Review: Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey
SYNOPSIS:
Can a romcom-obssessed romantic finally experience the meet-cute she always dreamed of or will reality never compare to fiction, in this charming debut adult novel from Kerry Winfrey.
Annie is twenty-seven years old, single, and obsessed with romantic comedies (she and her mother watched them religiously, before her mom died). Her dating life is limited by the expectations she’s formed from these movies. She is not as open to new experiences as she might be, because she’s waiting for her Tom Hanks–i.e., a guy she’ll find in the perfect, meet-cute romantic comedy way. When Annie does finally meet her perfect match, it’s not quite in the way she expected, and she’s forced to reckon with the walls she’s built around herself over the years.
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
Me and this book had a real good thing going till about 80%. I was swooning, gushing, and couldn’t believe that this only had an average rating of 3.5 stars because I was enamored and in love. Even after Kerry made me wait 189 pages for a first kiss…it was worth it. And then, Annie does something careless and unforgivable; I wanted to set fire to the book and almost DNF-ed it. At that point, Annie no longer deserved an HEA…she still doesn’t.
So I shall start with what worked for me in the story before I get to the event that shall not be named. Annie and Drew dance around each other with wit, playful banter, and tender moments of shared pain that had my heart soaring. Their chemistry is as palpable as their denial that there’s nothing there. This made for plenty of swoony moments, from misunderstanding and miscommunications to embarrassing mishaps that had me giggling like a school girl, I couldn’t put the book down.
I wait endless pages for the kiss and the build up was worth it, Kerry seems to craft a tender, heart-filled relationship in a short amount of time without it feeling rushed or hurried. It was adorable and I loved it…but then Annie had to ruin it by being an idiot. The climax of the story and what followed doesn’t play out like I thought it would. I was actually blindsided by this, it felt out of place and created so much unnecessary drama. It seemed like Annie destroyed her relationship with Drew…seriously I will never get over this. And then an additional spiral happens in the plot.
I don’t want to get into details on either of these events, because it might ruin the story…but what I will say is that this felt sloppy. Annie begins questioning herself and everything resolved much to quickly with a bow on it for my liking. Which was really disappointing since the story flowed so effortlessly until 80ish percent. In my mind, what happens is not forgive able, I honestly haven’t been this angry with a plot twist in a while. And that was when the book went from a 5 star rating to a 3 for me.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
