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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for an ARC of this book for an honest review.
I adored this book. Theo and Evie (pronounced Eh-vee, since itās short for Evelyn), have been friends forever. Theyāve also been in love with each other forever. But theyāre just friends. When Evie takes an internship and needs medical insurance for her Crohns, Theo offers for them to get married so she can use his benefits. Which ignites all their feelings for each other, which neither one will admit.
Theo and Evie are very fleshed out characters. They met at dance class when they were kids. They were partners in dances through high school, until Evie falls during a routine. This is also where sheās finally diagnosed with Crohns (because of course all their doctors told her the stomach issues she had were normal or related to her period).
Evie has complicated feelings about relationships. Her dad left early on, and her mother left her and her sister with her grandparents to ātake a breakā, and now she has a new family and seems to be the perfect mother. Her grandparents never married, so the non-marriage option suits her just fine. Theo had a great family, until his mom died of cancer, and then he and his dad butted heads and never got their relationship ship back on track. But he still believes marriage is what shows the world you are ultimately committed to each other.
Other things I loved. Both Evie and Theo are Jewish, but it wasnāt thrown in the readers face like some other books do (meaning, there want any over explaining, theyāre just Jewish). And Evie representing a hidden disability, that is in remission, but she still has to watch what she eats and watch her stress levels so it doesnāt flare up. Also, both of them are in therapy, Theo to deal with the grief of losing his mother and Evie to deal with her Crohns.
Theo and Evie are both very flawed people, but they work well together. Itās not a matter of them finally realizing they both love each other, itās them putting aside their views on relationships to finally be together.
I adored this book. Theo and Evie (pronounced Eh-vee, since itās short for Evelyn), have been friends forever. Theyāve also been in love with each other forever. But theyāre just friends. When Evie takes an internship and needs medical insurance for her Crohns, Theo offers for them to get married so she can use his benefits. Which ignites all their feelings for each other, which neither one will admit.
Theo and Evie are very fleshed out characters. They met at dance class when they were kids. They were partners in dances through high school, until Evie falls during a routine. This is also where sheās finally diagnosed with Crohns (because of course all their doctors told her the stomach issues she had were normal or related to her period).
Evie has complicated feelings about relationships. Her dad left early on, and her mother left her and her sister with her grandparents to ātake a breakā, and now she has a new family and seems to be the perfect mother. Her grandparents never married, so the non-marriage option suits her just fine. Theo had a great family, until his mom died of cancer, and then he and his dad butted heads and never got their relationship ship back on track. But he still believes marriage is what shows the world you are ultimately committed to each other.
Other things I loved. Both Evie and Theo are Jewish, but it wasnāt thrown in the readers face like some other books do (meaning, there want any over explaining, theyāre just Jewish). And Evie representing a hidden disability, that is in remission, but she still has to watch what she eats and watch her stress levels so it doesnāt flare up. Also, both of them are in therapy, Theo to deal with the grief of losing his mother and Evie to deal with her Crohns.
Theo and Evie are both very flawed people, but they work well together. Itās not a matter of them finally realizing they both love each other, itās them putting aside their views on relationships to finally be together.
First, THANK YOU so much to the author Marisa Kantor and the publishing company Celadon Books for choosing and sending me my first ever physical ARC.
Now, for my honest review, and I am always going to be honest on this page, I really wanted to love this book. It had such great potential. I loved the concept of it but this book took me a lot longing to get through then I anticipated. I did have a hard time getting through it at some points in the book it was very slow. I enjoyed the flashbacks of the characters, but I didnāt really resonate with either character. They werenāt two people I would have wanted to meet in real life. I didnāt believe their love. I didnāt enjoy their romance because they didnāt really seem too āin loveā it felt forced. I also, did not understand the endingā¦ did they breakup? and then get back together all within a couple hours?
I would love to read another book from Marisa Kantor, as does have get plots and I understand what she wanted to get from this book.
First a huge thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for both the physical arc and audio.
For the audio, I thought the voice actors were very good. I would give their performance a 5/5.
Over all rating for the book is 3.5. First off, I am not a fan of friends to lovers, so I do think that set me up for failure. I also personally found the FMC to be really annoying at times and struggled to embrace her. I do think that if you love friends to lovers, you will enjoy this book! So please take my review as a grain of salt.
For the audio, I thought the voice actors were very good. I would give their performance a 5/5.
Over all rating for the book is 3.5. First off, I am not a fan of friends to lovers, so I do think that set me up for failure. I also personally found the FMC to be really annoying at times and struggled to embrace her. I do think that if you love friends to lovers, you will enjoy this book! So please take my review as a grain of salt.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Marriage of convenience
Friends to lovers
Found family
Evie and Theo story would make a great movie.
These two are best friends who through thoughtful conversations and weighing the pros and cons of digging into a different type of relationship find love in a way they couldnāt see before.
Lighthearted and quick listen.
Friends to lovers
Found family
Evie and Theo story would make a great movie.
These two are best friends who through thoughtful conversations and weighing the pros and cons of digging into a different type of relationship find love in a way they couldnāt see before.
Lighthearted and quick listen.
emotional
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this ALC!
Friends with Benefits is going to be released on May 6th. Best friends Evie and Theo hatch a practical plan to marryāEvie needs health insurance to accept her dream Foley artist fellowship, and Theo needs to keep his rent-controlled apartment. Itās supposed to be simple and logical, but complications arise when Theoās long-standing feelings for Evie threaten to upend their arrangement. As they navigate their new reality, theyāre forced to confront what marriage truly meansāand whether their friendship can survive it. This one didnāt work out for me, and Iām disappointed because marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes! But the writing was clunky, with too much info-dumping right from the start, which completely distracted me from the love story. I didnāt feel anything for the charactersāthey were quite annoying, and I just couldnāt get invested in their romance. That said, this was my first time listening to narrators Gail Shalan and GM Hakim, and I absolutely loved their voices! They brought great emotion and depth to the story, making the listening experience much more enjoyable.
Friends with Benefits is going to be released on May 6th. Best friends Evie and Theo hatch a practical plan to marryāEvie needs health insurance to accept her dream Foley artist fellowship, and Theo needs to keep his rent-controlled apartment. Itās supposed to be simple and logical, but complications arise when Theoās long-standing feelings for Evie threaten to upend their arrangement. As they navigate their new reality, theyāre forced to confront what marriage truly meansāand whether their friendship can survive it. This one didnāt work out for me, and Iām disappointed because marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes! But the writing was clunky, with too much info-dumping right from the start, which completely distracted me from the love story. I didnāt feel anything for the charactersāthey were quite annoying, and I just couldnāt get invested in their romance. That said, this was my first time listening to narrators Gail Shalan and GM Hakim, and I absolutely loved their voices! They brought great emotion and depth to the story, making the listening experience much more enjoyable.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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Releases 5ā¢6ā¢25
This quickly worked its way up to one of my top reads so far this year. Marisa really knows how to write a good rom-com. This might be one of the best romance books Iāve ever read. I couldnāt put it down and was actually drawn into the story. The characters arenāt just cutesy little friends that love each other, they are two 20 something year olds that have so much depth to unpack throughout the story.
I loved this one. Thereās so much growth in these characters and you get to unravel their hardships and see what has made them the way they are in the current setting. Thereās a few flashbacks within the book that show more into the growth of Evie and Theoās relationship and really leaves you routing for them in the end. From page one I loved both Theo and Evie.
Theo has recently lost his mom and his dad has been a not so great father figure, we get to see him cope with this and see how it affects his relationship with Evie while sheās struggling with a mom who never cared for her and a sickness thatās eating her alive. These are such real life senecios and the author does a great job capturing these emotions and creating a picture. If you like books by Emily Henry or Katherine Center this book is for you!
Thank you so so much to @celadonbooks and @marisakanter for sending me this arc!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death of parent