BOOK REVIEW : UNVERIFIED BY KRISTIN GIESE
They put ham on our pizzas. What are we serial killers?
Matt(Unverified)
TITLE : Unverified
AUTHOR :Kristin Giese
GENRE : Adult Fiction/ Romance/Romantic Comedy
FBRC RATING : 4 stars
BLURB :
Matthew Milles-Lade, a rich kid whose trust fund is suddenly in question, and Margo Valentine Melon, a writer whose career fizzled before it sparked, are two twenty-something strangers stuck living at home, trying to figure out their lives. When they each come across a real estate listing for a palatial (and significantly underpriced) guest house in one of LA’s toniest neighborhoods, their lives get turned upside down. What happens next has them racing to catch the truth before it catches them.
Unverified has all the magic and making of the rom-coms you love, set in the world of social media stardom and online fame, with just enough real world stakes to make it a page turner you won’t be able to put down.
Matthew Milles-Lade, a rich kid whose trust fund is suddenly in question, and Margo Valentine Melon, a writer whose career fizzled before it sparked, are two twenty-something strangers stuck living at home, trying to figure out their lives. When they each come across a real estate listing for a palatial (and significantly underpriced) guest house in one of LA’s toniest neighborhoods, their lives get turned upside down. What happens next has them racing to catch the truth before it catches them.
Unverified has all the magic and making of the rom coms you love, set in the world of social media stardom and online fame, with just enough real world stakes to make it a page turner you won’t be able to put down.
Matthew Milles-Lade, a rich kid whose trust fund is suddenly in question, and Margo Valentine Melon, a writer whose career fizzled before it sparked, are two twenty-something strangers stuck living at home, trying to figure out their lives. When they each come across a real estate listing for a palatial (and significantly underpriced) guest house in one of LA’s toniest neighborhoods, their lives get turned upside down. What happens next has them racing to catch the truth before it catches them.
Unverified has all the magic and making of the rom coms you love, set in the world of social media stardom and online fame, with just enough real world stakes to make it a page turner you won’t be able to put down.
FBRC REVIEW :
DISCLAIMER : I received an ARC( advance review copy) of this book for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.
Unverified is a story for all those who enjoy social media and keenly follow the influencers. I enjoyed this book and finished it in a day. I loved everything about the plot and the idea of social media stardom is what made me want to check this book out. The book is about Matt and Margo who are brought together by their unusual circumstances in life. The story is about the two of them trying to figure out the solutions to their problems together. The story has fake-dating trope and roommates to lovers trope combined with social media influencer world. Overall I believe the story has the perfect recipe for Turkish Drama Series.
Matt is a fun-loving, party-boy with zero care for money or responsibilities. He is arrogant, entitled and rich. He is a trust-fund baby who blows through his cash carelessly on parties, alcohol and women. Matt is given an ultimatum by his dad Brooks Milles Lade to clean up his act and, take up responsibilities. His trust fund is frozen by his dad and only a small amount is transferred monthly to his account. Everything Matt depended on is taken away from him and we get to witness the difficulties Matt faces as a result of his financial situation. Matt’s friends have all made a name for themselves. His best friend has a successful business empire that makes Matt feel like he is living in the shadow of people around him. Matt is also asked to move out from his home due to the misunderstanding between Brook’s trophy-wife candidate Tiffany. Tiffany is an opportunist of the highest order and is vengeful and deceitful. Most interactions between Matt and Tiffany are explosive with Matt having to face problems because of them. Matt’s hunt for a house leads him to Margo Melon.
Margo is the kind of girl I could relate a lot with. She was successful in school and college. She was the one for whom life was straight forward. She studies hard, got great grades. Theoretically, in the real world, she should have great success, but she failed. Her unwillingness to take risks left her playing safe and waiting for opportunities to knock on her door. For her life is not simple and she is hoping things would get better. So far she reminded me of myself. She is sure of herself and thinks she needs to only work in her chosen field as an editor. Her stubbornness to not look at other options leaves her jobless and staying at home in her mid-twenties. She feels frustrated and devastated by her lack of profession and her inability to find success in any endeavor. She is rude and jealous of her sister Kirby.
Kirby is Margo’s sister who made a name for herself by developing her business with her partner at a young age. Kirby is a college dropout who has garnered attention and respect in the business and home life with her work. Kirby is kind and considerate and offers Margo a job at her company. Margo decides to take on the position with full fervor and works hard to provide success at the firm. Margo decides to stand on her own two feet with a small help from her sister. Her search for a house leads to Matt.
Matt and Margo’s meeting is coincidental. They get misunderstood for a couple and decides to play the role to get the house. One lie after the other, the story spirals out of their control. Their life changes for the better in some aspects and for worse in some others. Their lies of being a social media (Instagram-knockoff) influencer backfire when their profile meant to trick the owner of the house gets verified and catapulted to overnight fame and success. Their chemistry was amazing throughout the book and the banter adding to their effortless and easy friendship. The book is an easy read with lots of humor and fun scenes that will make us want to be part of it. The story is an amazing rom-com with a great group of characters that can be easily made into a TV series.
MY THOUGHTS :
I loved the book and am waiting eagerly for a second book. I have no idea if there will be a second book, but the ending kind of made me hopeful about it. I will be immensely disappointed if there wasn’t a sequel to this book.
The writing in this book is a bit difficult to follow at first as the storyline and the back story of characters kept going back and forth. The book I believe is more apt for TV than a novel, but still highly entertaining and enjoyable.
The book was primarily written for TV but didn’t get picked up. So I guess that is one of the reasons why it felt similar to TV series for me. I have been obsessed with a few for the past month and binge-watching some of them. Almost every aspect and trope of this book reminded me of some of my favorite Turkish TV Series that I have seen. If you are a fan of these shows I recommend checking Unverified out. You will absolutely enjoy it. The chemistry between Matt and Margo reminded me of Erkenci Kuş. A couple of characters and their craziness also reminded me of the eccentricity seen in the series. The fake dating trope can also be seen in Erkenci Kuş and Dolunay as well. The sharing of the apartment, roommates to lovers trope is seen in Her Yerde Sen. I believe this book is for everyone who will love the simplicity of the romance and the effortless chemistry shown by the characters. I think you will absolutely enjoy Unverified if you love the above-mentioned TV series. Do check the book out and the TV series as well. I am certain you will love it as much as I did.