The Roommate

Rosie Danan

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The Roommate by Rosie Danan

Released: September 25, 2020

Pages: 325

Publisher: Berkley

Overall: 4/5

Plot: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Setting & World-building: 3/5

Emotional Investment: 5/5

"Every body is different, but none of them are wrong."

Jesus Christ, that was amazing. It was a steamy, rule-breaking rom-com with so much tension it almost gave me whiplash. As a debut novel, Rosie Dana broke all society bearing stereotypes in one satisfying read.

Quick Summary: Clara Wheaton is a Manhattan socialite determined to do everything possible to avoid scandal and please her parents. When she runs off to Los Angeles to chase a yearning love of 14 years, it's the last thing people expect of rule-following Clara. But when she's there, she suddenly left alone with no friends or family and a pron star roommate. Josh Conners has been doing porn for years now, but he's considered an enigma in the field for catering towards women's needs. When Clara finds who's rooming with she realizes this might be the biggest Wheaton scandal ever. But will that even matter when feelings of the heart come into play?

First of all, this is the most sex-positive book I have read in such a long time. Clara is an innocent, almost sheltered individual who shies away from such topics. Whereas Josh is super forward and insistent on making sure she knows how sex is about the pleasure of two people rather than a man. It was lowkey motivating and inspiring because I cannot name one man I know who will ever preach such a thing.

I think the characters in this book had fun and entertaining personalities. They were confident in themselves without being egotistical and also had very real flaws. Clara sometimes pissed me off but it was based on actions true to her personality. Her pinning for the other guy was annoying and everyone knew how bad he was for her except her. Josh just radiated confidence that I really wanted but when he broke down and saw he was stigmatizing himself with stereotypes that he was trying to break. Like it was cute to read and made them feel more realistic.

The romance in this book was so good. Omg, the tension in this book was so good. There was forced proximity and it just made the build-up between the two characters so amazing. They both were so set on believing they couldn't work out that their rationalizing skills were amazing. When they finally have their first kiss it was so AMAZING. Plus it was amazing because I read this book in one day. I was so emotionally invested like I blew up my entire social essay to read this. But it was totally worth it because who cares about the future of my grades when Josh and Clara have a whirlwind social norm breaking romance?

I know this is a short review, but honestly, this was a really good book. It just made me so happy reading it. It gave me all the feels and made me want to fall in love so bad.

Quotes

"Some people are like an iceberg, with the dangerous and beautiful parts hidden below the surface."

"It's not a zero-sum game. Acknowledging your pain doesn't take away from anyone else's"

"Sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night craving spinach"

"“Isn’t that what all of us want deep down? Someone to hold us at the end of the line?”