Not a romance unless you’re into whiny white men.

Gosh, how I dislike this book. Based on the cover and description, I thought it would be a new adult contemporary romance, maybe akin to Waiting for Tom Hanks. Boy, was I wrong.

Love, Unscripted follows Nick, a part-time projectionist at a movie theatre who falls for Ellie the night they meet at an election party. Ellie is the perfect, quirky but together woman Nick has dreamed of, and Ellie shockingly seems into him as well. The story is told through three timelines; when they meet, break up, and another timeline of the little moments in between, leading to the breakup.

To say this book was a slog was an understatement. I think I got about halfway through, after Nick and Ellie had broken up, before I realized this wasn’t going to be a romantic, “win her back” sort of book. This is a book about an unlikeable sad-sack who treats everyone around him like garbage and then doesn’t understand why his life isn’t turning out the way he wants. Nick was insufferable and Ellie was barely her own character. I probably should have DNF’d this honestly but I’m trying to finish everything I read. Also, this should NOT be categorized as a romance novel. If it doesn’t have a happily ever after, it’s not a romance novel. That’s the definition. I’m a librarian, I should know.

If I wanted to spend 3 hours reading woe is me chat from whiny men, I’d open Twitter.

Title: Love, Unscripted
Author: Owen Nicholls
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384
ISBN: 9781984826879

Three Descriptors: Slow, Nostalgic, Introspective

Read Alikes:
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Thank You, Goodnight by Andy Abramowitz
Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters
Less by Andrew Sean Greer
Ghosted by Rosie Walsh