A Date with Darcy (Bookish Boyfriends #1) by Tiffany Schmidt | Review
Title: A Date with Darcy (Bookish Boyfriends #1)
Author: Tiffany Schmidt
Genre/s: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult.
Release Date: 1st May 2018
Published by Amulet Paperbacks
This was a very cute, light read! Although I did find it kind of boring at times, and the first half of the book definitely lacked the substance I was hoping for. I feel like in the beginning the protagonist lacked something and that made it hard to connect with her and the story. However the second half of the book took a turn and I very much loved it. Before requesting this title on NetGalley I was very intrigued because - A book about a girl who loves books? Sign me up for that anytime. So you could say I was very here for this.
'...I want to figure you out. I'm trying to. You're worth the effort. You're worth...everything.'
Merrilee is a bookworm and enjoys reading about bookish romances much more than the real life experiences. Obsessing over the boys she constantly reads about. Not believing that any relationship could be that great in real life. The book had a couple of strange, I'm going to call them 'magical moments' and I found that to be very interesting. It was almost like the books Merri read started to actually manifest in her life. I honestly found it a little weird to begin with and I think that was because the first one was Romeo and Juliet. The fact the protagonist wanted a Romeo and Juliet kind of love story made me cringe because I hate what that play represents and the references to the play almost made me give up reading early on. However I'm very glad I kept reading because all that was actually addressed and I am so thankful for that! If I was rating the book only on the first half I would not have given it more than one star but it totally got turned around and the author managed to surprise me. It was honestly, pretty excellent I'm not going to lie.
'...he didn't go away. Instead he inhaled deeply and said, "You baffle me." The words rich with emotion...'
There is a hint of insta love but I think it worked well with the storyline, at first the reader obviously isn't aware of the whole story so it's hard to push through if insta love is a deal breaker for you, but I would say if you do start reading and find it a little irritating like I did, to try and push through. In my opinion the story in its entirety was very well put together and I enjoyed the way the author took tropes that I usually hate and make me kind of love them. The second half was much more slow burn and there was tonnes more development and a generous size topping of angst. And you know me, I live for angst so I was definitely happy about that. The plot was slow to an extent but that wasn't a problem for me because I still flew through it, and in the places that it did pick up, it wasn't at all jarring and worked well with the storyline.
'My words were embers and sparks; I couldn't spit them out fast enough, but they still burned.'
The writing was very hard to get used to at the beginning, but I think my problem concerning that was that all my recent reads were very fast paced and there wasn't as many small moments dedicated to smaller things not just the main plot and it just took me a while to get used to that again. But I have to say that I very much enjoyed the slower pace.
'...I glanced at him, at his brown eyes that seemed wide and searching, like I was the word that stood between him and crossword puzzle mastery.'
I adored the exploration of the sister relationships and the familial relationships in general. But my favourite thing without a doubt about the entire book was how strong willed the main character is. The instances that she stands up for herself are very empowering and it was great to see a woman take control and save herself, not get saved by a guy swooping in. I mean there are instances of that too but the parts where Merri sticks up for herself were fabulous!
Overall this was a very conflicting read for me, because on one hand I really didn't like the first half of it while I was reading it but now looking back I understand it better after reading the whole thing, and I'm glad I suffered through those first few chapters because the end result made it worth reading. If you're looking for a light read with hidden depths to get lost in, I would definitely recommend giving this book a try. Keep an eye out for it on it's release date: 1st May 2018!
Thank you to Amulet Paperbacks, Tiffany Schmidt and NetGalley for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!
RATING: 50%
Thank you so much for reading! I'll be back soon with more bookish posts.
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