Book Review: Attack of the Rom-Com

Reviewed by Andrea Marks-Joseph

A refreshingly messy woman is forced to face her painful past through movie-scenario magic, discovering she’s worthy of rom-com love

A powerful psychic enters Sophie Sweet’s life at a carnival and magically transports her into various movie-like settings. Through this strange magic, Sophie reluctantly comes to terms with the fact that her painful youth (filled with parental neglect, bullying, and emotional abuse) doesn’t exclude her from being deserving of love as depicted in the movie scenes she mocks.

We first meet Sophie at the carnival, where her best friend insists on getting a psychic reading from a mysterious woman named Tiffani—and that’s where a disastrous series of ‘How did I end up here? Also, where the heck is here? Should I be asking when is here?’ chapters begins.

For the majority of this book, Sophie is thrust from one rom-com-gone-wrong scenario that feels vaguely inspired by her life to another, and in each of them, Jodie is there. “That’s how it had always been with Jodie. No amount of cruelty from my parents, or the world, couldn’t be washed away by her comfort. If you looked up the word “safe” on the internet, a gif of Jodie smiling, big and goofy, would appear.”

In every new scenario, Sophie wakes up suddenly, disoriented and upset to not be home, but makes sure to find Jodie, her “best friend on this whole godforsaken planet…a stunning Black goddess” who has been with her through it all—and whose bright smile “could illuminate the whole town with that wattage.” In typical movie fashion, in each new environment, Sophie must work to convince Jodie that she is trapped in a dream-mirage-psychic trip, and figure out how to achieve the emotional unlocking that will free her from the situation and—hopefully, eventually, somehow—send her back home to reality. 

“Feelings of inadequacy? I did my best to never have feelings in the first place!” I adore Sophie’s raw honesty in this book and see that she’s leaned deeply into quirky narration and chaotic behavior as a shield against the way she’s been treated for most of her life, especially in her painful formative years. When she begins to gain a sense of confidence and accept her self-worth, I found myself underlining quotes and feeling quite emotional reading the phrases of support that Jodie and the psychic Tiffani use to encourage Sophie to love herself.

Nelson uses fun chapter titles (“10 Things I Hate About Myself,” “To All the Boys I’ve Destroyed Before,” “The Princess Diarrhea-ies”) and clever references to each setting being a mirage of sorts (“Déjà Vu Senior High School” and locations like the “Southern border of Pretendia.”) Sophie’s bisexuality is written with a joyful authenticity that queer readers will particularly enjoy—and it’s charmingly refreshing to have a female main character who unashamedly ogles women’s cleavage, frequently claims to be pooping dramatically as her go-to-lie in complicated situations, and makes jokes about having seen similar things in porn. 

I’m not sure the book fits the category of rom-com, as the majority of the story is neither particularly funny nor romance-focused. There’s certainly an entertaining and satisfactory storyline, but it’s not a comedy and is more focused on personal development, overcoming internalized trauma, and Sophie discovering self-worth in a way that makes me believe this would be a fantastic recommendation for readers of women’s fiction.

There’s frequent mention of the cruelty Sophie faced when she was growing up and some really traumatic things she has to relive during the psychic adventure she refers to as a “kidnapping,” including a case of a spy camera in the toilet she’s using; misogyny, sexual harassment, and a combination of the two in an incident where a group of men are tasked with performing an examination to establish her virginity (She is able to stop them before it happens, though).

The first movie scenario in Attack of the Rom-com is an unpleasant and extended experience where Sophie must relive her high school experience of being bullied and berated on multiple fronts. Frankly, Sophie’s experience is unenjoyable for most of the first half of the book, as she must banter with people who try to give her makeovers, and discuss the disturbing parental neglect and childhood horrors that made her feel unworthy of kindness. Once we shift away from her teenage years, there is a more playful rom-com energy that genuinely feels rewarding by the end of the book.

The fierce friendship between Jodie and Sophie creates a strong, believable ground on which their romance eventually is revealed as a possibility. Their road to love is appropriately awkward, filled with movie-related interruptions, period-specific shenanigans, and crafted with true heart. “We locked eyes. In my whole life, nobody ever looked at me that way. Like I was made of golden candy or something. So, naturally, I ruined it. I stepped back and cleared my throat. “I would also save you from the Vagina Wizards.””

Attack of the Rom-com’s ending is sweet and friends-to-lovers romantic. Readers simply shouldn’t expect their love story to be the focus of the book. I’d recommend you go into this tale expecting a powerful journey of personal development and an inspiring narrative about a complex, brilliant, queer woman who learns that what has happened to her doesn’t mean she isn’t deserving of being treated with the adoration she craves in the deepest parts of her heart.

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