I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I can't say I totally loved it, but nearly all the characters are very likable and compelling in their own right rather than by what they do. I particularly enjoyed the parents. I also enjoyed the writing style.
I don't think this book will "stick with me" or be hugely memorable, which is why I'm not rating it higher. I didn't have any major takeaways or emotional moments - though I did enjoy the note about that study showing that men hardly ever pull the trigger on ending relationships.
Ultimately, I don't have strong feelings on whether the characters made choices that were right for them, but I think the point of the book was that they were making choices at all.
I think I actually liked this one more than the author's more famous book "The Last Thing He Told Me", so I may seek to read more of her work.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ this is a solid read but omg the characters get on my nerves mainly Josh for obvious reasons. Josh is one of the many reasons why I don’t like "people pleasers" because they really be wasting people’s time. This man out here having basically two different lives out here a fiancé and a girlfriend who has a child of her own who seemingly grew a connection with him. I hate how he basically put Emmy in the middle of it , like dude growth a pair an spare Meryl from making the mistake of saying I do. Poor Meryl he got her over hear looking stupid and stressing her out thinking they gonna get married he waited on the day of the wedding to make an excuse for it not to happen all for Meryl to make the decision for him because he’s a man-child. I like Emmy but if that was my brother I would have gone completely off. I’m glad Emmy didn’t go back to Matt because no. Reading about her and Matt relationship told me everything I needed to know they didn’t need to be together no just no , and then we find out he cheated on her too. No just no. Emmy and Berringer (Josh’s best friend) we’re cute I wish I saw more of that relationship blossom than Josh’s bs. And when Josh got mad at Emmy for Emmy being mad at him about his two timing ways I wanted to slap him upside the head so bad. Overall I would give this a read if you like drama.

Chick-Lit... I tried really hard to get interested in Emmy's dilemma, but she kept talking herself around in circles so much it became exhausting and confusing. Her brother Josh wasn't much better, with his lack of character development and inability to make a definitive decision.
I was trained by my mother, a consummate bibliophile, to always finish whatever book I start because there might still be some redeeming factor or profound thought, but slogging through this one, I just kept thinking about what book I wanted to read next.
Even still, I acknowledge the fact that this was Laura Dave's first book, and I'm still going to give a go at reading EIGHT HUNDRED GRAPES and THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME... those two sound like they might actually have a plot and interesting storyline to them. We'll see...

3.5 - cute, easy read

⭐️⭐️

Should really be a 3.5.

I read this book so quickly because I was curious to see how Josh would choose Elizabeth. From the outset this was his obvious choice, regardless of the two women, he was the better version of himself with her. And it’s a better story if he chooses the poor, rural, single mom than the ultra rich, ultra beautiful high school love. Who would root for Meryl? She’s almost a likable villain.

Emmy is a bit painful as a main character, three years of standing still? I liked when she left Matt, it was a bold move to leave a comfortable but not quite enough love. But it’s like she used all her energy on that and then couldn’t do anything else. That said, I appreciated her reconciliation with Matt and working through a myriad of emotions and thoughts.

The Berringer plot was boring and obvious, I think it might have been better without him as a character because of course you fall for your older-brother’s-best-friend-who-you’ve-always-had-a-crush-on-but-has-been-out-of-your-league-until-now.

The mother had some pointed insights and I almost wonder if this would have been better written as the story of what happens when your parents are too in love. One broken engagement and one cancelled wedding, do their kids have unrealistic expectations?

Hey look I read a totally chicklitty book and liked it. Actually I don't really know what chick lit is but I am worried this might be it. I mean it is clearly a book for women... but lets pretend I'm not embarrassed to have read it.

100... Yay 100... I can calm down I am not a failure.

Okay I liked this book. I as a general rule like any book about relationships in which the resolution is fuzzy at best and everyone is constantly making the wrong decision.

I think that this really comes down to the fact that I really experience those types of books that I really battle with those issues on a day to day basis. I wrote once in another review: "a relationship of love can never be quite as perfect as a relationship of compromise." I'm sure at the time I was talking about the book and it was relevant, but I think it is also a statement about myself.

These days we all grow up in a world where people are constantly getting divorced and changing their minds and falling out of love. I mean did our great grandparents go around falling out of love? it doesn't seem like it. The entire foundation of relationships it just seems shakey. and there isn't much that's worse than standing on shakey ground.

There is a quote I have remembered since high school although I forgot the author long ago that goes something like "tread lightly the crust is thin." For years the world has really felt this way for me. Like If I tried to hard, if I really wanted the world was going to break. So I stayed quiet and I waited and I hoped that everything would turn out on its own.

This book is about that. It is about not wanting to make decisions. Wanting to be in love, wanting to end up in the right, wanting everything to work out, but not being willing to shake the boat to make that happen. It's about how you get what you want without stepping on someone else to get it.

I have this guy, who for years I've had some kind of a thing with. And in reality that thing is nothing. I've dated over the top of it, he's considered dating although I don't think it's worked out. We've gone through long periods of not speaking. There is a funny point in this book where Laura says 75% of relationships are ended by women, it might be the man's fault but he waits for the woman to actually end it. This book is really about that waiting. It's about how nothing will ever be over till you say it's over. It's about the fact that sooner or later someone has to say "put up or shut up" and without that, the thing, that background of I'll always love you it kinda haunts you.

I like this book because I relate to that. I know what it's like to try to move on with your life while you are dealing with a ghost like that. I know that it's impossible. For me a book like this isn't about me wanting what's best for the character it's about the book being a lens to see myself. I don't cheer for the guy proposing at the... okay that movie it was some sports game... I wonder what would I do? It's a book that for me at least I think made me think. It didn't make me change, I won't leave this review and go tell him to "put up or shut up". But I'll have a better idea what is happening for me, and maybe for him to.

This book begins with the quote:
If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life. -oscar wilde

I think that contradiction really catches the problem the book is grappling with, the problem so many of us are grappling with. Do we? can we? wait.

Because I have enjoyed Laura Dave’s previous novels, The Last Thing He Told Me and Hello, Sunshine, I thought that I would enjoy London is the Best City in America. Not so much. This is an older novel, published in 2006, and I think Ms. Dave has come a long way in her writing since then. I’m still trying to figure out the story. Particularly the main character, Emmy Everett, who is really odd. I mean seriously, you have a romantic break up and lock yourself away in a small town for years? I think she needed some heavy-duty counseling as may I after plowing through this book.

I think I was about five years too old for this book. It's cute. I can see why it sold for movie rights. But it didn't really move me, and it was one of those frustrating books where I didn't really care about what happened to anyone in it. PLUS, it revolved around a wedding, which is my least favorite thing to read about. If you're 25 or under, though, give it a shot.

I adore Laura Dave's books so was excited to read this one! Dave writes so easily about complicated relationships, flawed characters, and real people who are swayed by emotion but usually do the right thing! And this is her debut; clear to see why she has become so popular! Emmy leaves Matt in the middle of the night with no warning. Later we see her going "home" to her brother Josh's wedding to Meryl...but things are complicated. Josh has other things going on, an old boyfriend of Emmy's appears, and she must wrestle with many decisions that have influenced her life. Dave always shows us many sides to a character so we appreciate motivations and difficult dilemmas. I will continue to be a fan!

I sometimes feel sad when I read a book that just doesn’t resonate with me because there are so many books and not enough time to read them all. I like to choose well and, unfortunately, this time I didn’t. I didn’t hate the book, I just felt like it could have been 50 pages instead of 250. Emmy needed to realize she needed to move on with her life after not marrying her high school sweetheart. This happened by accident over her brother’s wedding weekend. That’s basically it. There were a few great moments, but most of the book felt like it didn’t belong.

Satisfying read about relationships and the choices we make. I enjoyed the characters. The book is bring made into a movie so I’ll enjoy seeing the movie ending.