A review by skudiklier
This Time It's Real by Ann Liang

  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Okay, so, I literally just finished this thirty seconds ago, and maybe I should take longer before I write a review. I want to say I really liked this and I was super invested and I think it was written well. I love a good fake dating romance and this one was peak fake dating I feel like.

(spoilers below for the ending, but not really if you know that all romances end with HEAs, there's nothing specific I guess)

But also.....what I'm feeling right in this moment after finishing it is a little frustrated. Everything was wrapped up and the ending was nice and all that, but with the final confession/getting back together scene, and them being happy together at the end, I just feel like it was missing something? I didn't get that final release really, it felt too fast or too fake and I just wanted to see Caz's reaction to her confession, have all that tension go away. The ending just felt weird despite all the boxes being ticked, and that was disappointing after how invested I felt in everything.

Okay but. Now that I said that, for real, I really liked this. I did feel a couple times like there was stuff they were glossing over (like, in relation to her becoming famous suddenly, or stuff with his show, sometimes it felt like they could have spent a lot more time on the effects of that on her life), but overall I liked it and think it was written well. I definitely like Liang's romances and will happily read more if she keeps writing them.