My Rating: 1.5 stars
Trigger Warnings: sexual assault/harassment, cheating
This book was a trip. My first book of the year is almost always a 5 star read and sadly, this year, I broke that streak hard lol. This book follows Nory, short for Elinor Noel, as she reunites with her school friends in a castle to pre-game her friends’ wedding with a week of reminiscing and letting loose.
What I did like about this book is first of all the cover. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and I honestly have to look up the artist and see if she sells any prints in a shop or something. This was my first British rom-com and as I was reading the story and getting into Nory’s world, it truly did feel like cozy and funny. It had that signature British feel and dry humor. Nory runs a second hand bookshop with a friend that’s hidden in a shopping center or corner of Town where all the shop owners know and care for each other. It was giving strong Notting Hill vibes. I liked the idea of a bookseller who gets too attached to their books to actually sell them. I thought it was funny and cute and I’m sure is somewhat relatable to some people.
This book also has a lot to do with gardening and plants. When Nory leaves Town for her hometown where this Castle is, she bumps into an old acquaintance who’s a gardener. There’s a lot of discussion on art history, specifically the history of art centered around nature. I thought it was very interesting and while it’s not exactly my cup of tea, I personally didn’t mind it.
The romance in this book isn’t necessarily steamy. It’s mostly a closed door romance and there’s barely any tension. The will they/won’t they back and forth was barely there so if you’re looking for a sweet, easy to read romance, this one might work for you. I personally wasn’t too bothered by it because I was in a pretty big reading slump when I picked this up and the low stakes romance felt cozy enough for me.
A lot of rom com books tend to have the United States as their setting and hence focus on more American social commentary. As this book took place in Britain, there was a lot of discussion on old money vs new money and just the idea of class in general. I thought it was interesting and since I’m not British, I can’t comment on it as much as I would like to.
Having said that, I did have a problem with Nory and her relationships with her friends who are in the higher class of society. Nory is the scholarship kid in her friend group. Her parents run a gardening business while her friends parents come from aristocratic family or own million dollar businesses. It just felt like at times, Nory was being too nice about her friend’s ignorance about certain things. Does it make sense why they’re ignorant? Yes. But as thirty something year olds, they had enough life experience to grow as people. I know that privilege tends to be something that affects one’s mentality and lifestyle in ways deeper than we know, so I know it’s not fair to generalize, but still.
The one thing that made me truly dislike this book is a character named Guy. Again, it makes sense why he’s got a lot of self-growth that he needs to prioritize but I do not like how easily his actions were brushed off. It doesn’t matter if you’re drunk, groping or trying to grope your friend who’s said no before isn’t cool. And it’s not something you just excuse because they’re your friend. I know that may be a spoiler but personally, I think that it should be said since it kind of feels like sexual harassment or assault.
Whether it be dealing with her friends’ being somewhat rude and outlandish and with her interactions with Guy, I feel like she’s always apologizing or making excuses for them. It was a bit sad at first but towards the end, when the love interest calls her out and says, hey why are you apologizing for everyone, she’s like yeah true and then continues apologizing! I think there was one paragraph where she stood up for her self when one of her friend’s said “Well, that’s just Guy, he’s our friend.” Which by the way, made me so mad because where’s this level of loyalty and respect to your friend who’s a woman who got put in a horrible situation because this man came at her once again after being told that she’s not interested.
My excitement for this book just fizzled out as I got deeper and deeper into it because there was no character development for Nory and she to came off a bit childish and selfish towards the end when she went against the wishes of her love interest.
It was a bit sad honestly because amidst the parts where I wanted to scream in frustration, there were highly entertaining parts like a big floppy dog named Lettuce and pre-wedding antics and mishaps that made me chuckle. This book tried really hard to be socially forward while doing the opposite at times.