2021 Love/Hate APRIL Challenge ⇀ I read awful romances that made me want to bang my head against a wall… 💢💀 (ft. robert pattinson)

Hi friends, welcome back to my blog! Today I’m going into depth about the books and movies Rebecca picked for me in April! Our theme for April was ROMANCE! Rebecca and I finally decied to recommend eachother some romance to read and watch, one we loved and one hated – the twist being that we have to try and figure out which is which! This month I was completely htrown into the deep end and out of my comfort zone, though to be fair I did the same to Rebecca! 😂

Find my other reviews for our previous Love/Hate challenges!

Make sure to check out Rebecca’s wrap up to read her thoughts on my picks this month’s theme!

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez | ⭐⭐.5

My guess: Hate ❌❌

My thoughts: At first I thought this was okay and I was actually enjoying it because I really liked the main character and how the author wasn’t shy about periods, especially unconventional ones. But, oh boy was I not a fan of this love interest (he kept going on about hunting???) and then eventually there was a plot moment that I just couldn’t let go of (for the sake of furthering the main characters love story) that really dropped the entire book for me and the entire book lost points from me for that (I mention it at the end of the spoilers section). I liked the idea of this book and it had some really interesting points and tropes but just never executed them in a way I wanted. And then that ending! Oh boy I was pissed OFF! I have a feeling that Rebecca didn’t like this one, just because I think the other book is more up her alley, but if she did like it, I’d be really interested to know why because the last 40% of this one did nothing but make me angry. 😬

*Spoilers* (highlight to see) Why have an entire book centered around not having children only to turn around in the end and say LOL MIRACLE BABY EVERYONE IS WHOLE AND HAPPY NOW. I’m sure that does happen, of course it does, but it just felt like a cop out way for the author to avoid properly rounding out the story and developing their characters. Also, I know this shouldn’t have been a big thing, but when she killed the love interest’s best friend I was out of the story, it felt really off to me and I was pretty much just finishing the book just to write this mini review and forget about it. Ugh.

Rebecca’s thoughts: When I saw this prompt, this was the first book that came to mind as I enjoyed this book up until the very end and I wanted to see if Ellyn would have a similar reaction. If you’ve read this book, you know exactly why I picked it. This book just felt like it was one of the most disappointing romances I’ve read.

Verdict: HATE ❌❌

White Whiskey Bargain by Jodie Slaughter | ⭐

My guess: Love 💕💕

My thoughts: I honestly don’t know what Rebecca was thinking making me read this but here we are. A solid 1 star read 😂. Is anyone surprised at this point? I read this in the back of the car on a day out with my mother and my aunt just because I needed something to do (and we were getting to the ass-end of the month without me having read it whoops) and it went just about how I expected it to. It was stupid and I couldn’t remember who was who and everyone fell in love too quickly BUT there was also food and a somewhat interesting love interest, hence the one star. I am just so so glad this was on Kindle Unlimited and I didn’t have to pay money to read it. I bet Rebecca loved it! 😂😂 (no tea, no shade, it just wasn’t for me.)

Rebecca’s comments: White Whiskey Bargain is a book I picked up on a whim and I absolutely loved it. It’s such a wonderful marriage of convenience story and I know that it probably wasn’t Ellyn’s taste. However, it was one of my favorite romances of 2020 and it was exactly what I wanted when I read it.

Verdict: LOVE 💕💕

[IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT I’M READING WHILE I’M READING, YOU CAN CATCH ME ON GOODREADS OR STORYGRAPH]

Remember Me | 0.5 ⭐

My guess: Hate ❌❌

My thoughts:

• I’m so glad film makers have mostly stopped making pretantious characters do stupid shit and get away with it.
• Absolutely so boring and there is nothing about the relationship that appeals to me.
• Does Robet Pattinson seem unhinged to anyone else?
• This would’ve been such an inpactful ending in the cinemas but it got spoiled for me years ago, unfortunately.
• I really think it’s such a cheap shot to use the ending as a plot point, especially just for the water cooler effect. I really think that the only reason it was included is because the filmmakers realised last minute that their entire movie was shit and nobody would talk about it so they tacked on the ending for impact. It’s gross and I can’t stand by it.

Rebecca’s thoughts: – Similar to The Friend Zone, this movie is great until it gets to a certain point. I absolutely despise when people use this event as a plot twist and this movie could have been done in a better way. Plus it has Robert Pattinson in it which should have made the movie into a hit but this was a major NOPE for me. 

Verdict: HATE ❌❌

Always Be My Maybe | ⭐⭐.5

*I didn’t have time to rewatch this one in April so once again we have to deal with 2019 me’s review! Sorry!

My guess: Love 💕💕

My thoughts:

• I love when a rom-com centers around food
• I think this movie would have lost at least half a star if the Keanu cameo wasn’t there.
• I watched this when it came out in 2019 and I’ve literally never felt the need to watch it again BUT I do like Ali Wong and Randall Park and I think they did a good job in this movie. That being said, even though this is a Netflix movie I feel like if the Keanu cameo hadn’t happened this movie would’ve been so average and unmemorable.
• I feel like Rebecca probably loved this to be honest, but I’m saying that purely based off the fact that I vaguely remember discussing the movie with her when it came out and because I don’t think Remember Me would’ve been her jam at all.

Rebecca’s thoughts: As for the other movie, I decided to go with Always Be My Maybe which is a movie I watched a few years ago and I absolutely loved it. I thought that the relationship at the heart was what made it so great. These two were so easy to root for and it also featured a cameo from Keanu Reeves. This movie just makes me so darn happy and I really need to do a rewatch.

Verdict: LOVE 💕💕

[IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT I’M WATCHING WHILE I’M WATCHING, YOU CAN CATCH ME ON LETTERBOXD]

My picks for Rebecca

The Books

• The One – John Marrs
• Legendary – Stephanie Garber

The Movies

• Set It Up (2018) – Dir. Claire Scanlon
• Beauty and The Beast (2017) – Dir. Bill Condon

This month I forced Rebecca to watch two very different romances, one that I absolutely LOVE and one that I quite literally cannot stand… so I really can’t wait to hear her thoughts on them both! And this month I also forced Rebecca to continue the Caraval series and pick up a thriller so I’m very excited to see what she thinks of them both since they’re both out of her usual wheelhouse!

What did you read in March?
Have you seen/read any of Rebecca’s picks?

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