Book Review: The Unhoneymooners – Christina Lauren

Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion…she even managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a slew of contests. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas.

Olive braces herself for wedding hell determined to put on a brave face, but when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. Suddenly there’s a free honeymoon up for grabs, and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise solo.

Agreeing to a temporary truce, the pair head for Maui. After all, ten days of bliss is worth having to assume the role of loving newlyweds, right? But the weird thing is…Olive doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, the more she pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more it feels like she might be.

This book is one of my all-time favs. I remember excitedly running to the door after receiving a notification that my book had been delivered. I eagerly opened the package and completely devoured this book in a day. I was so engrossed in the book that I spent the entire day reading it, not bothering with anything else. It was just too difficult to put down!

“The Unhoneymooners” by Christina Lauren is a whimsical and delightful romantic comedy that leaves you with a giddy feeling. The book tells a story between the main character, Olive, who swears that she was cursed with a lifetime of bad luck, and Ethan a.k.a. her nemesis, the brother of her new brother-in-law. Olive’s sister’s wedding is where everything goes downhill – everyone at the wedding gets awful food poising except for her and Ethan. Olive’s sister doesn’t want the honeymoon tickets to go to waste, so she forces Ethan and Olive to go on the trip in their place, even

though they can’t stand each other.

The whole trip is filled with bizarre circumstances, hilarious meetings, and overall a heartwarming journey as they navigate the ravishing (and romantic) island of Maui. Their witty banter is so engaging to read, and their slow-burn romance is sweet and swoon-worthy. The detail in which Maui is vividly described, makes the reader feel as if they are traveling alongside Olive and Ethan. Olive’s large though loveable family adds charm and depth to the love story.

“love is exhausting.” ~ Christina Lauren, The Unhoneymooners

A few criticisms of this book is the book’s plot being predictable and clichéd; it was a very familiar feeling reading the storyline with the enemies-to-lovers trope. I also felt as though the humor and banter between the two main characters, Olive and Ethan, was forced and unrealistic from time to time. I was also somewhat disappointed with the lack of character development, especially with Ethan. In my opinion, he is not fully fleshed out and his character felt very flat and one-dimensional.

Overall. “The Unhoneymooners” is the perfect beach read that makes you laugh uncontrollably and feel good. It’s a story about love, luck, and how you can make lemonade out of lemons.