Never Been Shipped, Alicia Thompson (Review by Sara D’Onofrio)

It took me a minute to come up with a rating for this read. There were moments where I was all in, and then there were moments where I had to force myself to keep going. I really had to take the time to think about WHY I felt that way, and I think it all boiled down to not feeling super connected to the characters. I understand the premise of the story is just about a few short days on a cruise, so things needed to happen rather quickly, but character development was shallow to me. I think if more time could have been spent getting a look at the relationship between John and Micah prior to the band breaking up, their connection would have felt more real and built-up. Again, I know they only had a few days on the ship to connect, but their first intimate scene felt so rushed. They spent all these years being best friends. Friends who literally had sleep overs, spent every moment together, and John waited on the sidelines and watched her be with another guy. Then, they both just say they are horny, and John becomes this confident man who has no issue taking charge with Micah. Slow burns aren’t always my favorite, but I think I enjoy them a little bit more compared to zero to one hundred. There was so much potential for sexual tension and first experiences with each other. After all that time wondering what that first kiss was really like for the other person and only having that one thing to relive in their heads for years, they don’t even kiss before jumping to other things. That first kiss deserved to be more monumental in my opinion. All in all, I did enjoy the book, but I know I could have felt SO much more connected to all of them.