Nick and Ellie meet on Election Day in 2008, at a party to watch the results come in (despite the fact they live in London). He’s a projectionist at a movie theater, an enormous movie buff, and an aspiring screenwriter, and wouldn’t mind living a romantic comedy of his own. It seems to Nick that Ellie ticks all the boxes for the perfect modern romantic comedy heroine.
The two are quickly drawn to one another. Nick is romantic, thoughtful, while Ellie helps keep things grounded. But four years later, Ellie has moved out, saying the fire is gone, which leaves Nick bereft, trying to figure out why their relationship didn’t have the happy ending he expected. Suddenly he finds himself without a job, without a place to live, and without the woman he hoped to spend the rest of his life with. Is there any way to get her back?
Love, Unscripted shifts between the past, starting with Nick and Ellie's very first meeting, and the present, as Nick sifts through the detritus of their relationship, trying to figure out what went wrong.
I wanted to love this book, because I thought the concept was really cute. As a movie fan it’s right up my alley, but I was bored. Nick becomes such an unappealing, sad-sack character, a jerk to everyone, that you don’t understand why Ellie would want to be with him. You certainly see that it wasn't all his fault, but his downward spiral isn't fun to read about, nor does it make him any more sympathetic.
This book taught me one thing: it’s hard to enjoy a rom-com when you don’t root for the relationship at the core of the story!
Ah, well. On to the next.
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