Going to start by saying it's hard to even rate this when I've come to terms and accepted most contemporary romance novels are not for me. That being said, if you love the romance genre and if you loved the other books in this series, then this is a cute book with warm feels and heart and I think it would hit all the right marks for the romance enthusiast.

Below, my unfiltered thoughts.

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My biggest issue is how I can't shake I'm reading tropes and not fully fleshed out characters. The dialogue ranges from cloyingly sweet, to juvenile taunting/teasing/flirting which gives me YA vibes, to chatgpt therapy speak, making it difficult for me to immerse myself in the world and the characters I'm following. Also, please don't come for me! I'm not accusing Elsie Silver of using chatgpt in any capacity. I'm just saying it feels like someone compressed two therapy sessions and FYP therapist influencer TikTok videos into the way these characters speak to each other and it feels very unrealistic and off-putting. Everyone is an exaggeration of a trait rather than being a whole, multifaceted individual.

I also didn't buy the stakes. There was not much tension in the age gap which I only bring up because I feel it got touched on enough in the book by different characters that it came across as a serious discussion the two MCs should have had—because they brought it up. And maybe I'm just heartless but I found the entire drama behind why they couldn't be together very silly. It did not build tension for me. I also think Bash (please :( go by Sebastian already, man, you're 40) and everyone else in his friend group calling a 24-year-old a "douchebag asshole prick," when I presume all of these people are 30s+ is really childish. Like, egregiously so. I don't know a single person around this age who would not be able to be a bit more mature and compassionate to this guy who is younger than them and therefore has more of a justification of being immature than they do. Why does the 28-year-old girlfriend have to be the more emotionally intelligent partner that is having to hold space for this guy and his feelings in this way? She's effectively playing therapist in telling him, a 40-year-old who desperately wants kids, that this is not how he should act as a father. I'm tiiired! All in all, low stakes but in a way that's so so so repetitive. I wonder why it needed to be so long when Gwen and Bash are saying the same thing over avd over for 300 pages. It's exhausting.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Definitely a classic for a reason. A quick read that jumpstarted my love for reading again.

AUDIOBOOK RE-"READ" 8/13/2026: God I love Carrie so much. It's such a tight narrative, no wasted space to be found, every insight propelling the story forward with more and more momentum so it's impossible to put down once you hit the last third of the book. Sissy Spacek does an amazing job with the narration as well, and the added intro by King and Margaret Atwood was the cherry on top.

This is also a re-read for my "reading everything in LOST" challenge. This is a book explicitly mentioned within the plot--it's the book Dr. Juliet Burke picks for her book club and she announces that Carrie is not just her pick, but her favorite book. The exchange is as followed: ADAM: It's not even literature. It's popcorn. AMELIA: And why isn't it literature, Adam? I'm dying to know. ADAM: There's no metaphor. It's by-the-numbers religious hocum-pocum. AMELIA: No metaphor? ADAM: It's science-fiction -- now I know why Ben isn't here. JULIET: Excuse me? ADAM: I know the host picks the book; but seriously, Julie, he wouldn't read this in the damn bathroom. JULIET: Well, Adam, I am the host and I do pick the book. And this is my favorite book. So I am absolutely thrilled that you can't stand it. Silly me for sinking so low as to select something that Ben wouldn't like. Here I am thinking that free will still actually exists on-- And then, of course, island shenanigans ensue as Oceanic flight 815 splits overhead New Otherton. (Just Normal ABC LOST Things). It's a fun intro, as the Others are essentially their own group of people obsessed with religious dogma, and Juliet is the noted other amongst the others. A good reference for the show, and one that works on multiple layers.