All's Fair in Blog and War

by Chrissie Peria

[KitsuneBae]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

This post first appeared on: Thoughts and Pens

All’s Fair in Blog and War is one cliché story I’ve come to adore. Except for blogging and a travel to Macau, there’s nothing really new here and had the author failed to execute the whole thing properly, my eyes would have been pointing at different directions from numerous eyerolls. But Chrissie Peria managed to weave something special out of an overused story.

All’s Fair in Blog and War has all the things I needed after reading a depressing monster of a book. It’s fluffy, humorous and it’s about blogging. The story started when virtual assistant and blogging hobbyist, Five, received an e-mail from the Macau Tourism Board offering her an all-expense paid familiarization trip to Macau just so she could blog about the country afterwards. While Five was so happy of being given the opportunity of a lifetime, everything was suddenly ruined when she met Jesse, a self-assured photographer/blogger who will also be joining the Macau trip.

Five and Jesse’s love story started in an antagonistic banter then leveled up into friendship until the inevitable happened. Though their romance was kind of instalovey since it developed for only 2-3 days, it didn’t feel that way because the story was told like a lot of days has already passed. And you’d only figure things out when you actually stop reading and do the math. Everything in the story was nicely established from the blogging aspect to the tour in Macau. How I wish I had the money to go there immediately. Chrissie Peria did a very good job with the blogging part of the story even going as far as entitling each chapter with Twitter hashtags. She really portrayed a realistic blogger in Five.

Speaking of Five, I like her as a character. She’s funny and not afraid to speak her mind. Even Jesse was adorable. I, however, have some issues with them. They still need more development in order for me to really love them. It’s like I’m just scratching the surface of their personalities. I don’t even know whether Five has insecurities or whether she experienced love before Jesse came along. Or I don’t even understand why Jesse was such an a– during their first meeting and then immediately transformed to a very down-to-earth man.

The tension near the end could also use an overhaul. It was too petty that it was unbelievable. The resolution also felt rushed and was too easy. I was like, “Is that it? I thought it’s going to be a very intriguing agenda!

But anyway, regardless of the flaws I’ve spotted here and there, All’s Fair in Blog and War is still a worthy read. If you’re looking for an instant boost of happiness or you’re a social media whore or a mad wanderer, then it’s the perfect book for you. It’s short, funny and will give you that awesome feeling of wanderlust.

Note: Seriously, never mind what I said. Just read this and drool over the foods Five and Jesse ate during their Macau trip. I wanna eat dinner again.