Claire Ventura is feeling the pressure. Her Filipino-American family wants her to leave her bookstore job and study to be a doctor or engineer like the rest of them. Her grandmother has Alzheimer's and is slowly slipping away, and Claire seems to be the only family member who can still reach her. All Claire wants to do is pursue her passion and start up her cookie decorating business. But she's alone and has no support from her family when she needs it, even from her sisters. Then Claire runs into Nate Noruta, a young, rich, and hot tech mogul who might just be the answer to Claire's prayers. Not just because he's rich - in fact, Claire hates billionaires and celebrity culture - but because he believes in her dreams and he just feels right when they're together. As Claire and Nate get closer, Claire starts to feel the toll of dating a celebrity. And as her world starts to fall apart, Claire Ventura is going to have to finally figure out what she wants out of life: love, her own business, or can she finally dream of having both?
How to Survive a Modern-Day Fairy Tale was just an alright read for me. I enjoyed the overall plot well enough; it's hard not to love a story where two people finally find their person, work through their struggles, and get their happily ever after. I thought Cruz did a wonderful (and often funny, sometimes frustratingly funny) job at incorporating diversity into this Own Voices romance. Claire and her family are Filipino-American, and Cruz actively uses words and food references to really bring their culture into the story. The incorporating of the Filipino culture was seamless and didn't come across as forced at all. Cruz also included a heartfelt storyline regarding Claire's grandmother, and it was bittersweet to watch Claire realize she was losing her lola and no amount of Nate's money could save her.
Unfortunately, while I did enjoy the plot, there were a lot of red flags for me from the characters, and I ended up not really liking either main character. Claire seemed to self-sabotage herself every step of the way, and even worse, she would later acknowledge that she was only hurting herself by doubting herself so much. And she did this repeatedly throughout the book. I got tired of seeing Claire self-sabotage, admit she knew she was doing it, then continue to do it. No matter how many times Claire said she would stand up for herself, it was just an endless cycle of Claire setting herself up for failure and/or disappointment. And Nate. . .there was a whole lot I did not care for about him. (Very specific spoilers ahead. Highlight text at own risk.) Surprisingly, none of my issues with him seemed to stem from his tech mogul status. He seemed to be inspirational to a lot of people and used his money to help others. But he showed up uninvited to her apartment after getting her address from one of her checks. He flew her to Paris on their first date (and she immediately started feeling romantic feelings for him which were likely misattributed due to the adrenaline of the plane and being in the City of Love). He repeated proclaimed that she was his source of peace in a stressful world, but would immediately abandon her for weeks at a time for work. And the minute she started feeling insecure about their relationship? He gaslighted her into believing she had no reason to feel that way and that any doubt she had in their relationship was strictly on her. There were multiple times Nate pressured Claire into doing something, and she spent the whole time questioning it or regretting it afterward. Nate made my head spin; he told her multiple times to tell him how she was feeling and then when she finally did, he got upset and said, "You're not thinking clearly." I don't doubt that Nate is an upstanding member of society; he gives back to the community and definitely cared for and protected Claire. But he gave off too many red flags for me personally, and I just couldn't make myself look past all of that.
Overall, I enjoyed the plot but ended up not liking either main character. Obviously, my opinions are my own, and other readers likely won't have the same exact experience I had. Unfortunately, though, I found How to Survive a Modern-Day Fairy Tale to be a very middle-of-the-road romance.
Thank you to Grey's Promotions for providing an advanced review copy of How to Survive a Modern-Day Fairy Tale.
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Release date: 11/30/21
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: Grey's Promotions