Playing Through Every Choices Book, In Order (Part 60: Passport to Romance)

Hey! Today, we start a travel blog and begin our journeys in Paris! With a spontaneous group of friends and a harsh boss, can we become a global sensation?

Next time, we sign up for a company called Eros's matchmaking service. Will it give us the romance of our dreams? Or are things too good to be true?

Link to previous reviews: https://www.reddit.com/user/stresseatingdog/comments/sj3s3m/all_choices_reviews_megapost/

SPOILER WARNING, AS ALWAYS!

Passport to Romance

M/C: Hector

Final LI: Elliot

Favorite Chapter: Chapter 15

Favorite Character(s): Marisa, Sumire, Elliot

Least Favorite Character(s): Yvette, Carlisle, Bronwyn

Overall Rating: 4/10

Review:

The concept of this book is a really good one, in my opinion. An M/C that jets around the world to record a travel blog? Sounds cool! However, I feel like this book failed to live up to its potential. First off, LI’s. Individually, I think they all are lovely. As a group? Not so much. There’s just no chemistry between this supposed friend group. It seems more like all four friends are only friends with M/C, and not with each other. This leads to really awkward interactions, and a lot of forced “friendship is magic” moments that feel really unwarranted or lack support. Ahmed and Elliot, for example, seem more like opposing forces than friends. I just think a better sense of friendship would have made the group feel more cohesive, and added some more charm to this story. I also think the book does not explore enough locations. Paris, Lucerne, Berlin, Monte Carlo, London. That’s it. Two of those cities are literally in Germany. For a book based on travel, there’s really not that many destinations. The book also lacks a clear conflict. Yvette is presented as a weird pseudo-antagonist. Like, I thought she was a little harsh but nice enough, but all the characters hate her guts from the beginning? The two antagonists, Bronwyn and Carlisle, come far too late in the story to offer any sense of purpose or conflict. I mean, they appear in Chapter 12, in a fifteen chapter book! The drama with Elliot and his brother also feels so disconnected from the main story, and honestly, I’m not too sure what the main plot even is. Sumire feels neglected in terms of side stories, Ahmed is annoying sometimes with his “what if I turn into a bad rich person” tantrums, and Marisa only confronts her boyfriend in the second-to-last chapter. I think this book just suffers heavily from pacing problems. The beginning of the book (the first 11 chapters) are pretty much filler. The “conflict” doesn’t start until Chapter 12, and is quickly resolved by Chapter 15. Also, the ranking system is really unfair, as without diamond choices, you will never reach Global Sensation level, and thus will miss out on...not that much, beyond a bit of extra dialogue. Not everything is bad about this book. It's GOC, the LI's are good, and the premise is interesting. However, in my opinion, it just failed to deliver on its concept. It felt rushed, lacking in story, and devoid of conflict.