2024:
I had very high hopes for this book when it first started, but the more it progressed, the less I enjoyed it. I've rated it 3 stars because overall, it felt perfectly average.
Overall, the premise was great - I loved every aspect of childhood friends, the childhood trauma influencing adult life, and the progressive love story.
I enjoyed that the story was spread out over time and that that time was noted on the relative chapter heads. It felt much more natural than events happening in the span of days or weeks and gave you a point of reference as the story continued.
I thought the representation of mental health and self care was dealt with well, both in people reacting positively and negatively. It was realistic of what the world is really like.
I enjoyed the start of the book - jumping straight into their feelings and then setting the slow burn connection from there.
I enjoyed the end of the book jumping to the future and seeing how relationships had developed over time and how their experiences had changed the characters. My favourite thing about the end was recognising that over time, a couple can lose themselves in all the things going on, but can bring that spark back if they take some time for themselves and their relationship.
I didn't love the overall tone of the book. It didn't make much sense to me - irrespective of being medical professionals, speaking to someone you've known and been family/friends with for 20 years, that didn't make sense to me. At the start, maybe, but not carried through the whole book. Maybe with secondary characters, it would've made sense, but between the MMC and MFC, I feel like the banter and conversation should've been much more relaxed or at least become that way as their feelings changed.
I didn't love Evie's character development. It felt like she was gearing up to finally stand up for herself and recognise that she deserved to be treated better but then folded at every opportunity. She spent a lot of time crying in the book, and I just didn't vibe with her.
I didn't love Brad's character. I felt him very unlikable. Whilst I acknowledge he was suffering untreated mental health, that doesn't give him the intrinsic right to treat others who care for him like trash. I also found his redemptive moments to be shallow and not genuine. He would come crawling back to Evie but still withhold vital information and then distract her with intimacy rather than face his own issues. His insistence on Evie getting help and support after her breakdown at work didn't align with his own reluctantance to seek help and support.
I feel like a good portion of the middle of the book was repetitive, and there would be no great loss to the story had it been cut by 100 or so pages.
There were lots of points that felt like the story was coming to a natural end, and then it just kept going. So by the time the end came, I didn't care so much for what was happening, just that it was over.
I would consider picking up more of Foxx's work as her idea for this book seemed quite complex and interesting. It just needed some finer tuning.