A review by clairebartholomew549
On Screen & Off Again by Caitlin Cross

funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is the stuff of fanfiction dreams, truly. Wilhemina and Daxon were child stars on an extremely popular TV show, but had a bad breakup when the show ended. Seven years later, Daxon's star is on the rise, while Wil has faded into obscurity. They are reunited on a blockbuster movie, and of course, sparks fly and things get complicated.

I went back and forth on whether to give this book three or four stars, and I landed on four stars because this was a fun, easy read with lots of familiar tropes that were relatively well-executed. I felt the chemistry between Wil and Daxon, but the degree to which I was rooting for them was definitely dampened by the fact that I thought Daxon treated Wil pretty shittily. When he was young, of course, I gave him a bit of a pass (even though I feel like the way he treated her was indicative of how little he actually respected her), but in the present-day timeline, it felt like he was still willing to do anything for his career and he was unwilling to really remedy the rift between them with real accountability. The movie Wil and Daxon are working on is also extremely cheesy, and there was way too much of the script in there for my liking. But this didn't feel like a three-star book to me because it is actually really written, and I loved Wil as a character. 

Thank you to NetGalley and 8th Note Press for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

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