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A review by marie_thereadingotter
The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book was almost cute.
I honestly don't know why I kept reading this, maybe I was hoping that these two adults would just freaking talk to each other. I don't know exactly how old they are other than they're in their 20s. But I don't know if it's late or early. I assume they're in their late 20s since the MMC is not in college football, but pro. Either way, these two idiots were supposedly "in love" since high school and they never once had a hint or clue otherwise... sure. I call BS.
I already hate the miscommunication trope, but this one took it to an extreme because of the ages of the characters. I am far more likely to forgive or excuse not talking to somebody about how they feel if they are under 20, rather than people who are nearly 30.
This book just felt childish. Not because of the lack of "spice" but because the characters are so immature. I also didn't buy them being super close friends, it honestly gave the "befriend the hot girl/guy in hopes I can have my turn dating them". I also hated that we spent more time with Nathan's Football than we did with Bree's Ballet content. Bree was the Main-main character. We should've spent more time with her and her journey with dance since it's mentioned so often how she lost her chance to go to Julliard. It felt a little throwaway. She could've been doing anything else with how little it was mentioned.
That all was annoying, but my main issue with this book is just how immature the MCs are. And once they admit how they feel, they get married in like 2 weeks. Sure they've had feelings for each other for years (as far as the text tells us) but being friends, and being romantic partners aren't the same. Romantic Chemistry and platonic chemistry aren't the same. This book would've worked better if they were in college rather than grown adults. Everything else could've stayed the same as well, and that would also mean they wouldn't be keeping their feelings a secret for almost a decade.
Also, far too many pop-culture references, that are already outdated. I know books set in modern times, want to show that they're modern. But just say "social media" and don't name the platform, the same goes for phones, just say "Smartphone" and not name the brand. Everybody knows what social media and smartphones are. It dates the book when exact things are mentioned. There were also several redundancies. An action would be mentioned (removing shoes or putting shoes on), and then the scene would continue in a way that would be impossible because of the action, then the action would happen again and I'd have to go back and re-read to make sure I hadn't misread anything. I don't feel like this book had any thorough editing.
I honestly don't know why I kept reading this, maybe I was hoping that these two adults would just freaking talk to each other. I don't know exactly how old they are other than they're in their 20s. But I don't know if it's late or early. I assume they're in their late 20s since the MMC is not in college football, but pro. Either way, these two idiots were supposedly "in love" since high school and they never once had a hint or clue otherwise... sure. I call BS.
I already hate the miscommunication trope, but this one took it to an extreme because of the ages of the characters. I am far more likely to forgive or excuse not talking to somebody about how they feel if they are under 20, rather than people who are nearly 30.
This book just felt childish. Not because of the lack of "spice" but because the characters are so immature. I also didn't buy them being super close friends, it honestly gave the "befriend the hot girl/guy in hopes I can have my turn dating them". I also hated that we spent more time with Nathan's Football than we did with Bree's Ballet content. Bree was the Main-main character. We should've spent more time with her and her journey with dance since it's mentioned so often how she lost her chance to go to Julliard. It felt a little throwaway. She could've been doing anything else with how little it was mentioned.
That all was annoying, but my main issue with this book is just how immature the MCs are. And once they admit how they feel, they get married in like 2 weeks. Sure they've had feelings for each other for years (as far as the text tells us) but being friends, and being romantic partners aren't the same. Romantic Chemistry and platonic chemistry aren't the same. This book would've worked better if they were in college rather than grown adults. Everything else could've stayed the same as well, and that would also mean they wouldn't be keeping their feelings a secret for almost a decade.
Also, far too many pop-culture references, that are already outdated. I know books set in modern times, want to show that they're modern. But just say "social media" and don't name the platform, the same goes for phones, just say "Smartphone" and not name the brand. Everybody knows what social media and smartphones are. It dates the book when exact things are mentioned. There were also several redundancies. An action would be mentioned (removing shoes or putting shoes on), and then the scene would continue in a way that would be impossible because of the action, then the action would happen again and I'd have to go back and re-read to make sure I hadn't misread anything. I don't feel like this book had any thorough editing.