A review by garbage_mcsmutly
A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James

lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Okay so for the first 30% of the book I despised the FMC. She was like, too stupid for words. The remaining 70% though was better than the beginning. It was a decent personal growth story. It was not, however, much of a romance. While her relationship with the MMC does take up a lot of the book, it seems almost like an afterthought. Not because she doesn't think about him a lot (she does) but because there doesn't seem to be much chemistry between them, and it seems like she sort of just falls into a relationship with him. We don't get much in the way of the big moments when an MC feels their love towards the other MC grow, or really appreciates them, or whatever. I get that he's supposed to be the steady to her flighty, but he was so steady that he seemed like a statue. The Wordle gimmick was a cute idea (also she's very bad at Wordle, which I kind of judge her for lol) but not enough to hold up this story. 

🎧 Single POV, female narrator. She did justice to the story, but the story ultimately wasn't that good.

🌶️ 2/5 The first time they hook up, it's on page, but very glossed over. All the rest is closed door.

🏳️‍🌈 ✊ This book takes place mostly in Canada, in a small town in Price Edward Island. Most of the characters appear to be white. The MMC's mom is Latine. I think a few of the side characters later in the book may be non white, and there's one woman married to another woman. One thing in favor of this book: both MCs discuss that they don't want kids and are secure in that decision, which we don't see very often in romance.

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