Roomies, and enough with the suffering already!

Unlike Our Stop, which offers an interesting twist on romcoms, Roomies is exactly what you'd expect. I could tell how the whole story will play out just from reading the summary. They set up a fake marriage, fall for each other as they spend time together, try to resist but end up sleeping together, it's awkward, something dramatic happens and they split up, then end up reuniting at the end to have a real relationship.

So you're probably wondering, why pick up the book then? Honestly, because I'm really bad at making decisions. Also, because I was listening to a mystery novel on Audible (yes, I read two books at a time, shutup) and didn't want to overwhelm myself with serious narratives. Also, I've read other stuff by Christina Lauren and it was pretty good. Also, it's set in New York and DID I MENTION I LOVE NEW YORK.

The first thing I said to my partner when I started reading the book was genuinely: 'Oh, now that we've been to NYC, I can actually picture the places she's talking about!' with way more enthusiasm than this probably demand. Having grown up in NYC, I don't think he quite grasps the trill of having a place that you've only seen on TV and film come to live around you, and the memories you take from that. So yeah, reading about the Big Apple after finally visiting was definitely a highlight!

Moving on to the actual narrative, there were some exciting highlights. THE GAYS for one were absolutely fantastic - another power couple I was completely in awe of, who definitely carried the story, especially towards the end.

It was also weirdly satisfying to have the main characters get called out on the whole marriage for a visa business, although they still got off much more lightly than one would in real life, especially under Trump's administration which just flat out hates immigrants.

Beyond that, there's very few good things I have to say about the novel. The main character is your standard romcom heroine who dreamed of being a writer but has instead grown up to become a wetwipe, because reasons. It just isn't possible to write strong female characters with a good work-life balance - they have to either be workaholics who need to loosen up, or meek beige girls in dire need of some backbone. Sigh.

But I suppose you have to be some sort of unbalanced to marry a total stranger you have a crush on so he can stay in the country. For one, that's illegal, as many people in Holland's life rightly point out. Second of all, you don't even know the man, WTF?! Oh, and speaking of Calvin, what a douche he is!!

He goes on giving Holland a hard time for not telling him she had a crush, then turns out he'd been passing her off as his ex-girlfriend to his family. THE CHEEK! I actually thought he was alright at first, albeit a bit misguided with the whole 'My visa ran out four years ago but I just wanted to play, you know...', but then he started getting all butt-hurt about stupid things and treating Holland so much more terribly than was necessary, so when the whole ex-girlfriend debacle was revealed, I had no time left for him.

This also leads me to my main qualm with Roomies. I've briefly touched upon this before, but there is such thing as too much suffering. If I wanted to read about people who can't catch a break, I'll pick up a drama. I'm here for the cheese my dudes. The story would have been a perfectly satisfactory chicklit with the failed marriage visa attempt and the discovery that Holland wasn't completely honest with Calvin.

There was no need for a whole extra helping of douchery from him, or the episode where Holland mistakenly thinks Calvin is dating some hot celebrity. At that point it just felt like the authors were piling on the misery, and instead of feeling for the characters I was just exasperated and waiting for the whole thing to end.

Oh, and speaking of things there was no need for, I absolutely despised the best friend. I get that the narrative needed her for the bitchy reveal of The Secret that would cause The Argument, but I've had it up to here with toxic females putting their girl friends down. I kind of get it in older stories like The Devil Wears Prada, but Roomies was written in 2017, surely we can do better than pitting ladies against each other!

On the whole, the story is your bog standard romantic comedy, from the oppressed heroine who does something super out of character to the brooding love interest who gets his man feelings hurt and throws an out-of-proportion tantrum about it, all the way to the endless suffering they go through just to end up happily together in the end. Read it for the power gay couple, the love of musicals and the descriptions of NYC.

2.5/5 stars