Arc Review | Thanks, Carissa, for Ruining My Life by Dallas Woodburn

GREETINGS dear bloggers and the world beyond!!

I can’t believe I got such an amazing arc of netgalley. Thank you to the publisher and the author and everyone involved! The following views are my own, and unbiased.

Thanks, Carissa, for Ruining My Life

SYNOPSIS:

The person who ruined their lives just might bring them together…

Brad is ready for a perfect senior year: he has a seat at the popular lunch table, a gig co-hosting the school’s morning announcements, and a gorgeous girlfriend. But when Carissa breaks up with Brad, his carefully constructed life comes crashing down. Convinced everything would be perfect if only Carissa would take him back, Brad creates a “self-improvement plan” and vows to re-win her heart.

Rose wishes she were having a normal senior year like everyone else, but leave it to her twin sister Carissa to butt in and ruin her life. Carissa secretly nominated Rose for the reality TV show Help Me Lose Weight and Live Again—and now Rose is on her way to Texas for three months of calorie-counting, marathon-exercising hell. Rose already felt overshadowed by her “perfect” sister, and collapsing on a treadmill on national TV is not making things any better. Plus, Rose can’t squash feelings for her sister’s boyfriend Brad (even though she knows he would never see her as anything but a friend.)

For fans of friends-to-lovers romance comes a heartwarming novel about self-improvement, identity and acceptance in our image-obsessed culture.

Review

The title of ‘Thanks, Carissa, for ruining my life’ caught my eye. I was so overjoyed when I found it in my Netgalley shelf just waiting to be read.

This is a sweet contemporary read about Brad and Rose. It’s light-hearted, makes you laugh, easy do read and dual perspective.

The story starts with Carissa signing her twin plus-sized sister Rose up for a weight loss camp in Texas. Around the same time she breaks up with her boyfriend Brad. Both Rose and Brad are absolutely mad at Carissa and for reasons justified.

I really liked Rose’s character, right from the start. She was such a nice person, perfect for a protagonist. Brad’s character was also good as a male lead. But something that bothered me was Carissa. I was starting to get into her being a mean girl, and to be honest, the oh so not surprising character redemption ruined her for me.

I’m not one to say that a mean character deserves to stay mean, but the whole book was based up on Carissa being super selfish. That kindof downplayed it for me.

One thing that I really liked about this was Rose’s character development. Admitting to yourself can be hard, and this book actually showed how hard it is. It wasn’t a god sent realisation, it took time and effort. I really liked that. Not many ya protagonists are plus sized, so Rose was definitely a breath of fresh air.

The plot developed good. It had me questioning how Rose and Brad would end up together, but then that plot twist was SO SUDDEN.

This book also had a TON of misunderstandings. The whole circle of ‘if she likes me then why is she with him’ and ‘he couldn’t like me, he dated HER’.

I did find Brad adorable, and his and Rose’s backstory was really really cute.

I think the book served it’s purpose. It was a light, fluffy, ya contemporary read.

Thoughts

I did enjoy reading this book, although the start was a *little* bit slow. If you like cutesy, cupcakesy novels with 5 bowls of drama and misunderstandings, this book’s for you!

OH ALSO, IT’S RELEASING TOMORROW!! Remember to check it out!