What a deliciously witty debut! I am a huge fan of Ashley Poston so I was really excited to read this (and I'm a known sucker for anything with a bookish hook). It did not disappoint! I adored Emmy and there were so many times where I actually laughed out loud. Love a little bit of satire, and this nailed it. Being playful with romance tropes (and making fun of them) is something I've not read much of (or at all?) in rom-coms, but it was so well done. I absolutely LOVED the meta aspect of it. The fact that poor Will has an absolute existential crisis?! So, so good. And you know, the story really surprised me. I was worried about how things would work out and where the author would wrap the story up, but I thought it landed perfectly. A really lovely debut and I can't wait to read more from this author!

The description of this book drew me in. I thought what a clever take on the rom com books we have. And we meet Emmy a Japanese American who has given up on love after being with a not very nice man. After a trip to a sex therapist and buys a book. She wakes up in Will's bed in the book she just purchased. Ensues romance book tongue in cheek gags with everyone being hot and coming on to Emmy.
The book is very tongue in cheek and had be chuckling quite often. The ending was also lovely. Only quip I have is the author is white and The FMC is a Japanese. But there is no stereo typing. Emmy has to deal with racism. I would say it's well done and well researched
I did enjoy this book and would read more by Bex Goos
I do think having something in place to show who's POV we are in would help. Sometimes it flipped during a paragraph

I need to start off by saying - it's amazing that after reading hundreds of books, I can still be surprised and find a book that is super unique. The beginning of this book was unlike any other, and I loved it. It was refreshing and it drew me in. I ended up finishing this in a day, although it took me a minute to realize that it was the length of the chapter and not me. It was a fun story with great characters, and I'm glad I got to read this book!

4.5 Stars

Thank you to Bex Goos and NetGalley for the ARC.

Falling for the Protagonist is an incredible debut novel by Bex Goos! It follows Emmy Miura who is heart broken and out of luck with love, until she visits a sex psychic (yes, you read that right) and finds herself in bed with Will one morning. Now this wasn’t a one night stand situation, Will is none other than the MMC of the book sold to her by the sex psychic!

This book is quirky, unique and very funny in how Emmy and Will have to live out the stereotypical romance book storyline. Will’s existential crisis at learning about his fictional existence was also very interesting.

The only reason why this book isn’t a 5 star read for me is because it took me a good while to get used to the changes in perspective as this was done constantly with no warning. Eventually, I did become accustomed to it, so it may just be a me problem!

I really recommend this book to anyone who likes:
Forced proximity
Fake dating
Book-within-a-book
Magical realism