Reylo Fanfiction: The Ultimate Review

the saga no one asked for

If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I love a bit. Truly no matter how stupid it is, if I say I’ll do it, I’ll do it. Which is how we got here. We also got here because I’m just not very good at clocking when it’s Adam Driver on the cover.

I have a weird thing with fanfiction. I don’t read it. I never had an AO3 phase. The most I ever dabbled was like those “one shot” premises on Tumblr back in like 2012. I don’t think there is anything necessarily wrong with fanfiction and I don’t chide anyone for reading it (by my count…4 friends have read All the Young Dudes), but there is just something about it. I think I’m just so Type A I don’t like it when things stray from canon. I’m sure if I read AO3 in high school and college I would think differently but yeah. It just never was my thing.

Anyways, so as we all know, I read The Love Hypothesis in 2021, without knowing it was Reylo (please, just look at the cover more carefully next time). And then I read You, Again in 2023 (please, again, just look at the cover more carefully next time), without knowing it was Reylo. And so from then on I told myself I would be very, very careful and vet my romance books carefully. When I learned Forget Me Not was Reylo, immediately put in the “do not read” pile. But then, Gloria sent me that TikTok and I decided fuck it. Let’s do it. Let’s do it for the bit. And so I have. For research purposes only, obviously.

I found a Published Reylo Goodreads list, which Lauren and I went through very carefully. And I’m capping it at the five I read. I can’t do any more. I pondered My Roommate is a Vampire but I read a comment about how the vampire in question is a Swiftie and I don’t do contemporary references. I was actually very, dangerously close to Deliver Me (please, please, please read the premise) but I’m going to be a lawyer soon and I don’t want this to come up during character and fitness.

And so, for you today, I have The Love Hypothesis, The Dead Romantics, You, Again, Forget Me Not, and Not Another Love Song. Let’s begin.

The (Unofficial) History of Reylo

I am a Star Wars fan in a way you can only really be one when you have an older brother. I’ve watched all the main films (ranking: 5, 7, 6, 3, 8, 4, 2, 1, 9), a few of the spin-offs (Rogue One is really good), and absolutely zero of the TV shows (though I’m curious about Andor and The Acolyte, RIP). As a whole, the original trilogy is the best, followed by the prequels, and then the sequels.

Reylo was born through the sequel trilogy. We have Rey Skywalker (played by the delightful, yet underused, Daisy Ridley) and Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren (played by the Large and Broad Shouldered Adam Driver). I’m assuming people started shipping Reylo in The Force Awakens (#7) but Rian Johnson kind of planted the seeds in The Last Jedi (#8) (they basically FaceTime whilst Adam Driver is shirtless). And then JJ Abrams just fucked it all up with The Rise of Skywalker (#9) in a very awful and damaging way for us all.

I don’t think the plan was to ever have them end up together because there is no chemistry between them at all. Adam Driver, to me, is a wet blanket and he’s just not cute? He would make a really good Severus Snape actually. Just a greasy snivelly kind of dude. Anyways, spoilers, but at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey drains all her energy doing something and then Kylo is like nooooooo so he uses the force (the force does not work this way) and passes his energy into her so she survives and then they kiss (???????????????) and then he dies. The bottom line of the ship is just enemies-to-lovers with a redemption arc. And obviously the ever-present theme of light and darkness found throughout Star Wars.

Enemies-to-lovers is interesting to me because I feel like it’s really hard to pull off in a contemporary setting. You can’t have them be too mean to each other, because it’s borderline abusive, but you also can’t have it be too tame, otherwise it’s just stupid. Like there is no contemporary romance that has been successfully billed as enemies-to-lovers. You can have rivals-to-lovers, sure, but that’s not good enough. I remember Book Lovers was marketed in the beginning as enemies-to-lovers and it pissed me off so bad. There is just no way to make a contemporary romance with this trope because I need to root for the guy and if he’s an absolute dick, I’m not going to.

As for the reviews below, I am notoriously bad at remembering books, which is why I try to write some sort of review on Goodreads now in hopes it’ll jog my memory in the future. So like take all of my synopses with a grain of salt. I’m probably wrong. I can’t promise this is spoiler-free but I’ll try my best.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Ali Hazelwood’s whole schtick is that her books take place in science academia. She herself has a PhD so I think that’s cool. Anyways, in this book the FMC is named Olive and she works in a lab I think? And then the MMC is named Adam CARlsen (get it? Driver…Carlsen…) and he runs a lab or is a professor or something. Olive has a bad experience with him or something and then they cross paths a year later and then have to fake date. I truly don’t remember why.

This was one of the first smutty books I read so when he tried to put her entire boob in his mouth I was like “okay hmm.” But who knows. I remember the third act conflict being weirdly serious for a very unserious book.

Adam Driver Scale: Adam is like comically large (as are all Ali Hazelwood men) with Big, Broad Shoulders. He has Muscles and is Grumpy All the Time but of course, is super possessive and loves Rey—I mean Olive. 4/5 Adams.

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

I only learned this past weekend that this book is reworked Reylo fanfiction. I believe she wrote the first few chapters as Reylo and then finished the book. So I’m counting it.

Anyways, this book was ass. Ashley Poston books have interesting premises to them (in this, he dies but only she can see him and in The Seven Year Slip, the main character shares an apartment with a guy who lives 7 years in the past) but poor execution. I truly don’t remember anything about this book except they kiss like once and then it’s like “omg I love you so much.” I also want to say he was like a CEO or something so he was like Really Mean but I also could just be making this up entirely.

Oh but his name is BENji (Ben Solo) ANDOR (Cassian Andor is the main character in the show Andor and Rogue One). Like come on. I did not make the connection at all.

Adam Driver Scale: I don’t remember anything about Benji but his name alone makes me want to roll my eyes. 2/5 Adams.

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck

I was a victim of false advertising. I went into this thinking it was simply a gender-swapped retelling of When Harry Met Sally but no. I was bamboozled. I was tricked. I was led astray. And you might think any reasonable person would have looked at the man on the cover and been like, “But Jessie, that is clearly Adam Driver” and you know what? Hindsight is 20/20.

This book was fine. If I remember correctly, I found it well-written and engaging but the characters were annoying. Kate Goldbeck is really good at cultivating a vibe and you can see that the vibe is clearly Autumn. You’re not really rooting for Ari or Josh but at the same time, since they both suck, you don’t really mind that they end up together. It’s like pretty loyal to When Harry Met Sally as far as I can tell. I haven’t seen the movie yet but the New Year’s Eve scene happens in the book.

Adam Driver Scale: Jessie, that is clearly Adam Driver. 5/5 Adams.

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto

Yeah so I caved. I think the cover is pretty. As I was leaving for New York last Friday I got the notification that this was finally available on my Kindle through the library. And then I read it in three days.

This book was cute in the way that romance authors know how to throw in a couple lines that make you go “aw.” I didn’t realize it was second-chance romance until I got well into it and I’m just not a fan of second-chance romance. Like it’s either the reason why they broke up the first time was so stupid that you don’t want them to end up together or the reason why they broke up the first time was way too valid that you don’t want them to end up together. But I must say, their reasoning here kind of made sense to me.

You have a very young wedding planner (23-26) named Ama who has to work with a Grumpy, Broad-Shouldered, Giant florist named Elliot Bloom (27-30) (okay Colleen Hoover). They don’t really give you a reason why they like each other, so the romance aspect was kind of a dud. Ama thinks he’s cute and then Elliot is all insta-lovey. They only hook up at weddings for a while and it’s a bit jarring. Elliot only has tattoos of flowers and I must say…I did like that detail. But Ama is so talkative and petite and cute and he is so Quiet and Broad and Brooding. I think in this book, she’s just a bit too stupid for me and he’s just a bit too grumpy. But like I said, I like the tattoos, so I gave it 3 stars.

Adam Driver Scale: He gives more of a young Snape vibe on the cover. Also I’m not sure how much Adam Driver likes flowers. 1/5 Adams.

Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto

Julie is sooooo in her Reylo bag rn. Once I made the decision yesterday to read one more Reylo book, I saw that the Kindle version of this was $12 or I would have to wait several months for the library copy. And my ADHD hyperfixation simply won’t allow me to wait several months for this project so Lauren and I hopped on the subway so I could buy the physical version, because I’d rather spend $20 for a real book rather than $12 for an e-book. I will say pulling this out on the plane was quite humbling bc the cover is not subtle. But alas, I finished this book in two days.

Gwen is a self-taught violinist with the Manhattan Pops Orchestra. But she’s different because she’s not small and petite and cute, but rather skinny with long legs and cute. Xander Thorne (yes) is a prodigal cellist, but he is the same because he is still Broad Shouldered and Large who Doesn’t Speak. This book takes place in the same universe as Forget Me Not so at one point, Xander and Elliot meet and then we have TWO Adam Drivers.

I liked this more than Forget Me Not and the couple is actually somewhat believable. It’s not entirely insta-lovey and Xander makes a point that he loves Gwen’s skill, rather than wanting to jump her bones immediately. I kind of rolled my eyes at all of the music references and the way Julie describes them playing their instruments bc let me tell you, my 12 years of piano and 8 years of flute playing were never that sensual.

The book goes a bit too long but I didn’t mind the third act conflict too much. Both Ama and Gwen are a tad bit too naive for me but whatever I don’t actually care.

Adam Driver Scale: I think Adam Driver should be able to sue for Name, Image, Likeness at this point. Like. 5/5 Adams.

Oh! And the reason why I asked about “bitca” (@Caitlin) is because Julie Soto’s fanfiction username was “LovesBitca8.”

Key Takeaways

This was largely a waste of my time.

And I am SICK of the large, brooding man who doesn’t talk with a jumpy, sunshine gal. Give me a bubbly man (still brunet) who has to help the girl get out of her shell! I want a man who talks!!! Also the women are always so young and it’s starting to bother me. I need my FMCs to be like late 20s. I don’t care about your depressing love life if you’re younger than 25.

Show me a gender-bent Reylo and then we’ll revisit.

Here’s a quick ranking:

1. Not Another Love Song

2. You, Again

3. Forget Me Not

4. The Love Hypothesis

5. The Dead Romantics