Something funny actually happened when I was reading The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren today. The main character, Olive, has this big yet close-knit family that meets and bonds regularly. Experiencing the connection through her lens warmed my heart thus got me thinking, "It must be cool to have these many aunts and cousins."
Ha! How foolish I was to ever think of that, really. As soon as the thought had crossed my mind, I instantly realized how her situation actually resembled my own. I have as many (or probably more) aunts and uncles as Olive, while my cousins are absolutely countless (I'm not exaggerating. I used to try to count them but lose it at about 20 or so). It was ridiculous how extremely absorbed I was in the story that I totally forgot about being a part of a super big family myself. Fiction actually made me do that, friends.
The Unhoneymooners follows the story of Olive Torres whose twin sister Ami is getting married. On the supposedly happy occasion though, something unexpected happens. The wedding turns out disastrous when the entire party gets food poisoning from eating free (but bad) shellfish. As luck would have it, the only people who aren't affected by the fiasco are Olive and Ethan—her nemesis who is also her brother-in-law.
Here is the problem: the lucky Ami has already gotten herself a ten-day free honeymoon trip to Hawaii which is nonrefundable nor that it is postponable. Both Olive and Ethan want the free vacation quite badly and so they agree to go together, pretend to be a couple, and split up later. Everything seems to go according to plan until somehow Olive stumbles upon her new boss and accidentally tells a white lie. To save her future job, she has to get Ethan to agree to play pretend as loving newlyweds. That's when they get to know each other better in the midst of all the non-stop bickering.
With so much expectation bubbling up even before I bought this book, it was understandable that I was a little nervous at first. A lot of my friends labeled The Unhoneymooners as one of their favorite rom-coms, and thankfully, true to their words, this book was great. Not only that I had several good laughs, but I also admired the fact that regardless of the romance tag on top, this book explored the strong bond of sisterhood and family too even if a bit briefly. And I really loved it for that. Olive's family seemed like a cool one not because they were perfect, but rather for how realistic they felt, like how they put their noses in each other's business a little too frequently because that's how they showed that they cared.
The romance part, on the other hand, was sweet. It was also super fun to witness how Olive and Ethan hated each other over something so stupid just to realize that they had been wrong all along. That being said, even though the development was a bit abrupt and didn't flow really well, I could still enjoy it a lot thanks to their banters. But what I loved the most about their relationship was the fact that it was not at all cheesy though. Involving quite a grand gesture, I found it properly executed and so it did not feel over the top.
In conclusion, The Unhoneymooners was such a cute rom-com with the right amount of romance and comedy. It may have too many impossible coincidences and all that, but I kinda have expected them in a chick-lit so it's not really that huge of a deal. Plus, the writing flowed really well in addition to it being so much fun; no wonder I had enjoyed it since page 1.
Now now, will I declare it as my all-time favorite rom-com though? I don't think so. The Unhoneymooners may have entertained me these days, but something about Olive and Ethan's relationship didn't fully charm me as much as the other rom-com's couples did. Will I recommend it to you though, my friends who like something fluffy and fun? Certainly. This book is definitely worth reading. Olive was a fun character to go through this book with, and it’s actually quite easy to find her personality relatable. Lastly, will I pick up another book by Christina Lauren in the future? Without a doubt. I just have this feeling that I will find another from her that will charm me to no end.
Actual rating: 4★
