Review #335

I gave Alexa Martin’s contemporary romance called “Better Than Fiction” a 4.2/5 stars. Check out more info below.

Here’s my live thoughts while reading:

So the main character is pretty pessimistic at the beginning. It too a while to determine her gender and after chapter 2 I don’t recall her name but just wait, we WILL connect, because she’s a down on her luck bookstore owner, after her grandma handed it down to her in her will. She’s fighting against her father who is trying to sell it. What’s crazy is (heroine) doesn’t even want to own the store. She wants to be a photographer, but with little money she feels trapped. Maybe her luck will change since her half sister is shoving into her life.

After chapter 8 it seems like the hero author is perfect without flaws and everyone finds him attractive, which isn’t super relatable or realistic. 

I like their deal that’ll get her involved again into her passion.  

I’m not really a fan of how each chapter starts recapping her last few hours until the present moment. The last one was how she prepped for a date when I’d prefer to have seen her more on the date and this one is how she prepped for the mountain hike. I’d prefer to jump into the present moment. 

Oh it’s also not believable that she’s so dead set against him specifically. Like I know she already rules out men in general, which makes more sense. But it’s frustrating when Drew says that Jasper is like the last guy on earth it would ever work out with. It just feels forced to have that mentality.  

Well. At the exact midpoint, they have their first kiss. At first it felt rushed in the grand scheme of things but then, at the same time, it didn’t. The timing was also interesting after the scene with her dad, but kind of sweet because of it. I need to see more of Jasper’s flaws and soon before he feels too much like a fake Ken doll. 

At chapter 15 I think I’m figuring out what’s not working for the pacing. Weeks have passed between chapters and it makes me feel less connected to the story. 

There’s some sort of pattern here with the color red. Red Vine candy. Red Autumn band. Red Rocks auditorium. 

I’m 3/4 of the way through and still waiting for any obstacle or thing to fall apart. She keeps wondering if it’s too good to be true and I agree. Nothing has gone wrong and Jasper has no flaws. But the sex scene was spicy spicy spicy! I’m so glad it was open door. 

I wish they didn’t call out the grand gesture as a grand gesture in their dialogue. It makes it felt less real. But otherwise I liked their happily ever after. This was a nice change of pace after the dark fantasy I read recently when I needed a palate cleanser.