Can't Look Away
It’s 2013, and Sabrina, aka Sisi, dreams of building a life with Jake Danner, the lead singer for band on the rise, Danner Lane. The problem is Molly - at least that’s how she sees it. It’s not the fact that Jake isn’t in love with her. No - it’s that ever since he saw Molly at one of his gigs, he’s convinced SHE’S the woman of his dreams, and now those two are planning their future together.
That’s OK. Sabrina knows how to play the long game and a little “creative meddling” will solve the Molly problem. You see - it’s now 2022, and a LOT has changed. Maybe she can have exactly what she wants after all. What’s the old saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Molly may not know Sabrina, but Sabrina knows SO much about Molly.
Molly is now happily married to Hunter and mom to five-year-old Stella. In her affluent town of Flynn Cove, where she hasn’t been able to connect with the other snobby wives, she’s so happy to have befriended one of its newest residents … Sabrina. Molly is sure they’ll be best friends. They have so much in common. More than she realizes.
So, basically this is another jilted woman story where the “jiltee” (making up words) doesn’t like getting the raw end of the deal and sociopathically manipulates people and circumstances in an attempt to get what she wants and keep it. I actually found the story quite engaging, even if not overly original. I’m not sure I can wrap my brain around why female characters always seem to be vying for the affections of a man not worth vying for, but whatever. I thought Lovering did a great job humanizing each character, so their motivations, no matter how misplaced, at least made sense. Here’s where it lost a couple stars:
• An OTT dramatic event towards the end led to an overly tidy denouement. It didn’t feel realistic, nor did some of the related conversations that happened afterward.
• Lovering apparently LOVES the “F” word and its variations. The word doesn’t scare me a bit, but close to 100 uses? Pick a different word already.
• Speaking of counting things, there were more than 130 specific product/brand name references. Are these brands sponsoring the book? If not, it’s distracting.
• Disney’s Frozen was referenced 19 separate times. I get it. The little girl loves Frozen. For the love of everything, please stop mentioning it.
• The fact that I noticed things so much that I felt compelled to count them. That’s a problem for me.
All that said, I did actually like this book for the most part and the story kept me turning the pages, so no complaints there!
★★★ ½ (rounded to 3)
Thanks to St. Martins Press, NetGalley and author Carola Lovering for the opportunity to review this ARC honestly. It’s due for publication June 14, 2022.
That’s OK. Sabrina knows how to play the long game and a little “creative meddling” will solve the Molly problem. You see - it’s now 2022, and a LOT has changed. Maybe she can have exactly what she wants after all. What’s the old saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Molly may not know Sabrina, but Sabrina knows SO much about Molly.
Molly is now happily married to Hunter and mom to five-year-old Stella. In her affluent town of Flynn Cove, where she hasn’t been able to connect with the other snobby wives, she’s so happy to have befriended one of its newest residents … Sabrina. Molly is sure they’ll be best friends. They have so much in common. More than she realizes.
So, basically this is another jilted woman story where the “jiltee” (making up words) doesn’t like getting the raw end of the deal and sociopathically manipulates people and circumstances in an attempt to get what she wants and keep it. I actually found the story quite engaging, even if not overly original. I’m not sure I can wrap my brain around why female characters always seem to be vying for the affections of a man not worth vying for, but whatever. I thought Lovering did a great job humanizing each character, so their motivations, no matter how misplaced, at least made sense. Here’s where it lost a couple stars:
• An OTT dramatic event towards the end led to an overly tidy denouement. It didn’t feel realistic, nor did some of the related conversations that happened afterward.
• Lovering apparently LOVES the “F” word and its variations. The word doesn’t scare me a bit, but close to 100 uses? Pick a different word already.
• Speaking of counting things, there were more than 130 specific product/brand name references. Are these brands sponsoring the book? If not, it’s distracting.
• Disney’s Frozen was referenced 19 separate times. I get it. The little girl loves Frozen. For the love of everything, please stop mentioning it.
• The fact that I noticed things so much that I felt compelled to count them. That’s a problem for me.
All that said, I did actually like this book for the most part and the story kept me turning the pages, so no complaints there!
★★★ ½ (rounded to 3)
Thanks to St. Martins Press, NetGalley and author Carola Lovering for the opportunity to review this ARC honestly. It’s due for publication June 14, 2022.
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