I listened to this, and honestly, I wish I read it instead. Maybe I will pick it up and read it, but the first two were much better than this. Actually I think, The Right Swipe was the best out of all three.

Quick things that I loved about it;
1. Loved the representation.
2. Loved the fact that it made Internet careers normal and it was very "now", modern, contemporary. Loved that.

I'll hopefully add more things on here as I think about them. ( )

First Comes Like
Modern Love, Book 3

I Picked Up This Book Because: Finish the series.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Netgalley/BCPL
Dates Read: 3/19/24 - 3/21/24
Stars: 4
Narrator(s): Priya Ayyar, Neil Shah

The Characters:

Jia Ahmed Beauty influencer working to make her dreams come true after losing momentum due to illness.
Dev Dixit Actor from a famous family whose world has been flipped after the loss of his brother and Grandfather.
Dev’s Niece, Dev’s Uncle, Jia’s roommates (who I would love to see have their own stories)

The Story:

While I do not have a super dramatic reaction to this story I liked it a lot. I think Jia and Dev are low key characters that have some semi dramatic things happen to them. There is a lot of growth and change for these characters as they are both thrown into major upheavals. I wasn’t in love with the last bit of miscommunication. Jia really didn’t need to jump to conclusions about the housing situation.
I love Dev’s uncle and I would have liked to see more of his niece. ( )

The story and characters were very sweet! ( )

I love love love Alisha Rai's contemporaries and will totally read her next, but I did feel like this one lacked real conflict. The initial premise was just kind of random and hard to believe and from there on out it was just a bit too lovey dovey. There were no moments where I had my heart in my mouth with concern. But the relationships were lovely nonetheless, especially with the elder generations and with Dev's niece. ( )

i really didn't like this. from the first moment i knew i wouldn't and probably should have just put it down. it improved slightly as it went along but in general i just found it annoying and ridiculous and i wasn't too interested in any of the characters, with the possible exception of dev. i should probably rate this a little higher because jia and her friends got more interesting by the end, with some added depth attempted with her coming to understand herself better and her willingness to try to let go of what others think of her. but it was all so superficially done. i did like dev's relationship with luna, and their love for each other. i appreciated that we were supposed to think of her influencer persona as a real job and i can see that it can be real work, but i just couldn't care about fashion and make up tips and feel like that is a business empire i could be interested in.

maybe i just wasn't in the mood for a book where someone sees someone else and then is "obsessed" about them ever after. and how a few days of getting to know someone can turn into a genuine engagement, even in a different culture. i definitely wasn't in the mood for the manufactured tension made by lack of communication, although i liked how quickly that was resolved. it also bothered me that she pronounced his name differently than he did. maybe it was the audio reader, because i found her hard to take in general. but it's not offensive or anything, so maybe between .5 and 1 star for an official rating. ( )