Book Review: Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti

After spending the last few weeks deep in mysteries, thrillers, and dark twisty reads, I needed a light-hearted rom-com. I scrolled through some recommendations on KU and picked one with a quirky cover: Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti.

I’m sharing what I loved, what I didn’t, and a little summary of the book.

The details

Title : Hate Mail

Author : Donna Marchettie

Genre : Romantic Comedy

Amazon Rating : 4.3 stars (#1 best selling rom com read at the time of writing this!)

GoodReads Rating : 3.9 stars

Summary of Hate Mail

Naomi is the weather girl for Miami and one day, while working, receives a death threat— and doubles over in laughter. It wasn’t an actual death threat, but a heckling note from her long-lost penpal from elementary school. You see, Luca and Naomi were assigned to be pen pals from fifth grade and from day one, their exchanges were filled with insults and out-doing how mean they were to one another. But after not hearing from him for 2 years, Naomi thought their friendship (or whatever their relationship was) had ended.

But Luca continues writing her notes and challenging her to do crazy things (like using the word bologna in her weather broadcast), all without a return address. Naomi decides to track him down, even if that means traveling across the country.

This journey may be moving her closer to Luca, but it moves her further from the relationship she has right before her. Naomi is faced with a choice— sacrificing her current relationship for someone she doesn’t know beyond insults and banter, or leaving her old pen pal in the past.

What I loved

I often feel like once you have read one romance, you’ve read ‘em all. Rom-coms usually don’t offer much in the name of suspense or riveting plots, although I will say that this one has a very unique plot and several twists along the way. It’s original and fun, and funny without being corny (books that make me cringe are immediately a DNF).

The characters were much more multi-faceted than other popular romances, which I really appreciated! They were navigating struggles and learning about themselves, and as a reader, you get to see their development progress.

It was a quick, easy read that kept me engaged. If you are looking for something light-hearted and fun, I think it’s a good choice!

What I didn’t love

That said, it drug on a little bit. Especially after the readers are clued in on a couple of key details, and Naomi takes her sweet time in discovering them herself. While it wasn’t awful, it was a bit of a drag— especially since the rest of the book had good pacing!

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti— she offers a unique story, charming characters, humorous banter and witty comebacks. She does it all without venturing into over-used tropes or rom-com cliches. This was my first book by Marchetti and I will definitely be trying out more of her work.

My rating: 3.75 stars