Last year, Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score was a huge hype all over Tiktok and – that’s where I found out about it – Goodreads. The problem between me and hypes is that I get interested but disappointed after reading. Did it work out the same way with this book or have I been proven wrong?

• Title: Things We Never Got Over
• Author: Lucy Score
• Series: Knockemout #1
• Publish date: January 12, 2022
• Publisher: Bloom Books
• ISBN: 9781945631832
• Number of pages: 552
• Genre: Contamporary, Romance

Bearded, bad-boy barber Knox prefers to live his life the way he takes his coffee: Alone. Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon. Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.

Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way… with fists and beer. Usually in that order.

Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.

There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.

At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.

Quite frankly, my expectations for this book were anything but high. I’ve seen many positive reviews, but history learns me that I often don’t agree with them. I was affraid that it would be the same as with It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey. That book got raging reviews as well, but I was so incredibly disappointed. Thankfully, Things We Never Got Over proved to be different. I’ve enjoyed myself whilst reading and that has beeen a rarity with hypes these days.

This story is about Naomi who fled her own wedding and travels to Knockemout to help her twin sister Tina who got in trouble for the whoever-knows-what-time. The people in this small town think Naomi is Tina, because the sisters are identical twins. Therefore, they are reluctant to help Naomi and to even welcome her. Furthermore, Naomi finds out she has a niece she doesn’t even know and has to take care off as Tina abandoned her. Knox is one of the inhabitants of Knockemout and he definitely has no time for drama and a love life. When he meets Naomi, he feels attracted to her and he doesn’t know whether he can keep his guard up. When looking into these characters, I find Knox the most interesting one. He is really closed off and guarded and it takes a long time to find out why and what made him this way. He slowly opens up to Naomi and the other people in this little town. He takes a long time to trust anybody and it shows. Therefore, I think he shows the most growth in this book. naomi grows as well, but it’s less visible. My first impression when I saw she fled her own wedding was ‘red flag’ and I was not sure whether I would like her. I did not really in the end, because everything came quite easy to her. I mean, she got into loads of trouble, but everything was solved quickly. That makes her less likeable as a character.

Things We Never Got Over is a chonker of a book with over 500 pages. however, it didn’t feel like this big to me whilst reading. Why? The writing was easy to follow, although not perfect. The multiple POV narration made me want to continue reading as this is the best way to get to know both naomi and Knox. It kept me intrigued all the time.

Knockemout is a small town somewhere in Virginia where everyone knows eachother. Its a tight-knit community who stands up for someone if they’re in trouble. However, they also make you feel unwelcome when it’s necessary. This gives off real feelgood vibes. The plot is not that original. In fact, it’s full of tropes and clichés. Honestly I didn’t mind this time because of the character growth and the fact that this book was a easy read which i desperrately needed at the moment.

Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score is one of the few Booktok hypes I actually enjoyed. The characters are likeable and develop a lot throughout the story – especially Knox. The writing was fine and easy to follow which makes the book feel lees chonky. The plot was not the most original however, it was actually pretty predictable. Inspite of this, I really enjoyed my time reading and that’s more important than the book being perfect. There is some spice in it though, so please be aware of this when picking this book up.