Title: The Villain Edit

Author: Laurie Devore

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Why I read it: I unwrapped my “date with a book” I purchased in December and decided to read it

Attention Bachelor Nation! This one is for you.

The Villain Edit is a contemporary romance that follows Jac and her experience on a reality dating show called the 1. Alternating perspectives pit her experiences while taping the show against the audience’s reactions as it airs, showing you what it’s like to be swept up in the moment and what it’s like to be a reality show villain. With heavy-handed references to the Bachelor franchise, fans of the show may enjoy this look at what happens when a contestant finds herself caught in a love triangle. 

This book earned a solid 3 stars from me for a few reasons. 

Right off the bat, the ending (or at least part of it) is revealed to you. I can see what the author was trying to do, but it had the opposite effect for me – it took away all of the suspense! I wish her story unfolded similarly to your experience watching The Bachelor where you don’t learn her fate until the end. 

Secondly, it took me until around page 150 to like the main character. Maybe that was the point, but I had trouble connecting with and understanding her as many aspects of her personality seemed conflicting. She was a fun character to unpack and experience, but there were several instances where I rolled my eyes at the choices the author made for her.

Lastly, a few paragraphs in the book detailing a character’s back story were nearly a direct rip-off of a very well-known bachelorette and her experience as the lead. This bugged me as that particular character trait could have been explained by a multitude of other things. Did the author think no one would notice? I’m not even a member of Bachelor Nation and I still picked up on it!

On a more positive note, I did enjoy the love triangle storyline and the suspense of figuring out who she would choose. HOWEVER, this would have been so much better had we not known from the beginning what the fate of her relationship with the bachelor was. Had that been kept quiet, the ending would have been much more satisfying. I also found the ending rushed and confusing, and how the author chose to wrap it up could have been greatly improved with some additional explanations as to how we arrived there. The abrupt timeline jump to a year or so later left a lot of unanswered questions and general confusion and if you’re not afraid of spoilers, I detail more about this at the end of this review.

As mentioned, I am not a member of Bachelor Nation, but having been on the internet as a woman in her 30s, I’ve been exposed to quite a bit of information as the seasons go on. I enjoyed this inside look into the show (I’m going to pretend that everything in this book is factual because that is my right as a reader), and I definitely enjoyed the concept of contestants being there for the wrong reasons. I believe that many contestants are there for the wrong reasons, and it was fun to see inside the mansion with those dynamics at play. 

TL;DR: Would I recommend it to a friend? Sure. If you’re interested in The Bachelor and want a quick read, then this is a perfect fit. It was light-hearted, fun, and entertaining, as long as you’re willing to overlook a few things. 

SPOILERS AHEAD

I have lots to say about the conclusion of the book, but I can’t do that without spoilers, so read ahead at your own risk!

Had the author asked me for my take, I would have recommended that we don’t start the book by revealing that Jac gets engaged to Marcus. Instead, let the reader follow Jac and see how her feelings change over time. Then, towards the end, the conflict of whether she will say yes to Marcus pinned against Henry begging her not to would be so much more satisfying. I could tell that the author wanted the reader to feel that conflict as Jac was feeling it, but since I already knew she was going to say yes, it felt silly and forced. After that tension is built, then the big reveal can happen when she says yes to Marcus, setting up the big fight with Henry that’s necessary to wrap up the end of the book. 

I would have loved more information on how the plan with Henry came together for her to get out of her NDA and write about her experience. Did Henry connect with her before she broke off the engagement? Was the dramatic ending to the engagement planned? Or did she connect with Henry after she broke off the engagement? How did they discuss the details of their next steps and essentially tricking the producers to let her out of her NDA? I’m obsessed with the idea of them taking down the franchise and would have LOVED to see more of the “burn it down” energy Henry was bringing at the beginning of the book.

Let me know if you’ve read this one and have similar feelings!