By Yulin Kuang
The first chapter started off strong, setting an expectation for a layered love story filled with touching conflict and deep themes. But that depth started and ended on page 4.
The writing was fine and easy to read, though there were a few times where the character’s behaviour was over-explained, and the author had a tendency to tell instead of show — very minor details. My gripe with this novel isn’t the writing, but the lack of plot and real conflict. Nothing happens, and nothing is explored: the love interest was involved in the accident that killed the main character’s sister, yet it’s rarely mentioned, and they go from near enemies to being smitten with each other very suddenly. It felt so unnatural. Why is there an entire chapter dedicated to the protagonists visiting a hardware store, but no scenes of them dealing with any real trauma or emotional fallout from their past?
The main character seems emotionally avoidant, which, if you’re reaching for straws, could explain why the sister’s death is never properly addressed throughout the story. But even with that, the emotional avoidance is also presented in a shallow way. You could argue that the characters are just trying to move on from their past, but then the accident just seems like an unnecessarily dark way for their lives to be entwined if you’re not actually going to take the story to a dark, reflective place. If replacing the sister’s traumatic death with another shallow event (like just being enemies in high school) wouldn’t affect the story, then there’s no need for it.
Homicide, suicide, and grief are heavy topics that carry weight, and they were not given the respect they deserve in this book. It had so much potential to be an emotional, dramatic, forbidden love story, but it’s so vapid.
Descriptive writing: 6/10
Character depth: 3/10
DNF at 75%
Try Me Before You by Jojo Moyes instead.