written in the stars (alexandria bellefleur): a review

 

Written in the Stars (a review)

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5

I set out to read a romance novel and succeeded in reading a romance novel. In almost every respect, I got what I came for. I don't have a ton of opinions on this book, but I think Bella will kill (or at the very least seriously injure) me if I don't review enough books. I would not say that Written in the Stars has enough selling points for me to recommend it broadly speaking. I'm not going to, say, tell the scorer on the AP test that they should read Written in the Stars. But if you are looking to read a romance novel specifically, and you just want it to be cute and fun, have I got a book for you.

Written in the Stars follows our intrepid protagonists, Elle (an astrologer) and Darcy (an actuary) as they begin fake dating to solve their personal problems. Elle's family thinks she is flighty and irresponsible, and she wants to show them that she's a responsible adult. Darcy has recently broken off an engagement and wants her brother to stop setting her up with other women. Although their relationship begins as a way to get people off their backs, they soon accidentally fall in love for real, and it's really, really cute.

Written in the Stars has several strengths, a major one being that characters are likeable and have wholesome interactions. Importantly, Elle and Darcy are both great characters and are good together. Elle is a big astrology fan, so I wasn't sure I would like reading about her (I'm not a big astrology fan), but I should not have been worried because she's like a ball of sunshine and happiness. As an ENTP, I thought Darcy was also a great character. Although I am now looking at personality database, and it tells me that Darcy is an ISTJ, which is really not similar. As a thinking type, I liked Darcy's character. I want to be clear that I do not think the MBTI test is real or accurate.  She is a cool person with a cool job who employs facts and logic without being super annoying.

Even beside Elle and Darcy, most of the characters were pretty cool and they had positive interpersonal relationships, which was nice. I enjoyed Darcy's relationship with Brendon (her brother), Elle's friendship with Margot (her roommate), and Elle's siblings (Jane and Daniel). I do not like other members of both protagonists' families, although that was sort of the point.

The trope game in this book is strong. I don't love the fake dating trope, but the fake dating turns into real dating expeditiously, so I have no complaints there. I do like the grumpy/sunshine trope, and although Darcy is not grumpy so much as reserved, the dynamic was similar, so I was a fan of that part as well. If you like either of these tropes, have I got the book for you.

Although I enjoyed Darcy and Brendon's relationship, I'm not sure whether I liked Brendon in isolation. He is a meddlesome snoop, and that sort of got on my nerves, but I'm also a meddlesome snoop, so I do see myself in him. Sometimes his meddlesome snoopery was positive, and sometimes it was negative. You know, the jury is still out. His name is Brendon, so I expect very little from him. One cannot trust people named Brendon.

Another positive thing about Written in the Stars is that both protagonists have the same name as major Heartstopper characters, which is a fun coincidence. I would be surprised if it were intentional. Alexandria Bellefleur secret Heartstopper fan???

Moving onto criticism: Darcy, an astrologer, has a business deal with Brendon, a dating app tycoon, where her astrology business,,, incorporates astrology charts into the dating app algorithm?? Why?? Astrology is literally not real. Now, I don't begrudge Elle (or any astrology fan) her interests, but I do not think astrology, a pseudoscience, belongs in a dating app algorithm. Granted, I have heard almost exclusively bad things about online dating, so I suppose it can't get any worse.

Perhaps a more substantial criticism is that I didn't like the part where Darcy and Elle temporarily broke up. I understand that many romance books do this, and I still hate it. I read romance because I want to be happy, so why is the author trying to make me sad? I think this is called the miscommunication trope. I hate the miscommunication trope. In fairness, I think Written in the Stars handled this plot point about as well as could possibly be expected, since the dual perspective makes it clear that neither protagonist is really being unreasonable when they decline to communicate their feelings to each other, but I still wish it weren't there. Plus, the ending is rushed. Elle and Darcy get back together and then the book ends immediately. If I had several chapters of them being happy instead of several chapters of them being sad girls, this book would be five stars, hands down.

Hopefully this review is long enough that Bella won't get on my case, being that it is ten paragraphs long and I put significant time and effort into it. Anyway, I would recommend Written in the Stars to someone who wants to read a romance novel and/or enjoys fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, and nice people being nice to each other. I would say some of the major selling points or this book are Seattle, astrology, actuaries, escape rooms, and astronomy. If you really like any of these things, have I got the book for you.