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chrysfey 's review for:
The Bride Test
by Helen Hoang
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I came into reading this book thinking I’d love it. There were things I did love but also a lot I didn’t.
Here’s a couple of things that bothered me:
- Esme doesn’t ask Khai why he reacts the way he does when he sees her riding his motorcycle soon after the incident happens. She doesn’t even wonder about it, which is odd considering she kept looking at the garage and wondering why he didn’t park his car in there. She wondered that a lot and yet she doesn’t think about his reaction once after the fact, which should be much more curious-inducing than the fact that he parks on the curb. She doesn’t glance at the garage and wonder to herself what that motorcycle means to him and if/how she could ask him about it. Only on the way to a wedding and the sight of his bird-shit windshield does she ask why he doesn’t park in the garage, but she gets nowhere because she doesn’t ask the right questions and then he changes the subject. The whole thing with the motorcycle was made needlessly complicated.
- Side Note: the fact Esme takes off on Khai’s motorcycle, which she’d just found, without asking him for permission also bugged me. I kept thinking, “who does that?”
- Khai never wondered what Esme’s nightmares were about. When she crawled into bed with him, he had a moment when he questioned internally what she meant when she said, “they took her from me,” but that was it. I understand that it could be part of his personality, but later he did think about the fact that she had nightmares but still didn’t wonder why or what her nightmares were about.
- Esme didn't ask how much her medical bill from the clinic was when she twisted her ankle. Khai paid for it before the nurse showed her the bill. She had every right to ask how much it was since it was her medical bill. She also didn’t ask in order to pay him back for her medical bill (which was odd considering she had wanted to pay him back for the cell phone he bought her as a gift when she first got there). She didn’t even address the fact that he paid for it when she didn’t ask him to. All of that was very weird to me, especially since she had wanted to prove she’s capable and can do things on her own.
- Khai’s family kept hinting that he was rich, which always confused Esme, but she never inquired what they meant. She could’ve. She could’ve asked his mom, but she never did. She assumed he was a lowly worker who didn’t earn much and had a tiny office through the entire story, which obviously was not the case. The fact she was never told different or never asked him about his work other than to make him like her (read: to seduce him) was strange to me. I also wondered why his mom didn’t tell her he’s rich, or what his position in the company was, as a way to win her over, along with his good looks. The fact his position and money were hinted at a few times meant it was not a secret. And the other weird thing is, in the epilogue, it was said that she *still* didn’t know how much money he had. Still? After all that time and their relationship progressing? That should’ve been a conversation at some point between adults in a relationship.
- The fact that she was a mom and had a daughter seemed to be something Esme forgot throughout much of the story. It felt very much like an after thought and rubbed me the wrong way. We didn’t even see them interact in person (like before she flies to America) until the very end of the story. If Esme being a mom was removed from the story, nothing would be impacted by that. She still could’ve done all this for her family and her future.
- Another thing that was treated like an afterthought was Esme wanting to find her dad. They made one trip, and a few unsuccessful phone calls were described, but other than that, there wasn’t any purpose for this subplot. It barely added emotion and didn’t contribute to the storyline except for a few scenes. This could also be removed and not impact the storyline at all.
- After reading two books by Helen Hoang, I have to say that the conclusions her characters make and how they come to their (wrong) conclusions is maddening to me. In other words…annoying.
What I liked:
- virgin hero
- autistic hero
- a hero who reads books at weddings
- a hero who committed to sex education through books to please his partner
So, what I liked about this book was ALL Khai. I did not care for Esme, sorry it say.