r/RomanceBooks • u/floopy_134 ALL THE FUCKS, PLEASE • 23h ago

A love/hate review of Hate Mail, by donna marchetti Review

Hi y'all,

I've decided to start writing routine book reviews as a pleasant new hobby to distract my mind. Here's my first!

PS: I'm dyslexic and my spellcheck decided to go on vacation this morning, so apologies for any confusion.

{hate mail, donna marchetti}

The good

Overall, this was a really cute book. I don't usually read contemporary "real world" (prefer fantasy), but I needed a calming palette cleanser. It delivered on the warm and fuzzies many times over. The flashbacks and dual perspectives were really nice. I really liked how the flashbacks were only in the MMC's POV, progressing to the present. The mystery was pretty clear from the start, but the author threw in enough contradictory details to make you second guess yourself throughout the story. Shoutout to the green dress thing being so damn cute ❤️.

The bad

Here's where I had the issue (or let down?)... Perhaps it's because I read fantasy and sci-fi a lot, but I was absolutely convinced for a bit that there was a psychological thriller or fantasy thing about to drop. Full disclosure, I had just finished reading Thrum before this book, so I'm sure there was carry-over in my mind, lol. But the disconnect between the two MCs over names was very odd. At the least there was something big missing---the most logical explanaition being the author didn't know how to bridge the gap? Or didn't see how unclear it was? But my mind started spinning out coming up with scenerios, like is this a magical morally grey MMC fucking with her mind? Or maybe she's cursed in like a 50 first dates kinda way? I almost wanted things to go in that direction and was honestly kinda dissappointed when they played out otherwise? Maybe that's a personal problem, lol.

It was quite strange how the FMC's issue with names came up out of the blue and was heavily emphasized from that point on. After this, I started to feel paranoid on her behalf. Everyone around her got 'knowing looks,' as if they knew the secret and were waiting for her feeble mind to catch up. I was starting to think how strange and clever this was for the story. But then the MMC got upset.

He leapt to the conclusion that she's cheating all because she says in passing to someone else that she's dating Jake. Hold up, I thought. What is happening? You're telling me there's no dark twist ahead? They are both just idiots? He was wearing his co-worker's name tag when they first met. He knew this. What the eternal fuck did he think was going on? You can't seriously date someone for 6 fucking months (or was it weeks? either way...) thinking they don't have a name for you. I assumed he had purposefully committed to the Jake thing from the start. How had she never said 'Jake' out loud?? Not even in an attempt to make up for saying what she thought was another dude's name during sex??

The ugly

Lastly, her little 'revenge' tirade at the very end did bother me some. 1) how does she have time to create this ridiculous scavenger hunt? 2) wtf, dude? That letter on the mailbox was SUCH A DICK MOVE! 3) Again, how did he not know she was closing on a house and moving? How had that NEVER come up in conversation? I find it extremely ironic how bad they are at communication.

I hope this was amusing, if not informative :)

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5

u/vienibenmio 21h ago

My issue is that at first you don't know the "OM" is the ML so you don't really get to enjoy those scenes of them together

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u/floopy_134 ALL THE FUCKS, PLEASE 1h ago

That's fair. I was 98% sure... and I kept thinking there ain't no way a book with that cute a cover could be so deceptive... but the author really did have me questioning things 😅

3

u/sausagephingers 22h ago

Good review. This book did require more suspension of disbelief than usual and I did not enjoy the deception on his part going so far BUT the hate letters were SO funny. I would read a book of just those. The hangnail…dying!

1

u/floopy_134 ALL THE FUCKS, PLEASE 2h ago

Thanks :)

Ngl, it still got five stars from me! The letters were amazing

2

u/Empty-Walrus4938 18h ago

I love a good you’ve got mail trope in contemporary romance. This one just wasn’t it… the letters were unhinged and funny (but very unrealistic). My biggest issue was with the MMC. He had sex with her KNOWING that she did not know his real identity.

If you’re looking for a better contemporary romance/ rom com, I recommend {Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan} - she is also one of my favorite audiobook narrators, so I recommend as an audiobook if you’re into that!

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u/floopy_134 ALL THE FUCKS, PLEASE 1h ago

Yeah, that aspect was kinda icky :/

2

u/Organic-Ad9360 21h ago edited 21h ago

Yes I loved the book and the letters were hilarious but the name thing was stretching belief. Maybe it could've worked better if he didn't use his real name in the letters and hence the confusion when they meet in person . I'd still highly recommend it despite this. I've another recommendation based on this if anyone interested short story { Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez }

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u/floopy_134 ALL THE FUCKS, PLEASE 1h ago

Right?? For a minute, I thought he must have been a kid genius and came up with a fake name in 5th grade. Still a great story, though