REVIEW: Overdue by Stephanie Perkins

Overdue by Stephanie Perkins: After eleven years together Ingrid thought she knew exactly where her life was headed. She and Cory had built a quiet, comfortable and familiar relationship that just felt safe. But when her younger sister announces her engagement, Ingrid starts to wonder why she and Cory have never taken that next step. One impulsive conversation later leads to an unthinkable idea… a one month break to date other people. Just to be sure. Just to know… But what begins as a harmless experiment becomes something far more complicated. Ingrid finds herself drawn to Macon, her reserved, infuriating and magnetic coworker at the library. With the month coming to an end Ingrid and Cory begin to realize that just maybe they are not quiet ready to resume their relationship as they had planned… Now Ingrid needs to navigate the ache of a very real ending but also find the courage to face the uncertainty of her new beginning…

Overdue was so much deeper than I had expected, this book takes us on a journey of heart, healing, growth and at the very core love. Perkins does a brilliant job in capturing that uneasy stage of adulthood where comfort starts to feel like compromise and where finding yourself can mean letting go of the people who once defined you. It’s a slow burn in every sense but one that feels earned and deeply human and so beautiful to follow.

There was something so relatable about Ingrid, she was in a spot that so many of us have found ourselves at one point or the other, questioning but also scared to leap. While she doesn’t always make the right choices and she tends to hesitate and overthink she does learn the hard way what it means to choose herself and why its so important at the end. I loved getting to follow her as she took this leap of faith, we get to see her make mistakes and learn from them but also find real happiness on her way. As for Macon, while he might have come across as her complete opposite, being reserved and a bit rough around the edges. He was actually the exact type of guy that she needed. We get to see Macon slowly bring down his walls as the book progresses and show his softer more kind and caring side, a side that resonates so much with Ingrid. I do have to take a moment to mention Cory, I liked the fact that he wasn’t painted as the villain in this story, instead we get to see him as a phase in Ingrid’s life, one that she has now grown out of but still hold dear to her heart.

I loved the way the relationship between Ingrid and Macon unfolded, at its core this was a slow burn journey but in the most delicious way possible. One of the things that I liked about their relationship was seeing them slowly integrate each other into their normal everyday lives, they built their relationship on the small moments and this made it feel just that much more real. This by no means lessened the tension and buildup, there were plenty of stolen glances and longing between these two. Perkins captures the ache of timing and the idea that love can arrive at the wrong moment but still feel inevitable.

Overall I have to say that I really did find myself loving Overdue. This was a story about choosing yourself, embracing change and discovering that sometimes the life and the love you’ve been waiting for can be closer than you realised all along. If you are looking for a sweet slow burn read then this is a definite must read!

Book Info:

Publication: October 7, 2025 | Saturday Books |

Ingrid Dahl, a cheerful twenty-nine-year-old librarian in the cozy mountain town of Ridgetop, North Carolina, has been happily dating her college boyfriend, Cory, for eleven years without ever discussing marriage. But when Ingrid’s sister announces her engagement to a woman she’s only been dating for two years, Ingrid and Cory feel pressured to consider their future. Neither has ever been with anybody else, so they make an unconventional decision. They’ll take a one-month break to date other people, then they’ll reunite and move toward marriage. Ingrid even has someone in mind: her charmingly grumpy coworker, Macon Nowakowski, on whom she’s secretly crushed for years. But plans go awry, and when the month ends, Ingrid and Cory realize they’re not ready to resume their relationship― and Ingrid’s harmless crush on Macon has turned into something much more complicated.