Who Would Like This Book:
If you love your romance with a side of laugh-out-loud chaos and bittersweet emotional realism, this book is for you! "You Deserve Each Other" delivers a quirky, high-stakes lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers story about an engaged couple who prank and sabotage each other as they fight to avoid footing an epic wedding bill. But beneath the hijinks, Sarah Hogle crafts a raw, stunning look at how anxiety, resentment, and miscommunication can quietly erode love - and how truly seeing each other again can rebuild it. Anyone who enjoys snarky banter, root-for-them even-when-they're-petty characters, and a slow-burn second chance at love will be hooked.
Who May Not Like This Book:
If you need super-likable protagonists from page one or have a low tolerance for emotional messiness and miscommunication, this one might be a struggle. The first chunk of the book leans hard into petty antics and sometimes downright cringey behavior, especially from Naomi, our unreliable narrator. Some readers found the sabotage and lack of adult conversation tiresome and felt like the relationship teetered on toxic. If childish pranks or slow character growth test your patience, you might not vibe with this rom-com’s bumpy beginning.
About:
Naomi and Nicholas are engaged but have fallen out of love. Instead of calling off the wedding, they engage in a war of sabotage and pranks to make the other break up. As they navigate this battle, they discover new sides to each other, leading to growth and a rekindling of their relationship. The book explores themes of love, communication, and self-discovery, with a writing style that includes humor, sarcasm, and vivid character descriptions.
Genres:
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Notes:
Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include discussions of mental health issues, familial pressure, and anxiety.
Has Romance?
Romance plays a significant role, as the story revolves around rekindling love between the engaged couple.
From The Publisher:
When your nemesis also happens to be your fiancé, happily ever after becomes a lot more complicated in this wickedly funny, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy debut.
Naomi Westfield has the perfect fiancé: Nicholas Rose holds doors open for her, remembers her restaurant orders, and comes from the kind of upstanding society family any bride would love to be a part of. They never fight. They're preparing for their lavish wedding that's three months away. And she is miserably and utterly sick of him.
Naomi wants out, but there's a catch: whoever ends the engagement will have to foot the nonrefundable wedding bill. When Naomi discovers that Nicholas, too, has been feigning contentment, the two of them go head-to-head in a battle of pranks, sabotage, and all-out emotional warfare.
But with the countdown looming to the wedding that may or may not come to pass, Naomi finds her resolve slipping. Because now that they have nothing to lose, they're finally being themselves-and having fun with the last person they expect: each other.
Ratings (188)
Incredible (47) | |
Loved It (56) | |
Liked It (47) | |
It Was OK (17) | |
Did Not Like (17) | |
Hated It (4) |
Reader Stats (512):
Read It (196) | |
Want To Read (215) | |
Did Not Finish (14) | |
Not Interested (87) |
8 comment(s)
spectacular. give me 14 of them right now
I loved how the writer made the characters so relatable. Couples fall out of love all the time but what matters is that they choose each other over and over again, no matter what. This goes to show that there's nothing like a perfect relationship, there has to be flaws. I think is a good read...and the humour is top notch.
This book was hard to get through. I just found it so boring. Should have taken me one day, took me five.
At times it was difficult to read. I don't think the heroine was depressed. However, I think she did come close. It's never made clear why she became such a shell of herself. It's easy to blame the hero (like she did), but that would be unjust. It's something within herself, but I don't think she ever fully realised. In a way, I'm still concerned about her. It's a relief to know the hero will stick by her side though, if she ever does go through a period in which she loses sight of what she has again. Despite this heavyness on the background, I enjoyed the story and their journey back to each other.
The characters were childish and dumb
I didn't know what to think going in. I thought the blurb made it sound like our main characters were in an arranged marriage or something. I mean, how could they be engaged and hate each other without some trope like engaged for inheritance, etc.? I was very delighted by the tale.
Once I was in the story and knew the characters, the situation felt very real--two people who love each other, grown apart by time and life experiences, and no one says anything to rock the boat. It's probably more real-life than a lot of romances I read. And I was rooting for Nicky and Naomi. They didn't disappoint.
I particularly loved the flowers. Haven't we all been there? You see someone else get flowers and think, "Man, I wish I'd get flowers." But then when you do, you're just like, "These are pretty, but what am I going to do with them? They're going to crumble in a week and I'll have to clean them up and dump their stinky water. I hope they weren't expensive." Okay, maybe that's just me. Naomi and Brandy's responses were over the top, but that's who they are. I don't want to spoil it by going on further. I definitely enjoyed it.
At the end, I wanted more. An epilogue. Nicky's mom to....something, I don't know. But I'm writing this review after a week, and I still remember the main characters' names, which means it stuck with me. I'm giving it 4 stars, but I might up that if I re-read it at some point.
Definitely recommend and will pick up Hogle's next book!
This book was the first to make me laugh out loud in a long time. I'm generally more self-contained with my emotional expression, so finding anything that will bring me to genuine laughter is an immediate win to me.
I wouldn't say that this story was exceptionally impactful, but it was sweet, entertaining, and easy to read. The characters aren't the most complex you've ever read, but I would still recommend this book to anyone who needs a nice pick-me-up. The overall story setup was unique enough to keep my interest and fun enough to recommend to others!
If you do pick this book up, I wish you happy reading! It's hard to have any other experience.
Funny
What can you read after
You Deserve Each Other?
About the Author:
Sarah Hogle is a mom of three who enjoys trashy TV and provoking her husband for attention. Her dream is to live in a falling-apart castle in a forest that is probably cursed. She is also the author of You…
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