Review of Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown

One of the best parts about being out of school is that I can read whatever I want. When you are on a schedule of required reading, and an average of two required books a week, it is hard to justify reading anything outside of school when school is in session.

Luckily, I am free now to read as I please and to share my thoughts on what I want. And what I want is to tell you about a wonderful summer romance that should be on your To-Be-Read list, which is Hannah Brown's Mistakes We Never Made.

This is my copy of Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown on my beach towel.

---

Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown

Rating: ★★★★☆

Hannah Brown's Mistakes We Never Made is an amusing romantic comedy that explores the complexities of friendship, love, and self-discovery. Emma Townsend is the maid-of-honor in her friend Sybil's wedding, tasked with making sure the wedding weekend is nothing short of perfect. However, when Sybil's other best friend, Finn Hughes, shows up at the start of the weekend, Emma is hoping to avoid another almost-mistake.

Emma and Finn have a history of almost-mistakes dating back to their time in high school. They were almost prom dates. They almost hooked up in college. And they almost ruined the last wedding that they were both in attendance at.

Now, Emma wants to avoid another almost at all costs. She thinks things are going well, up until Sybil decides to run off two days before the wedding. This forces Emma to turn to Finn as the other person with the best chance of tracking Sybil down. That, and he is one of the few wedding guests with a car that could be coerced into sharing it with her.

Before I say what I want to say, I want to preface this with the fact that I am judging the writing contained in the book. My goal is not to pit a woman writer against another woman writer. This was my main thought when I finished reading this book: the experience that I had reading Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown was the experience that I wanted to have when I read People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.

This is an old photo from when I read People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.

Both Henry and Brown are experimenting with time in their respective novels. What makes Mistakes We Never Made more successful in the attempt is that Brown presents a time foil, while Henry parallels her timelines with emotions. When Emma is frustrated or mad at Finn, we get a flashback that gives us a possible reason to root for him. Meanwhile, Poppy and Alex in People We Meet on Vacation are enduring a hard vacation, and then we see a flashback that has us, as readers, questioning why Poppy wants to try so hard for this relationship.

That would be the main reason that I would recommend Brown's Mistakes We Never Made over Henry's People We Meet On Vacation. But that is enough of the comparison game.

The beauty of Brown's writing is that a reader can see the world-building that Brown is doing. She gives us enough information to be curious about other characters, but not full-out backstories. I heard her give a podcast interview where she said she was hoping for a series around these characters. This novel is already peppered with humorous and poignant moments that capture the nuances of this group of friends and how their dynamics play into their lives. There's definitely room for expansion here.

Character development is a rewarding part of reading a story. Emma experiences a lot of personal growth as she learns the importance of taking risks. As someone who is Type-A and looks at herself as the person who has always given her family a sense of normalcy, Emma has to learn to share control and trust others as the story progresses.

I thought I would pull a quote from the book that exemplified Emma's character. This did quite nicely, if you asked me.

Why might this be the ideal summer read? Not only does a reader travel to Palm Springs, California for a wedding, Emma and Finn find themselves crossing state lines to Vegas, chasing someone down in a kayak, and maybe even spending time with family in this fiction debut from Brown that leaves readers with a smile on their face. The smile comes from knowing that the read wasn't a mistake.