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2 Stars ⭐️⭐️“𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒏. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.”𝑴𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 Even though I didn’t enjoy the first book in this series, I really liked the banter between Hazel and Rory, and that was honestly the main reason I picked this up. I went in with high expectations for these two because their chemistry was sizzling in the first book.The Fake Out follows Hazel and Rory on their fake dating journey as Hazel’s ex-boyfriend reappears convinced she’s still hung up on him. It started off fun, with cringy moments and sweet banter between these two! Rory knew how to get Hazel riled up.. and I loved it. But, that phase didn’t last long. At an early stage of their “fake dating”, the lines blurred and it didn’t seem fake anymore?And instead of building up that slow, angsty tension, the story quickly shifted to insta-lust… just like the first book. That’s where I started losing interest because I couldn’t really feel the chemistry between Hazel and Rory.The romance felt rushed, and I felt like we missed out on the emotional development between them. Sure, there were a lot of sweet and cute moments, but I couldn’t feel a deep connection between them.Moreover, the conflict felt very underwhelming. There was no real tension pulling the story forward, and the plot ended up getting stretched in the second half. I was skimming pages because I had completely lost interest in both the plot and the characters.About the characters:I found Hazel’s character bland. She came across as someone trying too hard to appear intellectual, but I never really found a strong personality in her. Rory, on the other hand, started off fun in that typical cocky, charming way, but slowly slipped into a possessive male lead. I felt he didn’t provide space to her, which became more irritating than charming.This book had the same ingredients as the first book, just with different characters. And because of that, the story and its moments started feeling repetitive. Plus, if Hazel “touches her sternum” or Rory “flashes that cocky grin” one more time, I would lose my mind.𝑻𝑳;𝑫𝑹Overall, this started off fun and promising with banter and fake dating, but the insta-lust, weak conflict, and lack of emotional depth made me lose interest by the second half. I did enjoy the initial “sweet and cute moments”, but after a point, they started becoming more annoying than enjoyable.Find more on Ruminative Bibliophile.

if i could rate this 6 stars, i would. 

2.5