Book Review: The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez

“Time changes things, it doesn’t change people. People have to change themselves.”

Abby Jimenez, The Night We Met

Review:

I have so many conflicting feelings about this book… On one hand, I was invested in the story, wanting to know how everything would work out. On the other, I couldn’t ignore the dynamics. The longer I’ve sat with the book, the less I like it despite how hooked I was. 

Chris and Larissa meet at a concert, but that night, it was Chris’ friend Mike that drove her home. Given this was shortly after his mother’s passing, Chris wasn’t his best self. It’s not until an incapacitated Mike begs Chris to drive Larissa and her mother to the hospital for a scheduled surgery that he begins resenting not being the one Larissa chose.

Larissa is happy enough with Mike, although, as Mike is less and less available, Chris is the one she ends up spending more time with, even co-adopting a dog together. Mike doesn’t seem bothered by this and shows up for her in other ways. At least, that’s what she’s led to believe. 

This book was messy. Normally, I’m all here for that, but in this instance, I was left feeling bothered by so many things. If it wasn’t bad enough that Chris is ultimately Larissa’s love interest despite him being her boyfriend’s best friend, Chris spends the majority of the book lying to Larissa about Mike to the point where the situation becomes dangerous. This didn’t mix well with his obsession with keeping her safe and wanting to take care of her. On the surface, it’s sweet, but it got to a point where he felt suffocating and not in line with how he handled the situation with Mike. 

If this had been labeled as literary fiction rather than a romance, I would have eaten it up. I thoroughly enjoy reading about flawed characters and complicated dynamics. But presented as a romcom? I didn’t want a happy ending. I wanted to see real consequences for the characters’ actions. This is where my conflict comes in, because in that sense, I loved this book. 

I do love Abby Jimenez’ writing, so I will be picking up the next book in this series despite my trepidations on what’s been revealed of the plot. I hope that somehow book three will make me feel better about this one.

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• One thing I love about Abby Jimenez’s books is that her characters are often dealing with some sort of trauma or emotional struggle, which for me, enriches the story.
• Lots of funny moments.

What I didn’t like:

• Again, the fact that this is meant to be a romcom. So many lines were crossed. It didn’t feel romantic. It felt concerning. Perfect for a dark, literary book, not so much a light and fluffy comedy.

Afterthoughts:

I’m glad I got to buddy read this with my friends Hanna and Skylar! There was a lot to discuss.

I’m still not sure about my rating because I feel like 2 stars is too low for how invested I was, but 3 stars is too much for how problematic this is as a romcom.

Side note: Although I’m not one to lobby for it being standard practice, I do appreciate books that include a content warning page, but my gosh, if we are going to name so many potential triggers, can we please, please, please also include warnings for those of us with dental phobias?

Where to buy the book: