Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️'s Reviews > This Time Next Year

4 Stars

I've been trying to make a better point of reading any newly purchased physical books as soon as possible upon their entrance into my home....otherwise they just seem to fall into the "languishing unread on my shelves forever" abyss. Also, I'm trying to meet my Book of the Month reading goal this year. And I am was three books short.

Enter me picking this up right before bed the other night with the intent of reading "just a couple chapters."

Well, we all know how that goes sometimes.



So, proving once again that nighttime-reading-me has absolutely zero respect for daytime-functioning-me, I ended up reading about 300 pages of this before finally falling asleep at close to 1AM. With a sub-5AM wake up the next morning, mind you.

Needless to say, I enjoyed this book a lot. It was exactly what I was in the mood for.

Was it original?
Nope. In fact, it was fairly cliche and trope-y in many ways.

Did it have one of my most hated female characters types aka the Manic Pixie Dream Girl?
Not quite, but close.

Were some of the situations in the book so over the top they seemed to come straight out of 13 Going on 30?



Indubitably.

Were the nonstop "coincidences" SUPER convenient and kitschy?
Oh, you bet your ass.

On another day, I might have been completely annoyed by this book. In fact, a year from now I might decide to come back and re-read this thing and think, what the fuq was wrong with me?

But, you know what?



Because, this is 2020, people.

And I was in the mood for some trope-y romcom. With unicorns and some fucking pie.

Plus, the style of quirkiness here was my favorite brand. It was enough to make me smile, but not so much that I wanted to punch someone in the face (looking at you
Flat-Out-Hate-Celeste). If the quirk in this story was a character, I would say it was very...self-aware. And poked fun at itself.

I also just really liked Minnie. I loved the evolution of her character. And her mom's character. And their realization that sometimes you just need to stop and unpack all the things you've been forcing yourself to carry for no reason.

Plus, as a fellow child of the 1980's, I enjoyed all the nostalgic flashbacks into the past. And I usually hate flashbacks.

But I digress.

If you are looking for something quick, light, and easy that almost makes you feel like you are back in the 1990's watching a romantic comedy, I say give this a go. Cause the 1990's sound super fun right now, no?