ARC Review: A Five-Letter Word For Love by Amy James

A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
Published on 3 December 2024
Genres: Contemporary, Love & Romance
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
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RRP: $24.99

A heartwarming and humorous romance in which an unlikely couple fall in love over Wordle.

Twenty-seven-year-old Emily doesn’t have a lot going well in her life right now. She dreams of a creative career but works as a receptionist in an auto shop. She longs for big city life but lives in a small town on Prince Edward Island. She craves a close group of friends but is stuck with irritating, car-obsessed coworkers.

What Emily does have is a 300+ day streak on the New York Times Wordle. But one day, with only one guess left and no clue what the answer is, she’s forced to turn to one of her irritating, car-obsessed coworkers, John, for help—and in doing so, realizes that he might not be so irritating after all.

As they make their way, word by word, toward a 365-day streak, Emily is drawn into a surprising romance that will take her outside of her comfort zone—and challenge everything she thought she knew about happiness, success, and love.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I have been charmed by a romance book based on Wordle.

Do y’all remember the word game that took over the internet during the pandemic? That’s what this book is based on: a young woman named Emily, adrift in life, unfocused but convinced she’s destined for greatness, and her love for Wordle.

I don’t like reading books in one day, but I started A Five-Letter Word For Love on Day 1 and finished it on Day 2, thoroughly enjoying every minute and always wanting to find out what happened next. I found Emily’s narrative voice very engaging and entertaining, and I was intrigued by her character development: she’s convinced she’s better than anyone who chooses to live in a small town, including the boring mechanic she works with who ends up being the love interest.

And I really enjoyed this romance! I was engrossed by the main character’s subtly changing attitude and feelings towards the mechanic who, surprising no one, actually turns out to not be boring. It wasn’t filled with drama or bullying, and I especially love how he took influence from her friendliness and tried to be friendlier instead of mr blunt and direct all the time, and she took influence from him and learned to stand up for herself.

I really felt for Emily as she was at an age where all of her friends lived far away, had careers and relationships, and she felt behind by being single and living in a small town with a dead-end job after deciding not to pursue the career she went to university for. I think the author really encapsulated that feeling that can happen to a lot of young people, especially women, before their careers are established or before they get married (if that’s what they want). I was hit especially hard by Emily’s loneliness when she went home alone after work and didn’t even have a pet to keep her company. I was incredibly pleased to see her making friends throughout the book.

While I really did enjoy basically everything about this novel, I only thought that if it had ended a bit earlier, it would have made a fantastic women’s fiction instead of a romance, where a young woman, determined to change her life, elects to leave the temporary happiness she found in search for something she’d been dreaming of and planning for. While I’m ok with the ending specifically because it is a romance and must have a HEA, I’m not convinced Emily would really be happy with how things ended up. That’s because ultimately, I don’t think the man she left her dream for for was truly compatible. Full disclosure: I, too, dated a racecar driver and broke up because our lives were not compatible, and I did not want to spend my life around cars and fishing (I found myself a gamer instead, which gives me time to read). And it felt like she’d spent the entire novel chasing her dream career in her dream city only to give up when it wasn’t perfect, which um… happens in relationships, too.

I loved the side characters and I cried during some especially sad moments.

I am totally charmed by Amy James’ writing and I would definitely love to check out her next book.

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