The Second You're Single

I'm eight chapters in and putting the toe tag on this one. 

Sora is a writer who's sworn to a solo February without men after she "kinda" decided that continuing to sleep with Dan, a married man with children, isn't cool. It’s a bit like saying, “Hmmm … maybe I SHOULDN’T have lit that house on fire.” Ugh. There's problem number one with this book. 

Then there's problem number two: the sometimes forced and repetitive humor.  Sora references bacon 65 times in the book - half of those in the first eight chapters alone. Yes, bacon surely is a little gift from heaven, but you can only milk one joke for so long, and this milk has gone sour! 

This brings me to problem number three: Food and body size are frequently mentioned and Sora's mom fat-shames and pressures Sora to diet constantly, though she's an average size, then commends Sora's irritating size double 0 sister, Nami. So much for body positivity!

That leads me into problem number four: For a book that seems to be highlighting the idea of women embracing their worth - particularly apart from a man, there's not one single likable female character so far. As yet, I've gotten a buffet of sarcastic, shallow, vapid, pushy, entitled, and whiny females. I can't root for the ladies here when these are my only options! 

The potential love interest - pastry chef Jack - seems OK, but it's hard to understand what he finds so appealing about Sora, so ... problem number five ... I'm not invested in waiting for their HEA ending. Run for the hills, Jack, and take those oft-mentioned tasty mini tortes with you!

To seal the deal for me is problem number six: in a major tonal whiplash move, the author brings in a child with leukemia. She's the only character I'd be pulling for, but she feels so out of place in a book that’s built itself around mostly light, sarcastic and sometimes sexual humor thus far.

There is one bright spot for me in all this: Cara Tanamachi can write. I can see her talent in the words and structure, even if this particular story is missing the mark for me. It’s not a bad book - it’s just not the type of story and humor I gravitate towards. Check out other reviews to see if it’s a better fit for you!

DNF - no rating

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press Griffin, NetGalley and author Cara Tanamachi for this digital ARC to honestly review. It’s due for publication January 31, 2023.