3.5 Stars – Rounded 

This is the story of Emily and Ben – polar opposites in both their approaches to the world and their willingness to ‘be’ out there in the way one might expect two twenty-somethings to be.  Crisp and incisive word choices highlight this story that, for me, was far more drama and angst (much of it self-inflicted) than I expected and still I was compelled to keep reading on.  

Emily. Emily was difficult. Dramatic, self-destructive, judgmental, prone to stupidity and clearly unable (at least at first) to learn from her many, many mistakes. She’s shallow and prone to navel-gazing that really amounts to nothing: since NOTHING ever changes. She’s got issues – some well-earned, others just arrive because she is so focused on using her issues as a shield to ‘protect’ her from anything that may potentially signal some growth. This is not a person that is easy to like or even want to empathize with as she KEEPS repeating the same patterns over and over – to the (SURPRISE!) same end. 

Ben was the polar opposite: able to take much of the action in that dodgeball game we call life and just move on, around or through it. There’s a solidity to Ben that is attractive, even as we don’t often see the depth and layers in his personality. But, after repeated encounters with (and many rejections from) Emily: somehow they start to build something together. He always seems to be the incidental character until he isn’t – with al of the moments that are Ben come together to form a solid and even admirable character. His ability to roll with the many punches of Emily’s ride on the crazy train; her perseveration, lack of self-awareness contrasting with an over-reliance on her issues and the way those don’t allow her to ‘move forward’.  Oh it was difficult – and not in the slightest bit romantic: but in some ways the story is realistic – at least for those who have found that person to stick by them when all indications show that they should have walked away long before. 

Oh the relationship has its moments of clear dysfunction (as do most relationships) it just so happens that many of these are repeats of the same issue manifesting in different situations.  From solid moments of comfort in companionship to overly drama-laden spikes of activity Cohen has managed to twine together several moments that build images of the characters and situations to a conclusion that is perfectly suited to the story.  A solid debut with difficult characters and too much angst and train wreck moments to call this an easy romance, the writing is the star here and promises many good things from this author in the future. 

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility. 

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-9AU/”> <a> I am, Indeed </a>

I love the voice and storytelling style here. The book is unique in the way it is structured.

I started to read this book with high hopes and expectations, because of the attention grabbing title. Unfortunately I felt let down almost throughout the whole book. 

The story is written from a perspective of two characters: Eve and Ben.

Eve is an aspiring writer. She is a struggling to keep her feet on the ground and is quite emotional. Ben is an engineer, down to earth kind of guy. Naturally opposites attract, but not in this story; at least not at the beginning.

Eve is attracted to the “bad” guys. Her past relationships are always with boys who cannot keep job (or never had one), trouble makers, and drug dealers. Obviously, when Ben comes around, she finds him bland and boring.  Only when she gets tired of the trouble and thrill which comes with dating guys with too much edge, she notices Ben. Their relationship starts slowly and shortly after the two find themselves more and more attached to one another. While dating, however, Ben realizes that he and Eve share the same tragedy from the past. He tries to find the right moment to tell Eve, which is not easy. Will the secret break their relationship?

I was not a huge fan of the author’s writing style, and found the novel unorganized and hard to follow. 
The first 50+ pages (on my kindle) were describing the same party, and I started to lose interest. There were few moments in the book when it grabbed my attention back, but only for a short period of time, until the pace slowed down.

None of the characters (besides Ben) were likeable, and although most were in their 20’s, I found them very immature. 

The plot has a big potential, and I think the overall story is good, but the writing style was just not for me.

Eve has been introduced to Ben multiple times during their college years. They socialize in the same circles, but not near enough that she ever remembers him. Until the one time when it sticks, and the two fall in love. Staying in love will be a different story.

I read this book weeks ago and struggled with what to say about it. This is one of those books where not a lot happens, it just meanders along until you reach the end. And then you move on to the next read.

Cohen crafts a believable story of two bright young people working through the what now of a privileged white 20 year olds in the US. With the Ivy League education behind them, living in New York, what happens next? The jobs that don’t live up to the hype, the Miss/Mister Right Nows rather than The Ones, the banality of clubs and bars…

Most of the story is from Eve’s perspective, and we get to watch her grow up. It’s done well, but it can be frustrating to watch. It’s a shame we don’t get to see Ben’s growth in parallel. He ends the story roughly the same as he begins it, and that’s a shame. It might have been interesting to see what she would have done with him.

Ultimately, I don’t know who I would recommend this book to. It’s not romance. It’s fiction, possibly women’s fiction. But I struggle to think of when I might bring it up in conversation. While the marketing blurb compares it to When Harry Met Sally, it lacks the humor and charm of Ephron’s work to really live up to that comparison. So, we’re left with a somewhat relatable small-scale story in which not much happens and the characters are borderline unlikeable.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley in order to facilitate this review.

I enjoyed how the characters matured throughout this novel. Ben and Eve's relationship is genuine and believable.

You need to read this book! I just can't recommend this opposites attract, slow burn romance story enough. I was intrigued by the blurb because hey, I love angst. But Ms. Cohen delivered so much more. This Love Story Will Self-Destruct is an expertly written, clever, poetic and heartfelt story of a young women coming of age in the early to mid two thousands. From the very opening pages I was captivated. The prologue sets a tone of anticipation and once I started I simply couldn't conceive of doing anything else with me time. 

Columbia University senior Eve is surrounded by a small group of friends who are diverse, at times kindred spirits to her, but most certainly always highly entertaining. Eve's life is fascinating. She struggles with deep rooted fear all while trying to figure out what she wants out her life. She knows what she wants to do , work as a music journalist, but as you'd expect, she struggles to break into the industry via the NYC workforce of 2007. She experiences laughter and heartache and comes to a realization about the lack of opportunity, so takes a chance and uses a well timed opportunity to rebuild her confidence. 

Eve is one of those endearingly flawed characters that you can't help but root for. She's very observant and she's has thoughts that are slightly judgmental. Normally that would put me off a character but as you we get to know Eve, it just feeds into her quirks. She's introspective and because of her upbringing and her family situation, she's incredibly guarded and at times, she's her own worst enemy. 

Ben has been in and out of her life, but very much on the peripheral. As the story progresses Ben and Eve are brought together and the timing seems right. Thus we have the start of the love story. It's an uphill battle for both of them, but Ben is patient with Eve, and he's incrediby romantic. He just seems to get her and he gives her the stability that allows her to be her quirky and adorable self. But she is impulsive, she lets self-doubt and the fear of rejection get the the best of her, and mistakes are made. I literally gasped "Oh Eve - you silly girl"...

One thing that really makes this story work how Cohen develops her characters, especially with Eve's backstory. She intersperses flashbacks of Eve growing up and the distress she feels about her broken family, her sister, her mother and even the father that abandoned them. Then there's a zinger of a connection between Ben and Eve that I would never have seen coming. 

One can never know about the editing process, but I thought the author and whomever she works with to craft the plot, did a stellar job. I connected with Eve, I connected with Ben, I even connected a bit with Jesse. The timeline is executed to perfection and became a rare "reading experience" for me. Lest I sound so serious, it is a fun read too. I felt like I was traveling the subway, having coffee and out for drinks with this dynamic group of friends. 

I am mightily impressed with Ms Cohen's words. Eve and Ben wormed there way right into my heart. Ben is just so charming and levelheaded as we got to know him I couldn't help but think how much I liked him for her. Yes, her. Because Eve really is the star of the story. Her anxiety bled off the pages, making my heart race. I really can't wait to see what comes next from this outstanding debut author. 5++ Stars and a #MustRead recommendation!!

Good essence for a book.   Needs revamping. I was not engaged in the first 25% and wanted to quit because I didn't find it pleasurable  to read someone's' erratic thoughts for a long time with no breakup from the outside world. Couple of things didn't jive with me.  See more comments in opinion to the editor
.I didn't leave such a bad rating on any of my sites.

My stars are not entirely accurate as this title was a DNF for me. I read about 50 pages and the writing style was not my cup of coffee. A shame for me because so much about the  book sounded appealing!

Honestly, this was a super cute story and I enjoyed it very much. It was actually the cover that hooked me. It reminds me of those super chic IG pictures in draw form and I had to grab it. The title too, grabbed me. 

The story starts off a bit slow, but I never give up before 30%, so I'm glad it picked up when it did because woah! I loved it. So many feels with this one. I was able to connect with the characters and feel both their pain and giddiness. Def one I would recommend and hope my friends read so that we could talk about it.

A slow start, but once you get into it this book is impossible to put down. Heartwarming, charming, funny - an all around delightful read. By the end, the characters feel like your friends and you'll undoubtedly feel their pain, laugh at their wit, and root for a happy ending.

5+ Stars

Wow! This book surprised me in the best of ways. I was just browsing through Net Galley and the title is what got my attention. I was expecting a ring pop, something cute and yummy and instead I got a freaking Tiffany diamond!!! I love finding these hidden gems!

This reads like a coming of age story with quirky characters, subtle humor and there are so many layers of complexity in how these characters responded to both big and small life changing events. The book starts with Eve and Ben in their college days and follows them into their 20's. They meet several times during college but there is absolutely no interest on both sides. Just another person you are forced to make small talk with because you run in the same circles. Eve is actually in a very toxic relationship with someone else initially and you get to understand why she made some really bad decisions later.

Eventually while Eve is working as an aspiring music reporter and Ben is an engineer working on building the Freedom Tower, these two have a moment over a table of chicken wings and thus begins their romantic relationship. These two could not be any different. Ben is a logical guy, quiet and maybe considered boring. Eve is more quirky, emotional, unpredictable and a tad bit over dramatic. Her personality is probably the result of people walking out of her life in different ways and so she has huge trust issues. She does not believe in happily ever after and this leads to self-sabotaging her relationship with Ben.

I loved that this book was so WEIRD! The eccentricity of these characters balanced out the grave situations and life changes they went through. At one point Eve and Ben find out they are connected in a most shocking way. My emotions were in overload and I acutely felt Eve's pain. The fact that she dealt with her pain by personifying bread and writing songs about how a pair of gloves feel when one of them is lost just made her that more appealing to me.

I can't believe this is the author's debut novel. The writing was magnificent, complex and emotionally intelligent. I dare anyone to read this book and not be blown away. Highly recommended!

5+ Stars
Contemporary Romance/ Chick Lit
Heat Level: N/A
POV: Dual
HEA

Thanks so much to Netgalley, Gallery Books and Leslie Cohen for the opportunity to read and review her debut novel - loved it!

This is just an easy-to-read, sweet love story.  Boy meets girl, life interferes story.  Told in alternating voices of Eve, a damaged young woman trying to cope with her dad's desertion and her mom's death, and Ben, a logical, engineer type.  They meet at Columbia University and continue to cross paths while each are moving on with their lives and other people.  This story follows each of their paths and their eventual coming together.

I upgraded this to 5 stars because of how much I loved the characters, especially Ben.  Eve was a funny, quirky character even while she was so insecure and untrusting.  Ben is a structural engineer - and I'm married to one so I loved his own quirks and mannerisms, although so different from Eve's.

A great read - highly recommended!.

Eve's got issues.  What those issues exactly are isn't entirely clear for several chapters.  In fact, I might have recommended reordering this a bit for clarity and, to be frank, to make Eve more sympathetic.  Ben does not have issues= he's a steady guy.  Stick with this past the first chapter, which was totally uninteresting and too frantic (a college party) and there's some good writing and a decent story.  Eve and Ben are meant for one another even though there are several other stops along the way.  It's well written but the plot wanders a bit in time and space in a way I wanted to edit.  Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.  Try this for a tale of two young New Yorkers finding their way to one another.

Girl goes to college. Girl vaguely knows boy because of the circle of friends surrounding. Girl grows up.

The Love Story Will Self-Destruct by Leslie Cohen is so, so much more than a lighthearted rom-com/chick lit book. Eve and Ben are two people in a group of friends from college. Eve is..neurotic and lonely and just looking for her place in this world. Ben is a very regulated and serious man, who is methodic and funny and....also looking for his place in this world. We follow them (and vaguely, their friends) from college to their early 20s, in New York in the mid to late 2000s. (So, YES 9-11 is a part of this story.)

This is a story about finding your path, about crossing paths with people and eventually finding your way to where you are supposed to be.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

4.5 Stars

Have you ever read a book and been left wondering how it felt like absolutely nothing happened but somehow SO much happened at the same time? This is that book for me. 

It read sort of like a diary where you’ll learn everything about Ben and Eve’s lives and how they missed each other for so long but crossed paths so often. You’ll learn of Eve’s struggle with the death of her mom and her absent father and her inability to trust in anything good. 

It’s mentioned early on that Ben’s friends think that he is boring and for a majority of the book I didn’t see it. I just saw him as steady, calm and level-headed. Then as we watch as Eve’s emotions start to get the best of her, Ben does seem to come across as unfazed, emotionless and yes, boring. When things blow up and Eve becomes her own worst enemy, I saw that Ben does have emotions, but he doesn’t express them outwardly. 

He is the calm to Eve’s storm. 

Even in the end when you’d expect a certain excited reaction to something Eve casually acknowledges he is steady and calm. At first I was disappointed because who doesn’t want a big show of emotion, but that’s when I hit me. His reaction was more real than anything I’ve become accustomed to in Fiction, but exactly what I witness first hand in real life. Proving that true love and romance isn’t always show-boating and loud, sometimes calm and steady is the best reaction of them all. 

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review

This was one of the most boring books I have read in a long time! The only character I ever connected with was Ben and, I only enjoyed the last 3 chapters of the book.

This being a debut novel I knew I would either love it or hate it well I loved it. I tore through this book like there was no tomorrow I couldn’t get enough. It was gritty, messy and pure delight. This author has a long career in front of her.

First, it was easy for me to get into this book because when we go back in time to Eve's senior year in college it is 2005 and that was my senior year.  It made me smile that I could go there to that exact year and remember where I was in that year.  Now granted she was in New York City and I was in North Carolina, but same spot in time!

What a cute and sweet love story.  Sometimes when you are reading all the heavy literary fiction and mystery thrillers and such, you just need something light and airy to escape for awhile.  Eve and Ben both have opportunities to move the story along from their own perspectives and I love hearing about the ups and relationships from both the guys and the girls point of view.  

There isn't much to stay beyond the fact that I just adored this book.  I hope that this isn't just the one and only from Leslie Cohen and that she continues to write books that are in the same vain as this book.  I would even suggest readers to get this book and hold on to it for your next vacation, it would be a perfect any time of the year vacation - easy to pick up and put down and just a sweet simple escape!

Favorite Line: “It should be illegal for two English majors to date each other.”

This is the story of Eve and Ben. We meet them in their last year at Columbia University and follow them through their 20s in the great city of New York!

The last half this book was so fun. Eve and Ben are a funny as hell read. Cohen does a wonderful job with their chemistry and their dialogue was so natural. Eve’s sister Emma seemed awesome and I wish there was more of her in the book! And more closure for their relationship with their dad.

What was really jarring for me, was the casual drug use and unhealthy relationship at the beginning. Eve and her friends snort an unidentified white powder hoping it is cocaine, Jesse delivers drugs mid-hookup, then doing heroin...the tone just didn't mesh. It felt super out of the blue and kind of just dropped in for effect.

That being said, this book spans a decade in Eve and Ben’s lives and it reads very much like quick snippets. I really liked that, it puts the reader at a distance and forces you to just observe. I think this format explains some of what I didn’t like with the loose ends and underdeveloped characters/subjects. It’s a full story in terms of the romance, but everything else is secondary and not necessarily wrapped up unless it moves the relationship somehow.

My favorite character in this was New York City. Like Eve’s mother and many other people, I absolutely love New York City. Well, in my case I love the idea of NYC since I’ve only been there a couple of times. This book takes you on a tour of the city, offering glimpses into different neighborhoods and parks, with Ben on hand to give information you never knew you needed. By the end, I was ready to start job hunting and totally willing to pay my entire salary in rent.

DNF at 25%. I just can't handle the stream of consciousness overload. The synopsis is incredibly appealing, but the style is not for me.