Book Review: The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez

“I was a ghost, wandering the rooms of a museum of the person I used to be, and Jason was like one of the living who could somehow see me and decided to wander the place with me.”

Abby Jimenez, The Happy Ever After Playlist

(This review contains spoilers from the first book in the series, The Friend Zone.)

Review:

After reading The Friend Zone, I suspected book two would focus on Sloan (I didn’t look ahead), which I had mixed feelings about. I wanted her to have another chance at happiness, but I knew it would have to be handled delicately. 

It’s been two years since Sloan lost her fiancé and life looks as bleak as it did when he died. Her friends are worried about her, and no matter what she tries, Sloan can’t pull herself out of her grief-fueled funk. Her first ray of sunshine comes by way of a dog who jumps into her car (and wins her a ticket). When Tucker’s owner is unreachable, Sloan decides to keep the dog. He’s the first thing that’s been able to consistently get her out of the house and feeling alive again. She sees a future with this dog, that is, until the owner finally returns her calls. He claims that he’s been on a work trip to Australia and out of contact, and though Sloan’s initial reaction is to hang up on him, she isn’t about to steal someone’s dog if he truly loves him.

Sloan agrees to watch Tucker for the remainder of Jason’s trip, and the two build a rapport over the phone and texts during that time. By the time Jason returns home, he insists on taking Sloan out on a date, though she’s reluctant to call it as such. Although she’s afraid of being hurt again, she can’t deny her immense feelings for Jason. 

The first half of this book was a lot of fun, and it was nice to see Sloan slowly open up to the idea of a second chance, but the last third or fourth of the book took a massive turn in tone. Although the drama worked well, it felt like too much in comparison to the rest of it. And while I’ve come to expect the miscommunication tropes in Abby Jimenez’s books, this time it was way over the top. I couldn’t even root for these characters to get together by the end because they were so bad for each other. 

I did enjoy this book more than The Friend Zone, because that book was incredibly heavy for a romcom. This one had its moments, but it felt more resolved by the end. I also preferred Sloan as a protagonist over Kristen. I plan on finishing out the series. 

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• Handled grief well and felt like a respectable continuation of Sloan’s story.

What I didn’t like:

• The last part of the book was wild, and one of the side plots was intense for a romcom.

Afterthoughts:

I would not recommend reading this as a standalone as it contains major spoilers from The Friend Zone.

This was a buddy read with my friends Hanna and Skylar!

Where to buy the book: