I struggled with the flow of this book. There was a lot of back and forth between the past and present day which was intertwined with differing points of view. In some respects, it seemed to exacerbate the emotional disconnect between Nick and Ellie. Rather than a reciprocal relationship based upon love and respect, the love affair appeared one-sided. Ellie came across as detached, patronizing Nick who was floundering amidst the thorns of unrequited love. Neither endeared themselves to the reader and the story was a bit morose.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Owen Nicholls for an ARC of 'Love, Unscripted' in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

'Love, Unscripted’ by Owen Nicholls is a uniquely laid out story about a perfect meet-cute between Nick, a projectionist, and Ellie, a free-spirited photographer, and everything that follows after it. The novel is told from Nick’s perspective, as he’s trying to suss out where his relationship with Ellie went “wrong.”

The narrative incorporates a flashback to the night of their first meeting, and is also interspersed with "intermissions" throughout. While this format felt wholly inventive and unique, in my opinion, it made it harder to get into the story. I also didn’t feel emotionally invested in Nick’s journey. Perhaps it would have been more compelling to see some of the story from Ellie’s perspective. I found Ellie to be the more compelling and likable character. The continuous referrals to pop culture are entertaining if you know the context, but the story gets bogged down by them in places.

I also feel like this should be labeled wholly as a general fiction book and not a romance, because it doesn’t necessarily have the stereotypical “happily ever after” that is an integral component of any romance novel. In the end, I feel like the story has some great moments, but the overall effect was just okay to me.

**I received an ARC of this title courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**

I received and ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel this book, especially when Nick started to commiserate about his break up, and putting a lot of the blame on Ellie. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't end up like that at all. There were times where I found both Ellie and Nick to be a bit pretentious, but I figured that had more to do with them being British than anything. I found their love story to be rather realistic, that if you don't put in the effort and let personal insecurities get the best of you, your relationship isn't going to survive. I found the ending to be vague but hopeful. I don't usually do romance novels from men, but I did really enjoy this one.

There was one minor detail that was not factual. The Wachowski Sisters were not the Wachowski sisters in 2012. Lilly didn't come out as a trans woman until 2016. Nick wouldn't be calling them the Wachowski sisters in 2012 when it wasn't public knowledge. This should have been caught by both the author and the editor.

Other than that, this was a joy to read and definitely worth reading.

Cute story with an easy to read vibe. I like it from start to finish. A little bit of back and forth in time going on but it’s easy to follow.

I very much enjoyed this novel about a movie-obsessed projectionist with low self esteem who meets a confident, smart woman who falls for him though I agree with her family that she is too good for him--especially as he becomes quite a jerk at times--so it's hard to sometimes get what she sees in him. But I really loved the writing and the ups and downs of the story and their relationship and I love a good a character-driven story. I'll look forward to reading more from this author.

Love, Unscripted was really disappointing. I wasn't charmed by Nick nor did I feel bad for him. The novel shows us the night of his and Ellie's meeting, along with other important memories, and yet I wasn't moved by them. I didn't think they made a good couple nor were they compatible. Ellie didn't seem to be into Nick and she was always making it seem like Nick had come up with the grand idea or had been the one to come up with the best present ever when in fact she was pulling the strings to stroke his fragile ego. Not to mention she wasn't very nice at all, making some weird and mean comments to Nick the first night they met. Why should a woman have to spend most of her time and effort making the man feel like he's brilliant? That he should get credit for all that is going well in their relationship?

Nick is pathetic. He has no life goals or aspirations and was content to live in their shitty flat working as a movie projectionist, even though projectors were going out of use and had been for a while. There's no redeeming quality to him at all and I completely understand why Ellie left him. None of the memories he recounted made me feel anything for him but annoyance. He's a really week character and only sees Ellie through rose-tinted glasses as the girl he loves, not a whole person. He only starts to question his life choices after she left.

This book has an adorable cover and equally adorable premise but is actually about a pathetic boy pinning after his mean girlfriend that he took for granted. I don't need to read this boy's lamenting about losing his manic pixie dream girl.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Ballantine Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*