i know it says i’ve read the books but really i’ve dnf’d it when i got 39% through the book. i wasn’t a fan of the writing style, i wasn’t able to connect to any of characters and it didn’t feel like there was much plot. i’m usually one who enjoys multiple pov’s in a book but there were too, it should’ve really just been hazel and alfie but even then the different pov’s weren’t really written well. it would switch pov halfway through a paragraph and i would have to constantly pause and try to figure which character’s head i was in and i didn’t enjoy that aspect at all. it didn’t help that i didn’t like the side characters either. this book just really wasn’t for me which is very disappointing since the publishers had gifted it to me as the the synopsis sounded fun. the whole flatemates thing just wasn’t executed well. i was kind of expecting something like the flatshare by beth o’leary but more romcom-like and it wasn’t even like that nor a romcom.

i know it says i’ve read the books but really i’ve dnf’d it when i got 39% through the book. i wasn’t a fan of the writing style, i wasn’t able to connect to any of characters and it didn’t feel like there was much plot. i’m usually one who enjoys multiple pov’s in a book but there were too, it should’ve really just been hazel and alfie but even then the different pov’s weren’t really written well. it would switch pov halfway through a paragraph and i would have to constantly pause and try to figure which character’s head i was in and i didn’t enjoy that aspect at all. it didn’t help that i didn’t like the side characters either. this book just really wasn’t for me which is very disappointing since the publishers had gifted it to me as the the synopsis sounded fun. the whole flatemates thing just wasn’t executed well. i was kind of expecting something like the flatshare by beth o’leary but more romcom-like and it wasn’t even like that nor a romcom.

Not Exactly What I Had in Mind had an interesting start but then.... basically felt like Sally Rooney's "Normal People." Lots of frustrating scenarios that continued to occur but had the main characters just done some simple communication the conflict could have been avoided completely. I did end up really liking the main characters, but this book didn't keep me as engaged as I would have liked.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

While "Not Exactly What I Had in Mind"  wasn't my favorite read, I was mostly along for the ride until the very end. It's been mentioned in a few reviews already, but that ending really threw me out of the story. Minus the epilogue and I might have given this story four stars. With the epilogue, I feel too generous giving it three. 

I actually almost forgot that this book was on my TBR. I read "The Arc" by Tory Henwood Hoen a few months back, and the cover art style was so similar that my brain thought I'd already read NEWIHiM. Oops.

The beginning starts off with a bang- literally. Hazel and Alfie have just slept with each other- they've both enjoyed it and like each other-- but since they are flatmates, they decide to put the night past them and not talk about it so as not to ruin their living circumstances. Seems adult, right? Nope. Not at all. They never learn to communicate with each other, and as a reader, it gets very frustrating. I'm only slightly older than the characters, but I felt like I was stuck in a teenage drama at times.

I wish I could have loved this story. The writing style makes it easy to read and there are a few good discussions to be had about current world issues. At the same time, it's so hard to wash that ending out of my head. I'm just so disappointed.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advanced E-copy of this book in exchange for a review. I received an e-copy, but this book was published in June 2022 and is available to read.

so bored while reading this that you should me carol borderman

the blandest characters. it felt like no plot point met a conclusion. the dialogue was so juvenile. WHY?!

well the title of the book is exactly how i feel.
At first i thought i knew where this was going. Typical contemprary ( not that i mind those) and it was feeling very 3 star . Okay . but nothing was really standing out. I liked the characters and i really was rooting for Alfie.

Then Things started to change .. and although there were some difficult topics discussed it was refreshing to see an author take a different route!

I will be checking out more of kates work