The Co-Op by Tarah DeWitt

 

3*

This is the second book by DeWitt I’ve read (the first being Savor It which I rated highly), and I’m disappointed that I struggled to get through it. I’m giving it the benefit of a doubt because I’ve been distracted by life, but the story didn’t compel me enough to want to put everything else aside to focus on it. First and foremost, I just didn’t care for LaRynn, the FMC. Yes, she had major baggage after being abused and neglected by her father and abandoned by her mother, feeling like she was incapable of being loved. However, her behavior towards Deacon, the anger, the rudeness, and her inability to be vulnerable and to share important parts of herself and her history, really frustrated me.

The use of a dual timeline (present-day and when they were lovers for a summer prior to her first year of college) and alternating chapters from both points of view, gave a full picture of their love story and the mistakes they both made along the way. However, in a character-driven romance, I need to believe in both main characters, and I just couldn’t with LaRynn for about 75% of the story. So, I was actually really thankful for the insight provided by the epilogue ten years in the future.

It’s not a badly-written book, and, if I were in a different frame of mind, I might have enjoyed it more. Unfortunately, I was just bored.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from St. Martin’s Griffin through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.