Rom-coms are supposed to sparkle with charm, wit, and a promise of swoony chaos. The Spreadsheet Situation, however, gives us none of that. Instead, this cover looks like someone opened up PowerPoint, clicked on “Insert SmartArt Graphic,” and called it a day.
First, the characters. Our leading lady has all the detail and nuance of a paper doll cut out of construction paper. She’s standing stiffly in a pose that says, “I’m ready for karaoke night, but only if it ends before 9 p.m.” Meanwhile, the hero stands next to her, looking like an uninterested NPC waiting to give you a side quest in an accounting-themed RPG. They aren’t so much romantic leads as they are flat silhouettes masquerading as people.
The background is no better. Rows of lavender bookshelves stretch across the wall, each line a lazy copy-paste job that screams default wallpaper. And there it is, glowing in the corner: the one lonely desktop computer. Yes, the great symbol of this romantic comedy… a 2002 Clipart Computer of Doom. Forget candlelit dinners — nothing says “romance” like awkwardly staring at a spreadsheet together under fluorescent office lighting.
Then there’s the typography. THE SPREADSHEET SITUATION bellows across the top in massive white block letters, trying to overpower the mediocrity beneath it. It’s not playful. It’s not stylish. It’s not even clever. It’s corporate memo energy, as if HR has rebranded mandatory romance training.
The overall vibe? Less “quirky rom-com” and more “slide 12 of your boss’s quarterly presentation.” If this is love in the workplace, I’ll pass — because no amount of Excel formulas can SUM() up chemistry that flat.
Verdict: A lifeless PowerPoint slide disguised as a book cover. Excel-lently bad.