I really truly struggled with this book.

Bella struggles with change. Her best friend is moving out of the flat they have shared for almost a decade. Along with that, she just wants to find her true love the same way her parents did.

While dealing with the change, she is told try having fun instead of taking life so incredibly seriously. In order to do this, she starts going on dates and comparing them to different fairytales. This eventually turns into an obsession as she writes about these failed dates online.

This book was a roller coaster and honestly, I did not like until the last 20 pages. It was written really well, and the main character is just this annoying character that you want to shake and scream "what is wrong with you" because she has become so obsessed with her fake world that she almost ruins all of her relationships in reality.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book.

this was a fun book but I wouldn't say it really grabbed my attention as much as I expected it to. there were some moments that made me laugh though

Bella works in publishing and hopeful writer. After being on a dating app and a string of bad dates, Bella decides to write a chapter about each of her bad dates and publish them on a site for writers. Bella becomes consumed by likes and comments on what she has shared on the site and that seems to take a back seat to any romance plot.

Bella was immature and downright mean as a FMC. She was consumed by her online presence and furthering her story at the expense of actually dating worthwhile choices. This was an easy listen but not worth it for me.

Such a cute romance. I loved the characters loved their story. The chemistry was cute hot and on pointe. Cannot recommend this book enough.

Not That Kind of Ever After had a fun premise and some witty moments, but it was very slow and felt like it dragged. Still, the humor and self-discovery arc had charm.

The book left me a bit confused. I was not sure if it was supposed to be a romance or a coming of age novel? Even though the protagonist is supposedly a 29 year old. Which that also left me confused because she claims to have known her best friend for 29 years but there is never a real storyline with background proving that they have known each other since birth. So is the protagonist in her late 20's like the author mentioned or is she actually in her 30s?

The story has some witted and funny moments but then turns into this whole realizing you want to be a novelist but also wanting to find your prince charming. The main plotline of the novel doesn’t really start ,or at least become clear ,until we’re about 50% into of the book. The first half can easily be cut to about half its current length. There are also a lot of characters in the story, and the first half of the book feels confusing because we keep meeting new ones every few pages without any significant forward movement of the plot. We also don’t get to know many of these characters particularly well.

A fun, modern rom-com about a woman whose dating disasters mirror twisted fairytales. Witty, relatable, and full of charm, though the emotional depth sneaks up on you. A great mix of laughs and heart.

DNF'd at 40%-Liked the idea and premise for the book, but character development fell flat for me. thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Unfortunately this was a DNF at 40% for me. I just found that everything was taken to an extreme, which made the story more cringeworthy than enjoyable.

I’m still giving it 2 stars because I really liked the idea and premise for the book, but the characters just made it annoying to read.

I will still give other books by this author a chance though!

I found this book to be okay. I wasn’t fully drawn in but I wasn’t put off completely. It took me a long time to finish TBH and at times I felt like I was pushing myself to do it. The author writes well and I could see the potential but it felt a little played out and like a Wattpad story from 2016 (IYKYK) and that’s not disrespect it’s just not going to win a Pulitzer prize.

“It’s our own classy ending to our own classic story, and I now know with absolute certainty that it’s better than any fairytale out there.”

I loved the wattled vibe but could not get past how this was... "too far" as often as possible it seems. Was not a fan, but endured to the end. I just wanted more.

Just a little too dark for a "rom com" if you ask me.

Well, well, well. I just found myself a new author to read. I loooooved it. It started off with a (literal) bang and was incredibly well written. I’ve slogged through many awful Romances here on NetGalley, and this one was so refreshing!

after three years i also had to DNF at 10% in as the writing didn't stand out and i wanted more diversity. i just don't think i was the target audience and my taste in romance has changed to want a more literary focus.

*Not That Kind of Ever After* by Luci Adams is a charming and whimsical rom-com that offers a fresh twist on the classic "happily ever after" trope. The story follows a protagonist who sets out to find a modern, realistic version of love, rather than the fairytale romance she’s always dreamed of. The writing is engaging, and Adams brings a lot of humor and warmth to the story.

The characters are likable, and the protagonist’s journey of self-discovery and figuring out what she truly wants in a relationship is relatable. The romantic tension between the leads is sweet, though at times a bit predictable. Some of the plot points felt a little formulaic, and I found myself wanting a bit more emotional depth or complexity in the storyline.

Overall, *Not That Kind of Ever After* is a fun, light-hearted read with plenty of humor and charm, but it doesn’t offer much that feels new or particularly unexpected. It’s an enjoyable pick for fans of rom-coms, but it didn’t fully stand out for me.

This was a good contemporary romance with wonderful characters, pop culture references, and solid friendships. A fun quirky character in Bella. It was a solid debut.

i love the idea of books about people who love books and have great aspirations! the concept of this book felt relatable as someone in her twenties getting out into the world and managing a lot of the same things as ellie. however, there were some significant issues with pace and repetitiveness that made this hard to enjoy. i really wanted to love it more but i just kept getting thrown off track. still overall a fine read just could have had more to the story.

It's not my first book by this author and this book didn't disappoint. Very light and easy reading. Love the main character. Highly recommend.

In Not That Kind of Ever After, Bella is desperately searching for her Prince Charming. Apps aren't doing it, and men certainly aren't. Meanwhile, her best friend, Ellie, a perfect person in Bella's eyes, is moving out of their shared apartment after eight years to live with her boyfriend, a betrayal of epic proportions. In fact, Bella is so completely dependent on her best friend that she doesn't want any boundaries between them and resents Ellie's boyfriend for all to hear. The book is about her dating travails in this vacuum left by a best friend who's no longer available 24/7 and the chapters she posts online about her experiences to try and launch herself as a writer.

Bella's writing gimmick that earns her an unsustainable level of internet superstardom is the way she frames each date as a twist on a fairy tale in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. The overdone puns and allusions made me cringe from the get-go, and my first experience did not improve on future adventures. The book opens on a one-night stand with an investment banker by the name of Wolf. His name matches his hairy appearance, which is really beaten to death in Bella's account of the night. The Little Red Riding Hood references are constant and rely on the subtlety of a sledgehammer. It gets to the point where she somehow ends up putting on and stealing his ~red~ hoodie when she's rudely dismissed after a completely unsatisfying encounter and he makes a sound alikened to a *howl.* No.

My next issue with the book is our protagonist, whom I found too frustrating, even knowing her obnoxiousness is meant to herald impressive character growth to come. Since she's speaking directly to the reader, we get no reprieve from the full force of her POV. Early on, we're assured that Bella is aware of her attractiveness and doesn't lack self-esteem, but she goes on to berate herself about her career mediocrity in what I assume is a bid at relatability that feels stale in reality. She's a whiny protagonist without other excellent qualities to even things out. She whines to the readers, her best friend, her best friend's brother, her parents, and the blank page she's meant to be writing on. Bella's also the only one in her friend group that figuratively and also, apparently literally, seems to bring nothing to the table. Sitting around and waiting for her to grow up is ~not~ worth it.

I think another major part of my problem is that the feelings and situations are real but taken to an extreme I can no longer appreciate. It could be a funny approach, but in this case, it takes the heart out of it and gives us only childishness in its place. Predictably, her friendship implodes since she dishes out an "it's him (the boyfriend, now fiancee) or me" ultimatum. Writing about her real life for attention even though it a) involves other people, too, b) might not serve her happiness and life goals, and c) makes her career contingent on seeking out clickbaity experiences creates another unsupportable dependency in her life. A story about evolving friendship and/or the unrealistic pressures of internet culture has merit, but Bella ruins this attempt with her mere presence.

On the romance front, I'd maybe reclassify this book as women's fiction, even though I sort of despise that label. What I mean, though, is that most of the book is Bella fucking around (literally) and finding out. Then, she falls in with her best friend's brother in the final 20% of the book when she's already on her path to reform, re: spinning out and making her life a disaster. I find I dislike that trope of "he was there the whole time, but she just didn't give him the time of day" as this background thing that eventually leads to "romance." When I think of the genre, that's just not what I'm looking for. I want something more sweeping, more actually romantic. While the book is not closed door (see: opening scene), the romance is more like, "We had great sex. Here's a vague summary of how he's good in bed" rather than the details of some of her earlier encounters. And just when you think Bella's getting her life in order, she STILL FINDS TIME FOR A FINAL ACT BREAKUP WITHIN 24 HOURS OF GETTING THE GUY ARE YOU KIDDING ME. She fixes it just as quickly because there frankly isn't enough time left in the book for anything else.

I found this book a deeply annoying experience that strikes me as easily avoidable. I think for a reader to have a better time, they need more compassion for a self-destructive protagonist and less investment in the quality of the romance at hand. This is more of a growing-up story, several years behind schedule.

This book is a captivating and immersive read that hooks you from the first page. The writing is beautifully crafted, with vivid descriptions and strong character development that makes the story come alive. The plot is well-paced, balancing moments of tension with quieter, reflective scenes that allow the characters to grow. The themes explored are deep and thought-provoking, resonating long after the final page. Whether it's the emotional depth, the twists and turns of the plot, or the unforgettable characters, this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys rich, engaging stories. Highly recommended

I'm not going to lie........ I actually had to put this down. I found myself walking away from it because the MC bothered me quite a bit and eventually I just couldn't do it anymore. She was hard to take in and I recognize that a lot of what I didn't like were some of her more relatable qualities, I just couldn't read her anymore, I am hoping for her sake and the sake of the book that the character development goes crazy by the end of the book but at about 30% I had to call it quits which I HATE doing for ARCs. I'm sorry :(