Title: How to Hack a Heartbreak
Author: Kristin Rockaway
Series: N/A
Earnest but unexciting and perhaps a bit self-righteous
I would like to thank Kristin Rockaway, Harlequin/Graydon House, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Okay, so I am not the ideal reader for this kind of story. Subject matter-wise, I mean; genre-wise—women’s fiction/romance—it’s right up my alley, but I don’t give a rat’s about dating apps, social media, or the corporate world. My advice for Melanie would have been simple: Don’t want dick pics? Don’t use dating apps. In fact, get off your fucking phone and interact with the people around you. Which, to my satisfaction, is the conclusion she eventually came to.
But not giving a rat’s about dating apps, social media, or the corporate world didn’t keep me from recognizing a charming, earnest story about a woman who wanted to make the world better in some small way. Who wanted to help people. This was a good read, even if it wasn’t particularly compelling. As I was reading, I got the sense that Rockaway (awesome name, by the way) was checking off points on her outline, literally or metaphorically. Introduce the character, then the conflict, now introduce the other characters, heighten the tension, set up more conflict—etc, etc. All the building blocks were there and neatly stacked, but they were taupe. I.e., while solid, the story just wasn’t particularly exciting or engaging.
Mel was an okay MC. I sympathized with her and didn’t dislike her, though I’m not sure I liked her much, either. She was a bit too woe-is-me, a bit too passive-aggressive. She bitched about a lot of things, and though she made some minor efforts to improve circumstances, she never really took a stand, never firmly said no. She tried to protest, but when she was told to sit down and shut up, she did so. I kept waiting for her to quit Hatch, but she never did. Sure, she planned to, but her plan was to get rich on JerkAlert, then quit. Not a stable prospect, pretty much a dream, and she knew it but somehow convinced herself it was viable. It undermined her intelligence and her self-respect. I was also disappointed when she decided to sell her data to Fluttr, despite how wrong it felt. Money is a powerful motivator, and a realistic one, I admit, but I wanted her to have more integrity than that. In the end, though, she started being proactive and ambitious, and she had an honest face-to-face conversation with Alex; I had more respect for her then. Except when she thought hosting her first mixer on the forbidden roof was okay. I can’t imagine how that was at all professional, much less advisable.
Also, her arc was mostly complete, but not entirely. Her father’s infidelity was the root of her bitterness and distrust in men, but we never met him, never saw her talk to him—or her mother, for that matter. As far as I know, they’re alive, so she could have. Her parents’ broken marriage was the foundation for the character’s motivation, but it wasn’t dealt with. The story and Mel’s arc would have been more complete if she’d confronted him. What she would have said to him, I don’t know, but it was a big hole in the development.
The supporting characters were a mixed bag. Whit was kind of terrifying and too convenient for the plot, Dani was meh whatevs, and Lia was an idiot. I had similar feelings about Alex as I did for Mel—sympathetic but too passive. He was kind and endearing, but just kind of let things happen to him and didn’t fight back. Especially Greg. I couldn’t believe Alex never stood up to that lazy shit-for-brains creep. Josh can burn in hell alongside Bob and Vijay. Whom I couldn’t stop calling Va-jay-jay in my head. I mean, seriously. I kept waiting for someone to riff on it, but it never happened.
There were a couple continuity errors I noticed but that were likely fixed in the final copy. Otherwise, I think that’s everything. As I said above, the writing was fine, just lacked energy and color. Rockaway might consider giving her characters more self-respect in future, especially if they’re self-righteous and cause-minded and she’s trying to send a message to readers. Overall, it’s a solid and very relevant story, but it’s doesn’t evoke much emotion.
