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A review by whatbritreads
The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas
3.0
*Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster for sending me an ARC of this to review!*
TSLD is one of my favourite romance books of all time so I was so so excited to start reading this book. I think ultimately it just came down to the fact that it didn’t play out the way I personally love a romance. It was very different in tone from her first book, which shows how dynamic she can be as a storyteller, but also how fussy I apparently am as a romance reader.
The main thing that got to me here was the pacing, not of the plot but of their relationship. Rosie and Lucas move very quickly through this book and honestly, I am such a slow burn, painful, tension kind of girl that it ruined it a tiny bit for me. It was clearly instant lust for the both of them, but also for me it felt like it teetered on insta-love which I hate. The book had no introduction or warm up as such, we’re sort of thrown right in the middle of this face off between the two characters and from then on they’re inseparable. I just wished there was a bit more to it. The happily ever after seemed a little too inevitable with the way they were immediately consumed by one another, 50 pages in and the feelings were coming off too strong for me.
I don’t remember much about how TSLD was written I’ll be honest, but the writing in this one felt very hit and miss. Though the pacing was consistent and overall it was okay and fit to function, some minor thighs about it irked me. One thing I hate and find completely unrealistic in books is characters constantly calling each other by their first name constantly in conversation. It just feels so unnatural and takes me completely out of the moment. There was also a lot of random language switching mid sentence and repetition of the same phrases that I noticed. I read it all really quickly in a single sitting so that’s probably why it stood out out me more.
It’s a bit of a touchy subject online at the minute about whether books are becoming too trope based, but I do love a good trope. The issue I had with this book is that most of the tropes listed on the blurb weren't really played up enough. I was especially gutted about the fact they were literally sharing a one bed apartment and it didn’t monopolise on the only one bed trope at ALL! So much potential.
The characters were okay but I didn’t feel a particular attachment to them in any way. Lucas was the kindest, sweetest soul but he just didn’t do it for me in an Aaron Blackford kind of way. Rosie felt like a blatant self insert for Armas herself and I didn’t know how to feel about it. It was kind of cool to see her internal battle, but it once again took me out of the fiction a little bit. Neither of them seemed to have much a life either, the plot here was a tiny bit dry and nothing memorable stands out to me. Their pasts were kind of info dumped in a couple of sentences then brushed under the rug, the development and build up of the world was really minimal.
If you’re looking for something really light, happy and full of shameless flirting and cute moments - this is definitely the romcom for you. It genuinely was very cute and lovely but it didn’t make me feel anything and I’m sad about it. I wanted something more developed and gritty.
TSLD is one of my favourite romance books of all time so I was so so excited to start reading this book. I think ultimately it just came down to the fact that it didn’t play out the way I personally love a romance. It was very different in tone from her first book, which shows how dynamic she can be as a storyteller, but also how fussy I apparently am as a romance reader.
The main thing that got to me here was the pacing, not of the plot but of their relationship. Rosie and Lucas move very quickly through this book and honestly, I am such a slow burn, painful, tension kind of girl that it ruined it a tiny bit for me. It was clearly instant lust for the both of them, but also for me it felt like it teetered on insta-love which I hate. The book had no introduction or warm up as such, we’re sort of thrown right in the middle of this face off between the two characters and from then on they’re inseparable. I just wished there was a bit more to it. The happily ever after seemed a little too inevitable with the way they were immediately consumed by one another, 50 pages in and the feelings were coming off too strong for me.
I don’t remember much about how TSLD was written I’ll be honest, but the writing in this one felt very hit and miss. Though the pacing was consistent and overall it was okay and fit to function, some minor thighs about it irked me. One thing I hate and find completely unrealistic in books is characters constantly calling each other by their first name constantly in conversation. It just feels so unnatural and takes me completely out of the moment. There was also a lot of random language switching mid sentence and repetition of the same phrases that I noticed. I read it all really quickly in a single sitting so that’s probably why it stood out out me more.
It’s a bit of a touchy subject online at the minute about whether books are becoming too trope based, but I do love a good trope. The issue I had with this book is that most of the tropes listed on the blurb weren't really played up enough. I was especially gutted about the fact they were literally sharing a one bed apartment and it didn’t monopolise on the only one bed trope at ALL! So much potential.
The characters were okay but I didn’t feel a particular attachment to them in any way. Lucas was the kindest, sweetest soul but he just didn’t do it for me in an Aaron Blackford kind of way. Rosie felt like a blatant self insert for Armas herself and I didn’t know how to feel about it. It was kind of cool to see her internal battle, but it once again took me out of the fiction a little bit. Neither of them seemed to have much a life either, the plot here was a tiny bit dry and nothing memorable stands out to me. Their pasts were kind of info dumped in a couple of sentences then brushed under the rug, the development and build up of the world was really minimal.
If you’re looking for something really light, happy and full of shameless flirting and cute moments - this is definitely the romcom for you. It genuinely was very cute and lovely but it didn’t make me feel anything and I’m sad about it. I wanted something more developed and gritty.