When two ex-best friends decide to hold a competition for the new girl's heart, they don't expect to fall for each other instead.
Emma has been a thorn in Caleb’s side since middle school. Having tarnished their friendship in eighth grade, she’s now little more to him than an unkempt, unruly, disastrous bisexual mess. Over the years, she’s gotten in the way of every romantic relationship he’s attempted to settle into, using little more than mischievous charisma to lure them into her clutches.
To Emma, Caleb sets the record for World’s Largest Stick in the Mud. Uptight, unbearably tidy, and a rule-follower, he’s exactly the kind of boring person her mother wishes she was. When she discovers they’re both after Juliet, the new girl, Emma proposes a competition to nudge him out of the way. Whoever can get Juliet to kiss them first wins, and the opposition must bow out with the promise of never talking to her again.
But plans go awry when Juliet seems mostly interested in hanging out with both of them together. Emma and Caleb just have to figure out whether winning Juliet’s heart is worth the torment of constantly dealing with each other, and the risk of reopening wounds from a past they thought they had left behind.
I'll give the author credit; her characters acknowledge how scummy the plan they come up with is. Doesn't stop them from going through with it, but at least they have that much going for them.
Part of the problem here, I think, is that I didn't connect to the characters. I can see what Amanda was going for, but I found Caleb and Emma irritating in different ways. Caleb’s uptight and overly tidy nature often felt too rigid and unrelatable, while Emma's chaotic and mischievous behaviour came across as too disruptive. Juliet's manic energy added to the mix, creating a dynamic that just didn’t resonate with me.
However, I did appreciate the LGBT+ representation, and there were genuinely funny moments, mostly provided by Emma. This isn't a bad book by any measurement. We just didn't suit each other. I'm sure that other readers will enjoy this far more than I did, and I really hope they do. For those who enjoy a chaotic love triangle with well-represented diverse characters, this book might just be perfect.
Exes & Foes publishes on the 23rd of July, 2024. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment