Robin's Reviews > The Unhoneymooners

↠ 5 stars

Have you ever read a book so romantic it hurts? This left me with an ache in my chest that I can only attribute to Olive and Ethan. Good job guys, now all I want to do is fly to Hawaii and try to recreate your whirlwind romance. The Unhoneymooners takes fake dating, and says, "Lets level this all the way up to fake marriage, except they hate each other" and I love it so much. After Olive's twin sister's entire wedding party comes down with food poisoning, she and the brother of the groom decide to take the honeymoon originally planned for the couple. Doing so means pretending they're married, and that despite all their misgivings, maybe they do like each other after all.

What can I say, I would throw any current read out the window for an enemies-to-lovers story. The Unhoneymooners is by far the best one I have read in the contemporary romance genre. It's a comforting and escapist read that I often return to whenever I feel the need. Reading this for the first time is like being enveloped in warmth. I don't know, the tenderness and yearning really got to me I guess. Christina Lauren have created a story so hilarious and imaginative that watching it all play out is like nothing you've ever read before. The Unhoneymooners essentially said, the real villain is miscommunication, and while I am not a person who usually goes for that, I'm surprised to say I really enjoyed it. However, my favorite thing about this novel is the focus on these two people working towards communicating effectively and building a healthy relationship. What I often see is characters overcoming initial barriers and then riding off into the sunset together without a care in the world, contrary to how life works. This book shows just part of the work that goes into being in a relationship with another person, beyond those initial steps. It also doesn't hurt that the main couple is freakin adorable. Seriously. This book basically made me crave a vacation romance that will never happen. But isn't creating insane expectations and scenarios for yourself after reading a romance novel the whole point to reading them in the first place?

Trigger warnings: cheating, manipulation, toxic relationships, fatphobia, alcohol consumption