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Let’s get this confession out of the way before we begin — I’ve never seen The Matrix.
Okay, technically I have seen the beginning of it, once upon a time in a high school boyfriend’s basement. But then it was very important that I see the Nightmare Before Christmas mural on his wall. And then his game of the Sims or something? I was like 14, I don’t really remember the specifics. Regardless, we didn’t finish the movie and not for the reasons you’d think.
In fact, I am not confident I can say I’ve finished one single movie starring Keanu Reeves in this lifetime, unless you count Always Be My Maybe, which we probably shouldn’t, since he wasn’t really the star even if he did steal the show.
Every time I posted that I was reading K.M. Jackson’s How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days, people were quick to quip about hoping it’s an instruction manual. Ha ha ha, I would say, completely not comprehending why people are so obsessed with Keanu Reeves all of a sudden. (Maybe it’s not sudden? It feels sudden, but your girl was a Rupert Grint fangirl back in the day so maybe I just don’t know what people are about?)
Why would I read a book about a woman’s quest to stop Keanu from getting married if I am not a Keanu fangirl myself? Great question. I was hesitant about picking this one up because the premise of chasing after a celebrity, let alone Keanu Reeves, didn’t really do it for me. But in the end I caved because I cannot resist a friends to lovers trope.
With all that said, here comes one non-Keanu-obsessed reader’s thoughts on How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days (the book, not the how-to manual, because frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if there is one).
Lu Carlisle is an artist who lives in a loft in the apartment complex her father owns. In her 40’s, Lu’s family has finally stopped asking when she’s going to get married and have kids. She likes her life. Mostly. Aside from the part where she comes across a headline saying that The Keanu is getting married and — here’s the real kicker — possibly retiring from acting.
True Erikson has loved Lu Carlisle forever. So much, he’ll even do something crazy to make her happy. Something crazy like hop on board for Lu’s scheme to track down Keanu Reeves and convince him not to get married.
What follows is a series of misadventures and chance celebrity encounters that lead our friends-to-lovers into one another’s arms.
From the start, the Keanu thing as a central plot device was a bit much for me. I can fangirl like the rest of them, but Lu’s utter devastation at the news of Keanu’s marriage is quite a place for our story to begin. The author does a lot of good work trying to lay a foundation throughout the story for why Lu is so invested in Keanu. Ultimately, though, I’m not sure it quite explains away the extent to which Lu uses chasing Keanu as an excuse to run away from her life — and her feelings for True, of course.
Like many a rom com before it, this book uses alternating perspectives. They’re a bit unbalanced in my opinion, with True’s voice only coming in very occasionally, and the majority of the story living in Lu’s head. I’m not a huge fan of alternating perspectives, and this book was no different, particularly since several of the perspective shifts have us jumping around the timeline to replay scenes from the other POV. I liked the idea of this, but in practice for me it sometimes just made things confusing, as I didn’t always realize we’d jumped back in time and had to go back to reread the section.
The book is, I think, meant to be a fun, lighthearted story that leans on our suspension of disbelief to take us on a wild adventure. It also takes on some heavier topics, like grief and feeling stuck in your life and career. I appreciated that our protagonists were older and enjoyed reading a story from the perspective of a successful artist of color who is able to live a life full of joy and fandom.
There’s a lot to like in these pages, but for whatever reason, the story just didn’t quite land with me personally as a reader.
I think I’m just not the type to be excited by celebrity sightings, since I would be absolutely horrified to ever meet any of my celebrity crushes. Hell, I can’t even bring myself to buy the backstage pass for a live show of the podcast hosts I adore because, like, what would I say to them?
I recommend How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days to fans of Keanu Reeves, readers of celebrity mags, and those who enjoy a lighthearted adventure with a ton of chance encounters.
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