Rê 's Reviews > Being Brooke

3.5 “Hot Mess & Life Tips” Stars

ARC provided by author

Thank you!

This book is hilarious. Brooke, the MC, just has one of those voices you can't ignore. She's in your face and she's not sorry about it, and because of her personality, you'll find yourself laughing hard a lot. I mean, look at the excerpt bellow and you'll understand what I'm saying:



I’ll be completely honest and say this book is a lot different from what I expected. While I went into it thinking I’d read a category romance (the relationship as the main focus), this turned out to be more of a women’s fiction/chick lit since it’s heavily focused on Brooke and her life. In fact, Being Brooke reminded me a lot of Love, Chloe from Alessandra Torre, and they’re both great books.

The good news here is: Brooke is a strong enough character and has a strong enough voice to carry this book.

Don’t get me wrong, the romance is there. After all, Brooke’s main concern is the fact that she has feelings for her best friend, Cain, who happens to be in a relationship. Although this dilemma is the driving force of the story, the romance doesn’t become the focus until much later on (as contradictory as it may sound).

At first, we get to spend a lot of time seeing Brooke interact with people around her, Cain included. Brooke let us into her chaotic new home and her crazy life. She shows how her relationship with her mother isn’t the best because her mom expects her to be someone he isn’t. She treats us to great scenes with two of her best friends, Cain and Carly. She charms you with her potty mouth, her over-the-top attitude, her inability to move two steps without bumping into things or making a mess of something, and her non-stop chatter. While Brookes might drive you and the people around her crazy, she’s so eccentric you won’t be able to look away.

Brooke is full of contradictions, if you ask me. And that’s what makes her so interesting.

She’s the type of character whose voice will hook you from the start—she’s hilarious, witty, sarcastic and unapologetic; and those traits will end up driving you insane. You’ll still enjoy it, though. Brooke is bitchy AF, but to her defense, she acknowledges that all the time. She doesn’t pretend to be otherwise. Above all, Brooke felt real. She’s not one of those Mary Sue protagonists. She’s batshit crazy and she has as many flaws as redeeming qualities. I felt like I was reading about someone I could actually know, and that’s not something that happens every day. Sure she got on my nerves a few times, especially with the way she treated/talked/thought of Cain’s ex-girlfriend. I get that the ex was supposed to be as bitchy as Brooke could be, but since we hardly interacted with Cain’s ex-girlfriend, I felt Brooke’s reactions went a little too far. Still, I related to something Cain and Carly often said: Brooke drove them crazy, but they kept coming back for more because they loved it.

Another thing that felt real was the transition between Brooke and Cain’s friendship to their romantic relationship. Look, I love friends-to-lovers stories. That’s always going to be one of my favorite tropes, and it was the reason I requested this book. But I can’t say I’ve seen this trope handled the way Emma Hart did here. The awkwardness Brooke felt when Cain first kissed her, when they’re relationship moved into new territory made complete sense. Even though she’d been in love with him for so long, getting to live her fantasies was new to her and she was scared. I felt that with her, and I enjoyed how it put a spin on this trope.

Speaking of romance, Cain was a good love interest. It took me a while to get a 100% on team Cain because of a few things involving his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, but he earned my respect when he put an end to it. The fact that he didn’t cheat on her despite her being a bitch and despite the fact that he was already attracted to Brooke also made it easier to like him. It didn’t hurt that Cain was hot AF.

The ending was a big YES for me, because it made me so emotional. I won't say much because I don't want to spoil it, but I have to say I swooned hard. It was pretty perfect, in my opinion.

Overall, this was a really funny book about a crazy young woman learning to navigate life and love. It's perfect for fans of books that makes you swoon and laugh.