BOOK REVIEW "THINGS WE NEVER GOT OVER" BY LUCY SCORE

 

Disclaimer: This review contains spoilers for Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score. Read at your own risk! 😊

I don’t properly understand yet what Things We Never Got Over did to me. Lucy got lucky that I was in a good mood while reading and eager for a bad boy turned good in her story. Usually, it is quite hard for me to leave my feminist side off the table when conquering such books, and never in a million years would I sign off on those characters acting their age—but the ironic sense of humor, the well-written characters, and the bad-twin-good-twin plot were really enjoyable. The smut fit quite well, although I could have done without some of it, as I thought it was a little over the top.

I loved how the story goes into depth about why Naomi and Knox both have their own demons to fight, all while adoringly caring for eleven-year-old Waylay (whose name is weird, but what do I know?).

There were a lottttttt of characters, and I may or may not still really know who some of them are? But Amanda, Lou, Liza, all the way to Stef, Jeremiah, Fi, even Duke, had their own part in the story.

I’m gonna say it: Stef was so over the top as the protagonist’s guy best friend that I can understand why some people disliked his role in the story so much. But I will hold up your barf bag while I explain to you why I think it worked great. Naomi steps up to care for her niece even though she doesn’t even know her, let alone having any contact with her sister—the actual shitty parent of this kid. She puts others first and has some serious people-pleasing issues. And by serious, I mean thinking-about-marriage-while-not-loving-the-guy serious. After leaving the douchebag at the altar, life is messy and shattered into about a thousand pieces when life throws the possibility of fostering at Naomi. By giving her at least some kind of emotional support through Stef as a best friend, Lucy explained how Naomi did not go insane and how she can still be tender inside.

Stef is the person showing up for her and helping her recognize her own worth when all other people do is use her (like Tina and rich-daddy-garbage-bag Warner (ughhh, what a name)). Yes, it was overboard with Stef matching almost every single cliché out there about gay men—buttt honestly, he showed up as a very good friend for Naomi, as an uncle for Waylay, all while looking hella hot, sending care packages from Sephora, working, driving expensive cars, being overseas (was he really, though? I imagine it, at least), and gripping for his very own luck with barber Jeremiah. Unmatched energy.

Naomi definitely gave some golden retriever vibes and needs major therapy for her caffeine addiction. Some people mention in their reviews how they hated that she couldn’t handle any shit alone—I think the opposite is true. After getting your car stolen, being shouted at by various strangers, and being desperately needy for coffee, just because you’re mistaken for your evil twin, I would freak out too. This was the whole point of the story, wasn’t it? Naomi trying to handle her shit all alone and learning that sometimes it is okay to accept help from others.

Things get a little tangled up when Naomi and Tina change clothes after the toxic bitch—aka Tina—kidnaps her sister with lilac sexy handcuffs. Seemed a little bit off to me. The guy wasn’t really bright either, and although the whole scenario was nerve-racking, and nothing but an imposing comet could have stopped me from putting that book down at this very moment, this supposed-to-be-fun (?) use of what I call the twin mysterium (who is who?) was unnecessary and did not make anything clearer at all.

Tina finally ends up behind bars and is not mentioned in the very epilogue beyond that. Your gurl loves a well-written happy ending, and I very much appreciate babies in there. Yes, I am a desperate romantic with no control over my tears. The author even sneaked adoption in there, and I had a blast getting to know dad-mode Knox. Even though I think surprising your family with children is quite weird, isn’t it? I have not adopted any children, nor will I in the near future (because I spend all my money on books lol), but coming home and introducing them to the WHOLE family seems a little over the top.

Honestly, the number of times this author mentioned the dogs just made everything better, and I may want a Basset now.