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The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata was a rec for lovers of the grumpy/sunshine trope and when I saw it among my faves on top books of ‘21 lists, I knew I needed to read it. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ TWOWAM is the slowest of slow burns — if that’s something you’re into, this one is for you! This book is no joke (the audio is 16 hours and even sped up a bit, kept me company on a very long, very stormy, very sleepless night). Because it’s longer than average, there’s was so much room for character development, which I felt was lacking. I think this book could have benefited from alternative POVs because Aidan is SO aloof that is hard to feel like there is any emotional intimacy. I kept wondering if Aidan was going to be on page autistic because it would have put some of his behavior in context, but he wasn’t. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I haven’t read a ton of contemporary books with the marriage of convenience trope (Roomies by Christina Lauren and With You Forever by Chloe Liese come to mind) and that wasn’t my favorite way of bringing these characters together. That said, I absolutely loved Vanessa! Vanessa gave me Frankie vibes (Always Only You) with her chronic pain, take no shit, pro-athletes wrapped around my little finger thing. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Both Vanessa and Aidan are super ambitious and driven and overcoming childhood trauma, which brings them together in ways they don’t expect. I enjoyed that element of their story, but the repetitive nature of the book and the lack of chemistry and character development just didn’t work for me. That said, there are a ton of people who really love this book, so seek out other reviews if you enjoy sunshine/grump, enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, or sports romances! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ CW: alcoholism, neglect, foster care, domestic violence, child abuse, fear of darkness and confined spaces, sexual content ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ID: I’m holding a kindle displaying the ebook cover of The Wall of Winnipeg and Me against a wall. via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/CYeOx5wry49/