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A review by readingthestars
This May End Badly by Samantha Markum
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a copy of this book; this review contains my honest thoughts and reactions.
I'm a bit conflicted about this one. On one hand, the writing was good and the story engaging enough, the chemistry between Doe and Wells interesting. On the other hand, I don't think I resonated with Doe at all throughout this book. She's a very unlikeable person - selfish, stubborn, immature - and she doesn't really change until towards the end. Along the way, her friends point out her faults, but nothing changes because of it, so she keeps on making the same mistakes over and over again. I liked her friends a lot, but do think they could have been fleshed out a bit more individually.
The fake dating in this book is good, and I really enjoyed reading about Doe and Wells together. About halfway through the book, this aspect took a back seat of sorts to wrap up the rest of the subplots. And the end is why I'm giving this book a 3/5 instead of 3.5/5: it was a bit too convenient, and I honestly don't think the subplot about the inappropriate teacher was needed at all. Doe's demands at the end seemed to come out of nowhere. I think this book tried to accomplish too much, and it turned into a book that I wasn't expecting to read.
I'm a bit conflicted about this one. On one hand, the writing was good and the story engaging enough, the chemistry between Doe and Wells interesting. On the other hand, I don't think I resonated with Doe at all throughout this book. She's a very unlikeable person - selfish, stubborn, immature - and she doesn't really change until towards the end. Along the way, her friends point out her faults, but nothing changes because of it, so she keeps on making the same mistakes over and over again. I liked her friends a lot, but do think they could have been fleshed out a bit more individually.
The fake dating in this book is good, and I really enjoyed reading about Doe and Wells together. About halfway through the book, this aspect took a back seat of sorts to wrap up the rest of the subplots. And the end is why I'm giving this book a 3/5 instead of 3.5/5: it was a bit too convenient, and I honestly don't think the subplot about the inappropriate teacher was needed at all. Doe's demands at the end seemed to come out of nowhere. I think this book tried to accomplish too much, and it turned into a book that I wasn't expecting to read.