Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown Book Review
Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown is her debut novel that follows Emma and Finn as they go on a road trip to find their runaway bride best friend.
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Mistakes We Never Made
Author: Hannah Brown
Pub. Date: May 7, 2024
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 336
Rating: 3 stars
Spice: 3 hearts
Content Warnings: swearing, drunkenness, infidelity, mentions cancer/death of a parent, sexual content, panic attacks, & abandonment
Synopsis:
Emma Townsend can sum up her situationship with hot-as-hell romantic red flag Finn Hughes in one word: almost. They almost dated in high school. They almost hooked up after college. They almost took things too far one magical night. Their whole story is one series of “almosts” and “nearlys,” and now they just kind of can’t stand each other. Like, at all.
But this weekend, one of their mutuals is getting married . . . and Emma and Finn will have to pretend they don’t remember how disastrous it was the last time they were in a room together.
Emma’s doing a stellar job of playing it cool–until the bride goes missing. Now, with two days before the wedding, Emma and Finn are hitting the road in a sweet vintage sports car in hopes of salvaging someone else’s happily-ever-after.
Yet somewhere between Emma’s breakfast burrito throw down, a high-stakes kayak chase (it can happen), and an outrageous Vegas detour, these sworn enemies are crossing more than just state lines. As old feelings spark once more, Emma begins to question whether risking your heart is ever really a mistake.
Book Review
Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC of Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown. All opinions are my own.
This book sounded like it might be similar to People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. Since I liked that book, I thought I’d give this book a try.
Thoughts
There were some things I enjoyed about this story.
I liked the road trip aspect because it was interesting getting to see the characters have a little adventure and to travel to different places. I thought the settings were fun, and I enjoyed the alone time and time for reflection that it gave the characters.
This book was also easy to read. I would’ve never guessed that it was this author’s first fiction novel because it was written well. I ended up finishing it within a few days.
I also liked some of the sweet moments between Finn and Emma. Finn could be charming when he wanted to be, and I liked that he remembered so many things about Emma from their past.
However, there were quite a few things that did not work for me in this story.
My main issue with this book was the characters. They were all pretty unlikable. Considering the ages of the characters, I found many of them to be incredibly immature, especially Emma. She lacked communication skills, and I hated her outbursts like when she encountered someone she didn’t like on her and Finn’s first road trip stop.
Sybil was also a terrible character. She was a bad friend, was attention-seeking, and her actions were never dealt with in the story. I also hated how the book ended with no conclusion of what her secret was.
The plotline with Emma’s dad was unnecessary. It seemed kind of just thrown into the story to give Emma excuses for why she acted the way she did.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I probably wouldn’t recommend this book to most people. Although, it was a quick read. I think some people might enjoy this story, but it wasn’t for me.
Where to Read & Purchase
You can purchase a copy of this book at the following retailers:
Bookshop.org (supports independent book stores) [affiliate]
Libro.fm (audiobooks that support independent book stores) [affiliate]
→ get a free audiobook when you start a membership
Amazon [affiliate]
Books a Million (BAM) [affiliate]
AbeBooks [affiliate]
Have you read Mistakes We Never Made or any other books by Hannah Brown?
I would love to hear your thoughts! Comment down below.
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