So this is the first time I have ever used this term about a book and in fact, I had to search to find a descriptor. Over-inclusion. I get what the author was trying to do here and I respect characters having underlying health difficulties as a main characteristic, but this book was trying too hard to represent multiple issues and there were so many pop culture references. It was a lot to manage as a reader. Maybe this would appeal to younger readers better.

The main character of Evie is not that likable and she's quite immature for the age she is stated to be at 28. I found her frustrating. I tried to go with the flow and not judge the "romance" which didn't feel all that romantic to me. It felt forced, like maybe these two had enough of trying with others and went for the familiarity out of codependency and convenience. I wasn't feeling it.

I had the audiobook version and I must give kudos to GM Hakim as he was the better narrator. Gail Shalon's narration was just ok. But I did enjoy the multiple cast narration, it helped with the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

Trope it like it hooootttt. Best friends to secret love to fake love to friends to lovers. Trope lovers unite over this wholesome rom com tale. Two best friends take the leap before deciding to REALLY take the leap at the risk of their friendship. A super fun lighthearted listen that I was excited to work through. Rounding up to 4 from 3.5.

First of all, WE LOVE TO SEE CHRONIC ILLNESS REPPED, especially "invisible" ones. Her story has been my story and i appreciated the thoughtful representation here. I also appreciated the author not being afraid for the characters to have a political stance and conversations around those stances, in this case it was around the US healthcare system.

For the romance, I'm never really a fan of second chance or friends to lovers because I feel like they usually just use miscommunication as the main plot device and not much else. Although that was used here a little bit, there was more realism and nuance to how it happened. Everything about this felt real and believable and i fell in love with these characters.

The only thing that I didn't like was the freaking grandparents selling the house out from under their chronically ill financially struggling grandchild when they seemed to have no financial motivation to do so, it honestly just pissed me off and also didnt feel like it made sense for the characters.

Fun, quick and cute! This was a quick read with heaviness through parental death and chronic illness. Weirdly negative ratings on Goodreads. Great narrator and loved the dual narrators!

Friends to lovers tope.. Usually I love a friends to lovers book but this one was super cringy and a little hard to follow at times. All parents of the main characters were referred to by their first names that at one point in the beginning I had no idea that it was a parent being talked about. I get they had a disconnect with them but it was just strange. Some of the character relationships were hard to follow at times because they didn't fit in or it was whiplash with how fast they came and went. Some parts felt like they were added in later and I just couldn't figure out what the point of it was ex. Evie's grandma delivering a box of "fun" to her after her grandma was MIA for most of the story. A lot of details were just very out of place. 2.5 stars for me.

I really enjoyed this audiobook! I appreciate how the narrator changed her voice for the different perspectives to maker it easier to remember who’s perspective you’re in. I also really enjoyed the story. It focused on two best friends who are just navigating their relationship, in between just wanting to be friends, but also wanting more but being scared to reach for it. Definitely recommend!

This was cute. The characters were a mess in a mostly believable way, but I felt the “romance” was pushed a little too hard. I didn’t FEEL it.

There is something about books that have too many pop culture references. This one had so many that I didn’t care for or like at all, so I felt like this wasn’t for me.

The narration is well done by both narrators.

2 ⭐️ I connected with Theo on the basis of dead mom club more than anything, but try as I might, I could not get into Evelyn as a character. Everyone in her life appears to make extreme allowances for her emotional immaturity and the behavior that stems from it, and I couldn’t understand why. Her chronic illness and her mommy issues read as her entire personality, even though I can detect the moments where the author tried to stray from that. She didn’t stick the landing. Basically, I couldn’t understand why Theo was so bonkers over her when there was barely any personality to speak of. The ending was strange to me. She’s so indecisive, up until the very scene, that I just imagined the book ending and her changing her mind again off page. If this book were real life and occurring in our current universe, I wouldn’t be confident in saying that these characters are together and thriving right now.

I haven't listened to an audiobook that I wanted more of in a long time. This title did that for me. It made me want to have these characters along on each trip I take since I listen while in my car! The narrators are talented and give the character's life! I was impressed and highly entertained by the story as well. So many important themes about family, relationships, work, and self-discovery are discussed. I'll be telling everyone to get this!

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator was absolutely perfect, in my opinion. As someone with Lupus and several other AI diseases, I really related to Ev and I will be purchasing a hard copy for myself.
Thank you for the chance to review!

I received Friends with Benefits as an arc from NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Author Marisa Kanter. Narrated by Gail Shazan and GM Hakim. Eve Bloom is an aspiring Foley artist who has been selected for a fellowship opportunity to help launch her dream career. She quickly learns that this opportunity doesn’t come with health benefits which she needs in order to keep up with everything that comes with having an immune disorder. Here enters her lifelong best friend Theo Cohen, an elementary teacher who is facing eviction after his roommates move out. They come up with a plan to help both of their situations, a marriage of convenience. Can these two best friends keep everything as is in their relationship or will everything change?

I enjoyed reading Friends with Benefits. This isn’t your typical Rom Com. If you decide to read this please keep in mind that it’s not light hearted. There are some heavy subjects that are discussed and that the characters are living through. I enjoyed the witty banter between the main characters and I loved all the scenes with Theo’s classroom (those kiddos cracked me up!) If you are looking for a quick read with some emotion then this book will be right up your alley.

This book has a refreshing, heartfelt, and emotionally nuanced take on the classic friends to lovers trope. However, it is more reimagined through the LGBTQ identity, complex family dynamics and evolves self-discovery.

I enjoyed this story, and would definitely read more from the author!

Friends to lovers and marriage of convenience are two of my favorite tropes, so I was super excited for this book, and I really enjoyed this story. I really loved Evie and Theo, and I really liked how we got to see how solid their friendship was before it turned romantic. I enjoyed the flashbacks, as they emphasized how their relationship grew and changed over the years. I did want to shake both of them sometimes, especially when they were being oblivious to what was right in front of them, but it made the end even more satisfying. I also loved Evie's family as side characters, they were hilarious. My absolute favorites were Theo's class, those kids made me laugh every time they were on page. And I unironically love 1985 by Bowling for Soup, IYKYK.

The Jewish representation in the book was also fantastic.

The narration was excellent as well, both narrators did an excellent job making the story engaging and dynamic!

Evie is honestly one of the most insufferable FMCs I have ever read. The love between her and Theo didn't feel believable because of her actions. The pacing at times was so slow. There is potential though, and it was executed fine, but Evie ruined the story for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced audibook.

Like many others, this one just fell flat for me. I didn't ever connect with the love story and found the main characters unlikeable.

absolutely loved this book!!! perfect summer time read. lovable characters and writing was thoughtful. 5/5 stars!

I struggled with this one. I was so excited to have a romance novel that had chronic illness in forefront. Something to identify with a bit while still being able to escape was the hope. What I got was it reinforced how the term “chronic illness” is a vast topic that can make it hard to identify with because of the very different experiences.

No if the last 10% was reminiscent of the other 90% I would have rated this book a lot higher but on the other hand it saved a frustrating read.

I consumed the audiobook which didn’t help the situation as I had a hard time listening to the female POV acted by Gail Sherman. Thankfully it was tempered by the Male POV chapters when GM Hakim did a fabulous job. Funny enough I am usually tougher on male voices which can come off a bit cringy when they have to voice a female but it was the opposite in this case.

Will some like it? Sure. You can see that by the many 4 and 5⭐️ reviews but Katherine Center it is not. The prose is preachy and uneven and the main character is insufferable. Just because you deal with a chronic illness doesn’t give license to come off in such an awful way. Sadly it’s a book filled with every romance and social cliché out there.

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from MacMillian Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

I think this one just wasn't for me. It sounded like it would be really cute. I was easily confused about characters om several occasions, the 3rd person of this one was just really hard to follow. I also just felt zero chemistry between these MCs beyond platonic friends. At no point did I feel like I was reading about two people in love.

Meh. I don't know. I don't think this one was for me. I recommend reading some other reviews for this book before diving in.

OMG this book was a bit of a drag. Evie was just so annoying. She's selfish, everything revolves around her health, her abandonment and her, her, her. Theo should have just put on his speedy sneakers and run away fast!!

Theo was pretty nice, although it would have been nice to see more communication between 2 supposedly best friends.

#netgalley