Author: Owen Nicholls
Publication Date: 11 February 2020
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Page Count: 352
Reading Method: E-reader
Synopsis:
Ellie had the quizzical eyebrows of Broadcast News–era Holly Hunter and the neon-red hair of Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. At least that’s what caught Nick’s attention when he met her on the night of 2008’s historic presidential election. A cinema buff and devotee of great love stories, Nick always fancied himself the Tom Hanks of his own romantic comedy, and when sparks flew with Ellie that night, he swiftly cast her as the Meg Ryan of his story. For four blissful years, Nick loved Ellie just as he loved his job as a film projectionist: wholly, earnestly, cinematically.
But now Ellie has moved out, convinced that “the fire’s gone,” and Nick is forced to sift through his memories to figure out where it all went wrong. That night was a perfect meet-cute, yes, but was their romance as destined for a “happily ever after” as he’d thought? Was he really the rom-com hero he believes he’d been? Or did this Harry let his Sally down? Peppered with references to beloved movies, Love, Unscripted explores how even a hopeless romantic can learn that in real life, love isn’t—shouldn’t be—like what we see in the movies.
Review:
As much as I wanted to love this one, I just didn’t. The plot was interesting enough and the three separate timelines added a nice way of breaking up the story while also advancing it forward. My main issue with this one are the characters. The main character, Nick was insufferable. He was whiny and too idealistic, and unwilling to accept his faults. He really didn’t seem to grow as a character and remained the same, annoying person throughout. Nick wasn’t the only awful character though. Ellie was just as bad. She was too set in her ways and determined to be right. Their breakup was confusing and they didn’t really seem to have any resolution of their issues. Instead, Ellie was just like “hey come to America with me” but there was nothing in the story to lead us to believe they had worked out their issues. Finally, the movie references would have been cute, except they are constant and obscure to the point of annoyance. I’m afraid this just wasn’t the book for me.
You can purchase a copy of Love, Unscripted here
