A review by kaulhilo
The Fine Print by Lauren Asher

3.0

huh.. started this out of sheer procrastination and a random urge i had to read a billionaire romance, and this was the only book i could remember in the moment. and i will say this, maybe it was the skimming, or maybe that i had negative expectations, or maybe it was just that reading whatever is in any case better than studying pediatrics, but i was pleasantly surprised when i started the book. the writing is very easygoing and quick to pick up on, the romance slope was plotted in so very well (except the slight occasions of insta-like..), and the overall storyline was very fun to read about. this was probably a 4-star read somewhere along the way, at least until the last fifth act came into play. it’s just: billionaire romances are fun for the fantasy and the gaudy extravaganza of it all, not because i want to sit in my home and feel bad for elon musk. why did it take 95% of the book and all of his life for the male lead to realize oh, people poorer than me (a billionaire), are still people, have problems, might have health issues they need insurance safety for, have lives outside of my company, and are investing too much time and energy in said company that’s treating them like shit anyway? what kind of absolute nonsense, garbage characterization- it took me completely out of the book, and ruined whatever the previous 90% had worked up, because how do we go back from a “billionaire develops basic empathy” plot sequence? it’s very insane to me that i had to read this, or that this book would be lauded in the way that it is despite that.
anyway, i digress. it’s just very odd to close off a book after that, one that i was honestly originally enjoying because it seemed fun and carefree, almost escapist. and i sorely wish the book could’ve ended on that note, but it didn’t, so while i’m still looking forward to reading the next two(?) parts, i’m feeling supremely meh about this. i get that it’s not.. that serious, but also whatever