Review: In the Unlikely Event

In the Unlikely Event by L.J. Shen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

An ARC was given generously in exchange for an honest review.

“It’s not the right time to be together, I agree. But if we meet again, under any circumstances, any time in the future, we’re making this work, Rory. Feck spouses. Feck boyfriends and girlfriends. Feck the world. If kismet happens, we are letting it happen, no matter what.” - (Mal)

And boy did kismet make sure they were together. Screwing everything which they held dear but never, directly them. Go kismet!

Yeah...anyway.

I had such high hopes for this novel for two reasons: 1. L.J Shen. (Need I say more?) 2. An experiment with a different storyline. (Hell yeah!)

And....*boom* it did not happen.

Let me explain.

...............................................

9.46 pm, in Melbourne, Australia. The date reads 18th of December.

A girl sits in her comfortable recliner, jaw slack, eyes wide open, and mind blown to pieces (from the inside, duh, why would I encourage gore?)..as she's dnfed a novel, and has no idea what to do anymore with her life.

She ponders hurling herself off a cliff, or killing the editor who edited this novel.

Both sound costly.

She wonders..

Her: THE FUCK DID I JUST READ? Is this really our beloved L.J Shen's novels, the one I'd been dying over, for weeks until I got accepted as a reviewer to read it? Can this be real? Can it?

Fangirl inside: Well. Uh. Yes, yes it's true. It did happen.

Her: God no. I can't. I've already had such a miserable day. This cannot possibly be the ending to my day. God.

Fangirl: Well, maybe write this review up, you need to let your feelings out. Your Aquarius self is already bad at expressing shit. And then read the 560-something novel which you have to return this sunday.

Her: Alright. But still why? *bangs head against wall* WHHYYYYYY?

Fangirl: I wish I could explain. But we have a thing to do. Let's do it. Besides this review is already getting long. So cmon.

Her: Fine. Let's finish this shithole.

....................................

As you can see this has been my reaction ever since I realized how much I hated this novel, this novel by my very loved author, L.J Shen. This tragedy that was written by her glorious hands.

I can't. But I must. I have to let my feelings out. I must. So here I go.

The cover - Fucking gorgeous. Literally. A broken snow globe, even if you can't tell at first glance. So many hidden meanings, a deep resonating connection within joins you to it. Mesmerising and enthralling, it leaves you breathless seeing it. Hence the star. Fucking perfection.

The summary - A girl in a foreign land. A hot, hot one night stand. A pact made to be together no matter what. A pact which may not go how it's supposed to, if kismet allows it. But you know what they say.

All's fair in love, war and stupidity.

But still a nice summary. Hence why the stars.

But then the real shit happens.

1. The romance - The romance is entirely insta-love. So don't be surprised at how quickly they fall for each other. Secondly, it's entirely like some forbidden romance novel in the later half, which I like but off on cheating I do not. Which it is. Hence why I'm on the fence about it. I always hate cheating no matter what the reason. Like why do people lose control on themselves so easily? They say love can happen quick, so then it should also be acceptable if someone falls out of love quickly. People always get annoyed about the second part. No fair, hon. No fair. Hence why no stars.

2. The cheating and the several other bitchy factors - I don't like swearing this much but this novel literally pissed me off a point to no return, at least to no clean land. So the cheating. She says she will never be like someone in her family because that's what happened to them too. But then she ends up doing the same thing, simply because he was like some irresistible chocolate she couldn't get enough of..(I'll make the chocolate point soon..) and she loves him too much, she "realizes".

Dumbass. And the poor boy she was already with, originally, he gets turned into a jerk for no apparent reason. But then it makes for a very fitting conclusion to their breakup as she can get back to her perfect, white knight in shining armor, irish angel Mal.

Like what? This thing reminds me of the tamlin shebang that happened in the ACOTAR series. I still to this day, love Tamlin and no idiotic Rhysand fan can stop me. All I got for them is that they can go toss themselves off a cliff for all I care. (The author did the same thing with Tamlin, literally stopped his developing process and changed him back into even more of a villain. And made rhysand the hero of it all. He can go die. That's all.)

Therefore I do not support it and did not encourage their romance or their growing up process. The women are constantly bitching at each other and not in support of each other at all. They're even worse than the Meangirls movie and though they're all in their late 20s, they behave like they're 17-18 year olds. It's annoying as fuck. No one cares about Rory. They're all fucking villains. That's all.

The end - I did not care to read till the end. I did not care for the characters, the romance, the development process, the ending, the actual plot. I did not care. All of it's childish and messed up, way beyond my comprehension.

So, sorry L.J, but I hate this half-baked shit that was invented by your hands.

Not recommended at all, overall.

PS: As for the chocolate, what they did with it, Mal and Rory, god. I'll never be able to look at chocolate the same way again. That's guaranteed. Plus it involves Mick Jagger. (Look it up, Gen Z.)

PPS: Still excited about Angry god and her future novels, however, cause after all, this is L.J Shen.

Until the next read,

TMR

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