Review: In the Unlikely Event

In the Unlikely Event by L.J. Shen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have very mixed feelings about L.J. Shen's "In the Unlikely Event" (aka ITUE), but I think my strongest reaction was, "WTF did I just read?" The last time I felt this way was immediately after reading Colleen Hoover's "Verity," though admittedly for different reasons.

There are some definite quirks to ITUE, such as the random changes in POV from one of the main characters to a random side character (including a dead person!) or even an inanimate object like a napkin. Also, about halfway through the book, the story suddenly and inexplicably took a turn for the kinky and (IMO) just plain weird. For example, there was a tragic misuse of a perfectly innocent chocolate bar which, personally, I found to be very off-putting. I totally get that everyone's turn-ons are different, and if that kind of thing happens to do it for you, great. However, I would have preferred not to hear the details of this incident repeated multiple times, or learn how it excited main character Rory's best friend so much that she needed both her vibrator and an immediate Tinder hookup. Reading it once was enough for me, thank you.

Unfortunately, the weirdness did not end there. Later in the book, main characters Rory and Mal attended a party and ended up playing spin the bottle with the other guests. (Sidenote: How old were these people, 13? Do people still play spin the bottle after they're out of junior high?) As the game progresses, Rory suddenly starts daydreaming about Mal railing another guy from behind. This fantasy seemed to come completely out of the blue, and really made me question her feelings for him. Again, this is just my opinion, but at that point in their relationship development, I wanted to see evidence of Rory and Mal's desire for each other, not some random third party (regardless of gender). If Rory had gotten jealous instead of turned on while thinking about Mal being with another person, I think I would have found their feelings for each other to be more believable.

Overall, ITUE was a very compelling story that managed to work in a good amount of humor despite the angst and keep me interested despite the various things that bothered me as I read. I liked both Mal and Rory even though they were flawed, and I wanted them both to find some happiness even if I wasn't entirely convinced that their best shot at happiness was together. I'm not sure I would recommend this book, however. It's certainly unique, but I think it ended up being just a little too out there for me.

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