobook Review: The narrators were fine. The performances were a little too dramatic for my tastes, however (Like, I was getting embarrassed for the characters and how over the top their thoughts were).

“And then you showed up and I started getting ideas. Maybe I didn't have to settle for slightly better than nothing. Maybe I could even be happy”

I highlighted this specific quote purely because it was one that immediately stuck out for me.

For most of my life I had convinced myself that I was the common denominator in all the bad things that would occur. I didn't believe that I would get a happy ending or anything close to it, I had accepted that I would just have to learn to be happy with whatever life threw at me. It's so refreshing to see characters that have been handed the most crappiest cards - characters that are relatable in ways that aren't ‘oh they're so quirky' or ‘they love books and i do too' but in a profound way that means something to me.

3,5 ⭐️
Ich liebe den Schreibstil von Elle Kennedy und auch die Charaktere von ihr. Das war auch in diesem. Ich wieder der Fall. Es war mir nur etwas sehr Klischeehaft und ab ca 50% wusste ich jedes Detail was noch kommt und war daher sehr sehr vorhersehbar.
Ich liebe das Setting und einfach Elle Kennedy daher weder ich auch die weiteren Bucher der Reihe lesen

Mckenzie comes from a very traditional family, whose expectations for her future include a good marriage and a role as a family woman (does this still happen?). She has a rich boyfriend who, despite being an idiot, meets all the family's requirements. Excluding her online business, she tends to do everything accordingly to her family expectations.

After a gap year, Mckenzie starts college where she meets a “not so bad boy“ and falls in love.

This book is exactly what it purports to be. While not surprising, it was a light and fun read with a bit of a “Gilmore Girls” vibe.