I’ll start by saying that Joel Leslie is so incredibly talented. The amount of different accents he does during this book, seamlessly, is beyond impressive. He made it really easy to enjoy this book. Any book is safe in his hands lol.
Alright folks. Dean needs to be protected at all cost. What a precious man. It’s heartbreaking reading about sweetheart characters with no self worth because people have constantly been putting them down. Dean thinks all he has to offer the world is that he’s pretty. He’s shocked when s*x isn’t transactional for once, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. He has a learning disability and therefore believes he isn’t smart. The fact that family and teachers, literally everyone who should have supported him all his life has repeatedly told him so, doesn’t help.
I listened to this on audio, so I don’t have any quotes to add here, but this book surprised a laugh out of me on several occasions. Very rarely do I actually laugh out loud while reading alone, but this one got me even though there wasn’t the constant jokes and forced laughs that many rom-coms suffer from. I enjoyed the balance of funny and serious.
Jonas was an unexpectedly complex character, and he definitely underwent some growth during the book (thankfully lol). He was very much affected by his own upringing, which seemed to be very cold and austere. His daughter was growing up with focus on summer school and homework at 5 years old instead of playing in the dirt with friends. He loved Dean helplessly, and messed up majorly at one point, which he had to work hard to make right. We’re talking some delicious groveling.
Dean’s interactions with Ruby were so cute, and while he may not be the most booksmart in the room, he understands humans and their emotions like few others.
This was my second Lily Morton book and they’ve both been absolute bangers. Highly recommend.