This year I found myself disappointed in a lot of books that had been hyped up for me, but this is the first time it's happened in reverse. I've been told that this book was a decent read but the characters were too self-deprecating, and the plot didn't get resolved properly, and everyone was boring, and the ending was tied up too neatly, etc etc etc. And yet, I ended up absolutely loving it.

The protagonists are 38 and 32, so not "middle aged" like many reviews claim (this book gets nsfw, obviously kids shouldn't be reading it, but I can't fathom that attitude from anyone older than a preschooler, so I'm not sure what's up with that). Still, it's very rare to find a quality fantasy read with older protagonists, let alone older protagonists who find love. The chemistry felt realistic, the narrative voices - doubly so, and the humour was right up my alley. 

I was listening to the audiobook while trying to finish my degree thesis (due in a week as of today) and it was just what I needed. Maybe I'm inclined to being less critical under extreme stress. Maybe this was tropey in all the right ways. But it's a new favourite read of this year for me, and I'm excited to read the next two books in this series.