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A review by saylaurmoon
A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
3.0
↠ 3.5 stars ⭐️
This was one of my most anticipated reads for the year. I absolutely adored The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip. AND the premise was pure gold, so I really thought this might be a new favorite Ashley Poston for me. However, I'm sad to report that is not the case. This one kind of missed the mark for me.
To start, I loved the premise of this story and the prose. I always love Ashley's writing, and that still holds true here. It's fresh, fun, and easy to follow. And I loved the premise of our FMC, Eileen, getting lost in one of her favorite fictional worlds with her favorite fictional characters. I mean, that's any book lover's dream, isn't it?! I enjoyed the whimsical small-town setting of Quixotic Falls and the characters.
But sadly, Eileen was overshadowed by the setting and characters of QF. She lacked depth and I found it hard to connect or care about her much. Which I found incredibly ironic for a character trying to finally "be the main character in her own life."
Now, my biggest disappointment:
The romance between Eileen and Anders felt like background music.
IN A ROMANCE NOVEL.
The romance was bland. It lacked tension and chemistry. It didn't build or unfold naturally. It felt abrupt and shallow—forced, even. Eileen seemed to spend more time with the QF side characters than with Anders, almost as if this wasn't originally meant to be a romance and then it was haphazardly woven into the story. Even the spicy scene was meh. Eileen and Anders lacked the depth or connection required for the moment to mean anything to me. It doesn't help that Anders had the personality of a stale piece of toast.. but I digress.
Despite my disappointment, I did enjoy the plot itself. I didn't really see the big reveal coming—which wasn't that big, but it did take me by surprise. And I cried a bit too, so Ashley is still 3/3 on tears shed.
A Novel Love Story is truly a love letter to authors and how their stories and characters can be so much more to us as readers, and I can relate to and appreciate that aspect of it. But unfortunately, it was not the love letter to the romance reader in me that I hoped it would be. It left something to be desired, and that makes me so sad because I really thought this would be a top of the year for me.
I listened to a lot of this on audio, and maybe that's where I went wrong. Maybe it prevented me from feeling connected to the characters and story. Maybe I had too much distraction lately to truly escape and leave the real world behind. I noticed I enjoyed the parts that I read more than the parts that I listened to. So, is the real beef between me and my life currently, me and the audiobook, or me and the story itself? /shrug
Perhaps one day I'll give it another chance.
₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆. ₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆.₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆. ₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆.
Quotes
I'll add some later k
₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆. ₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆.₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆. ₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆.
Check out my reviews on bookstagram
This was one of my most anticipated reads for the year. I absolutely adored The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip. AND the premise was pure gold, so I really thought this might be a new favorite Ashley Poston for me. However, I'm sad to report that is not the case. This one kind of missed the mark for me.
To start, I loved the premise of this story and the prose. I always love Ashley's writing, and that still holds true here. It's fresh, fun, and easy to follow. And I loved the premise of our FMC, Eileen, getting lost in one of her favorite fictional worlds with her favorite fictional characters. I mean, that's any book lover's dream, isn't it?! I enjoyed the whimsical small-town setting of Quixotic Falls and the characters.
But sadly, Eileen was overshadowed by the setting and characters of QF. She lacked depth and I found it hard to connect or care about her much. Which I found incredibly ironic for a character trying to finally "be the main character in her own life."
Now, my biggest disappointment:
The romance between Eileen and Anders felt like background music.
IN A ROMANCE NOVEL.
The romance was bland. It lacked tension and chemistry. It didn't build or unfold naturally. It felt abrupt and shallow—forced, even. Eileen seemed to spend more time with the QF side characters than with Anders, almost as if this wasn't originally meant to be a romance and then it was haphazardly woven into the story. Even the spicy scene was meh. Eileen and Anders lacked the depth or connection required for the moment to mean anything to me. It doesn't help that Anders had the personality of a stale piece of toast.. but I digress.
Despite my disappointment, I did enjoy the plot itself. I didn't really see the big reveal coming—which wasn't that big, but it did take me by surprise. And I cried a bit too, so Ashley is still 3/3 on tears shed.
A Novel Love Story is truly a love letter to authors and how their stories and characters can be so much more to us as readers, and I can relate to and appreciate that aspect of it. But unfortunately, it was not the love letter to the romance reader in me that I hoped it would be. It left something to be desired, and that makes me so sad because I really thought this would be a top of the year for me.
I listened to a lot of this on audio, and maybe that's where I went wrong. Maybe it prevented me from feeling connected to the characters and story. Maybe I had too much distraction lately to truly escape and leave the real world behind. I noticed I enjoyed the parts that I read more than the parts that I listened to. So, is the real beef between me and my life currently, me and the audiobook, or me and the story itself? /shrug
Perhaps one day I'll give it another chance.
₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆. ₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆.₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆. ₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆.
Quotes
I'll add some later k
₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆. ₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆.₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆. ₊‧.°.⋆˚₊‧⋆.
Check out my reviews on bookstagram