I started listening to two audiobooks in the same day. One was on the way to work, the other on the way back.
Why? Because the 25 minutes on the way to work was enough of How to End a Love Story for a lifetime.
I had high hopes for this story touted as an angsty enemies-to-lovers story that would make any reader cry. I love me some angst, and will feel plenty of those tearful emotions in my heart. And of course, enemies-to-lovers is my favorite. But I worried immediately upon starting How to End a Love Story. The setup is rough: Helen’s sister has just died by suicide, and Grant’s the one whose car she jumped in front of. She has viciously hated him ever since. (Not that they were friends, and she disliked his preppy crowd before.) Note that this was in high school. Over a decade later, she has written a bestselling book, and he’s been brought on to work in the writer’s room for the adaptation. She still hates his guts, and expresses that hate at every meeting, no matter what he tries to do.
This dynamic…did not work for me. She isn’t an “unlikeable heroine”. She is a person who has not processed her grief and is lashing out in anger at the person she blames for her sister’s death, even though he’s also a victim in this whole thing. She has a certain power over him that he can’t escape, and the dynamic between them really bothered me, to the point I didn’t want them to end up in any kind of emotional relationship. I wanted them to hash out their shit and never speak to each other again, and I knew that wasn’t going to happen.
So. I moved on.
Guava Flavored Lies, on the other hand, started out in a similar manner, as far as setting the scene: we first meet Lauren and Sylvia in high school, after they’ve been in a fight. We see that their families are business and social rivals, and they’re just continuing that. When we meet them again, they’re now in their thirties, and each is basically running their families’ businesses. A summer of festival appearances throws them in each other’s way, and they have to interact, much to their chagrin. But something cracks in all that interaction (there might be alcohol involved), and some truths come to light. The relationship is much different after that, and, well, you know what happens.
This one can also be aggravating (are people really like that?!) but not in the same way that How to End a Love Story was. In the end, it was a delightful listen and I’m looking forward to reading more from JJ Arias.