Rent a Boyfriend
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
"Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn't met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your 'Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents. Drew Chan's passionis art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your 'Rents operative to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like 'Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures' comes naturally to him. When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they'll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and douchiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian Americancommunity. But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew, who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not 'rent-worthy, her carefully curated life begins to unravel"--Dust jacket.
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Rent a Boyfriend started out rough for me.
It jumps right into the action, which was fine. I was looking forward to this book because fake relationships are my absolute jam, my favorite trope, by far. So, as far as I'm concerned, the quicker we get to the pretending, the better. The drawback? You don't know the characters well.
As I read Rent a Boyfriend, I couldn't help thinking that it read more like fanfiction than a novel. I can't put my finger on why. The overly dramatic thoughts and scenarios? Probably. Hongbo, the impetus for Chloe renting a boyfriend, was a straight-up jerk-boy caricature in his first scene (which got the point across that we don't like him, but it was a bit ridiculous). There was just something about Chloe and Drew's thoughts and dialogue that just felt stilted and unrealistic – and (like I said) mediocre fanfiction.
As the book went on, however, I liked it more and more. The writing/dialogue still wasn't great, but as it delved more into Chloe's identity and her relationship with her parents, I connected with the story and characters more. Also, for a book that involves a crazy amount of lying, Chloe and Drew's communication was the best I've seen in any romance book in a long time. It was refreshing.
Overall, mixed feelings. The writing and language felt awkward and stilted for the whole book, but Rent a Boyfriend delved deeper than I expected it to and redeemed itself a bit.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
