MixedSmart Bitches Trashy BooksBy far, the most stunning achievement in this book is the first person \'voice\' of Marlee. I don’t just mean she’s telling the story, it’s that Alexa Martin’s has created an entirely distinctive worldview which saturates every page in the book. Marlee uses sharp, sarcastic humor (there’s a lot of ironic hashtagging, which #WorkedForMeButMightNotForYou) to create the armor she shows to the world, but we also see the ways she’s struggling ... This deep dive into Marlee’s point of view isn’t just a technical achievement; it feels brave. Alexa Martin isn’t afraid to include Marlee’s negative, spiteful, or mean feelings. For me, this was refreshing ... Unfortunately, that first person narration that works so well to develop Marlee fails to create compelling characterization for both Chris and the hero, Gavin Pope ... as a romance, it was disappointing. Marlee’s strong voice wasn’t enough to overcome the uneven pacing, the fuzziness of Gavin’s character, and the number of plotting shortcuts.
