We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.
Books: Exes and Foes & The Strange Case of Dr. Doyle
Certain aspects of this book were done really well; for instance, some sensitive topics such as emotional abuse by parents and friends as well as parental neglect were included and were handled with sensitivity and care. Sometimes serious issues are introduced into romances to explain characters’ behaviors only to be completely neglected or left on a surface level, but that was not the case here. Emma, Caleb, and even Juliet each had traumas that genuinely impacted their characterization and story arcs. From beginning to end, we got to see them open up about their struggles and work through them
Unfortunately, I did not feel attached to the characters. Caleb and Emma were fine as narrators but they were a little one-dimensional. Caleb was awkward, germaphobic, and kind and Emma was short-tempered, had low self-esteem, and was quick to fight anyone who insulted her or her friends. I didn’t feel like I knew anything about their personalities beyond that. Juliet was even more flat as the only information we got about her was that she was perky, talkative, and clumsy. Although these characters’ backstories and traumas were fleshed out well, who they actually were as people were not.
The couple of other side characters, Emma’s friend Alice and Caleb’s friend Jas might as well have not even been there as they were not developed at all and didn’t really contribute to the plot beyond filling out the friend group. However, I did love Caleb’s mom. She wasn’t present for that much of the book because she worked a lot, but she was such a supportive presence, not only in Caleb’s life but in Emma’s as well. It was so sweet to see her treat Emma as her own and assure her of her worth.
Emma and Caleb’s romance had some really sweet moments but overall I preferred them as friends. The way their relationship was written was very well-done in that I definitely believed in their history and the intensity of their feelings for each other. However, I think they had a lot to work through both as individuals and in terms of their relationship that should have taken precedence. I also thought they were a bit codependent. That might seem like a strange thing to say about two people who went four years without even speaking but the speed at which they became reliant on each other once they were back in each other’s lives and the degree to which they prioritized each other was a bit too much for two teenagers. This might be just a matter of personal preference but I’m not a fan of romances where the characters claim to not feel whole unless they’re together and that was the case here. I can understand highly valuing a person you love, especially for Emma and Caleb who didn’t have big support systems but ultimately that dynamic still doesn’t feel healthy to me. I think they should have built back up their friendship and focussed on themselves for far more time before entering a relationship.
That said, their chemistry was strong and I did really enjoy certain elements of their relationship. It felt realistic at the beginning when Emma and Caleb still claimed to not be friends but would constantly slip back and forth between arguing viciously one second to playfully bantering the next because their old habits were so ingrained in them. I loved the way they had each other’s backs even when they weren’t sure where they stood and that they accepted each other completely. I also loved the little things they would do for each other such as Caleb keeping Emma’s favorite ice cream flavor in his freezer or Emma bringing him his favorite candy when he was sad.
Their friendship/competition with Juliet could’ve been utilized better. It was nice that the three of them, along with Emma and Caleb’s respective best friends, formed a tight-knit group but so much of the book was spent with Emma and Caleb fighting over Juliet’s romantic affections (despite clearly being more interested in each other) that it felt like a plot device rather than a genuine friendship. Obviously, it was a plot device but if it was going to be such a big part of the book I wish the time would’ve been taken to more thoroughly develop Juliet as an individual as well as her friendships with Emma and Caleb rather than just using her to advance Emma and Caleb’s relationship. However, I absolutely loved the way Emma and Caleb listened to Juliet even when her interests differed from theirs and that they consistently assured her that being herself wasn’t “too much.”
Another significant theme in this book was bullying and I didn’t enjoy the way it was executed. It’s explained that Caleb has been bullied for basically his whole life largely because his mom likes to wear revealing clothes and bartends at a strip club. I’m not denying that bullying, even physical bullying such as pushing and fighting like Caleb experienced exists, or that people are sometimes bullied because of their parents. However, I found it hard to believe that high school seniors would go so far out of their way to make one person’s life miserable just because his mom wears tank tops and short shorts. Apparently, everybody Caleb ever went to school with outside of the main friend group made fun of him for this, beat him up, or attempted in some way to humiliate him and it felt like the kind of over-the-top bullying that occurred in 90s teen movies. There was a conversation towards the end of the book with Caleb’s mom about how it’s not a woman’s responsibility to dress in a way that makes others comfortable which was nice, but I wish it would’ve been included in a way that felt more natural rather than throwing it in as a response to a situation that was completely unrealistic.
This book was quick to get through and contained important messages and themes, as well as some very sweet moments of friendship but the flat characters, codependency in the romance, and overblown portrayal of bullying left something to be desired. If you’re interested in reading a young adult story that deals with parental neglect, emotional abuse, or difficult family dynamics I would recommend this one. but if you simply want a cute young adult romance, there are far more worthwhile ones out there.
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