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bibilly's Reviews (336)
the beginning of this book is one of the best i've ever read, the type of shit you wish you had written. but then the magic faded, and it took me a while to pick it up after putting it aside still at the first half of it.
along with the writing being unable to impress me any further, i didn't care for the mc like i think i should. i found her personality bland, as if she was there just because someone had to read the manuscript and interact with jeremy. meanwhile the man of the house was hot as fuck and too good to be true, which led me to suspect him so i wouldn't be fooled by hoover, but actually wishing he was the saint he seemed to be. it's a pity there wasn't much practice of his praised talents.
as for verity, *laughing nervously* the bitch was quite relatable. but except for that the content of her biography didn't surprise me or chock me that much. the same with the other twists. i accepted the open ending pretty well tho (probably because i didn't want to believe her). just the chapters that led to it that were kind of meh. maybe suspense books aren't for me, but it's not like i've read a thon of them to say so lol
i wish i could describe hoover's writing in the beginning, since it really left an impression on me to the point i want to reread the first chapters and see if it lasts. and although i can't say if she was accurate on it, im glad that she didn't picture motherhood as a paradise. i'd have liked even more if the mc hadn't judged verity right from the beginning, as if it were something unimaginable a woman hating being pregnant.
along with the writing being unable to impress me any further, i didn't care for the mc like i think i should. i found her personality bland, as if she was there just because someone had to read the manuscript and interact with jeremy. meanwhile the man of the house was hot as fuck and too good to be true, which led me to suspect him so i wouldn't be fooled by hoover, but actually wishing he was the saint he seemed to be. it's a pity there wasn't much practice of his praised talents.
as for verity, *laughing nervously* the bitch was quite relatable. but except for that the content of her biography didn't surprise me or chock me that much. the same with the other twists. i accepted the open ending pretty well tho (probably because i didn't want to believe her). just the chapters that led to it that were kind of meh. maybe suspense books aren't for me, but it's not like i've read a thon of them to say so lol
i wish i could describe hoover's writing in the beginning, since it really left an impression on me to the point i want to reread the first chapters and see if it lasts. and although i can't say if she was accurate on it, im glad that she didn't picture motherhood as a paradise. i'd have liked even more if the mc hadn't judged verity right from the beginning, as if it were something unimaginable a woman hating being pregnant.
caí no conto do ya com sinopse promissora (um ya de 2011 ainda por cima). a capa ficou com toda a personalidade que deveria ser do livro, mas ao terminá-lo ainda me perguntei se valeria a pena ser feita de besta pelo próximo só pra saber o que acontece. considerando que passei 400 pgs tentando entender por que o cara mais rico e desejável da cidade faz tanta questão de ser o guarda-costas da versão psicótica de bella swan, a resposta é não.
i would have liked that ending even more if its realistic tone had been part of the characters and their relationship from the beginning. it was a plausible conclusion to a non-existent development. the world-building is inconsistent at best, but it's a fairy tale retelling and you'll hardly see me reading one of those. gayness and touch deprivation were the only concepts i was looking for when i picked this up. however, the plot still depends on the story the author chose to retell, so it ended up being one more thing that didn't convince me in this book.
this is a great fantasy romance and I'd definitely recommend it, especially to the fans of the genre. it didn't quite feel like a debut novel. both Naime and Makram's pov’s were interesting and you'll hardly be annoyed by any of them. the writing is very effective in flesh out their personalities, goals, feelings and beliefs. the book does have its flaws, but the things I didn't like were very specific and part of bigger elements that were actually enjoyable.
one of them was Naime: I don't even remember the last time I loved and respected a female mc this much. she knows exactly her place in this world, she hates it and won’t rest until she changes it – but in a way you believe it, because she’s so assertive with her words. Naime doesn’t whine to the reader and instead shows us her perfect reading of her situation in life and what is expected of her.
however, as I said, there were some little things that rubbed me on the wrong way. Naime’s personality, pov and eloquence in the first 30% of the book are reason enough for me to praise Evans' writing, but in the middle of the story the character lost some of her appeal. I don’t know exactly what happened: her qualities remained, but she started acting too soft with her love interest??? maybe I don’t like seeing any couple falling in love in a span of days, or maybe I have toxic expectations toward romance, who knows.
but there’s another thing regarding the romance and the mcs that really bothered me (spoiler ahead): when they decided to spend the night together and acted as if sex was all about penetration. they didn't touch much bc the only conclusion would be intercourse?? as if one couldn't come without it??? that was so unnecessary imo.
///end of the spoiler///
the secondary characters were there just to support the mc’s, with their background stories never being revealed, just hinted at as if we already knew them. especially Naime's cousin, Ihsan, who barely speaks on page although she's always alluding to his relevance in her life, and that's not something justified by his personality or by the fact that there are two other books. Naime didn't care to make Ihsan really known to the reader, so he felt more like a ghost than a character.
the writing sometimes took abrupt turns regarding the characters' movements: for example, they would finish doing something then resume it without being hinted to the reader in the text, which was weird, because most of the time the writing was clear and satisfactory. also, the action/attack scene during their travel was kind of a mess and I couldn't truly visualize the fight. nothing that affected the quality of the story as a whole tho.
and as usual I loved the romance, but became less and less interested as the ending was approaching, but that's just me being a hater of the established relationship trope. besides, I'm too anxious and impatient lately, so anything more than 300 pages eventually becomes tiresome for me to read (hence I never reading the fantasy books on my kindle) (yes, 13 years old me would be ashamed).
one of them was Naime: I don't even remember the last time I loved and respected a female mc this much. she knows exactly her place in this world, she hates it and won’t rest until she changes it – but in a way you believe it, because she’s so assertive with her words. Naime doesn’t whine to the reader and instead shows us her perfect reading of her situation in life and what is expected of her.
however, as I said, there were some little things that rubbed me on the wrong way. Naime’s personality, pov and eloquence in the first 30% of the book are reason enough for me to praise Evans' writing, but in the middle of the story the character lost some of her appeal. I don’t know exactly what happened: her qualities remained, but she started acting too soft with her love interest??? maybe I don’t like seeing any couple falling in love in a span of days, or maybe I have toxic expectations toward romance, who knows.
but there’s another thing regarding the romance and the mcs that really bothered me (spoiler ahead): when they decided to spend the night together and acted as if sex was all about penetration. they didn't touch much bc the only conclusion would be intercourse?? as if one couldn't come without it??? that was so unnecessary imo.
///end of the spoiler///
the secondary characters were there just to support the mc’s, with their background stories never being revealed, just hinted at as if we already knew them. especially Naime's cousin, Ihsan, who barely speaks on page although she's always alluding to his relevance in her life, and that's not something justified by his personality or by the fact that there are two other books. Naime didn't care to make Ihsan really known to the reader, so he felt more like a ghost than a character.
the writing sometimes took abrupt turns regarding the characters' movements: for example, they would finish doing something then resume it without being hinted to the reader in the text, which was weird, because most of the time the writing was clear and satisfactory. also, the action/attack scene during their travel was kind of a mess and I couldn't truly visualize the fight. nothing that affected the quality of the story as a whole tho.
and as usual I loved the romance, but became less and less interested as the ending was approaching, but that's just me being a hater of the established relationship trope. besides, I'm too anxious and impatient lately, so anything more than 300 pages eventually becomes tiresome for me to read (hence I never reading the fantasy books on my kindle) (yes, 13 years old me would be ashamed).
the first half of this book got me like "FINALLY some good fucking food", but then i couldn't ignore the mc's illogical train of thoughts anymore, and my pauses to internally cry over the couple's dynamics became pauses to roll my eyes at her stupid and the whole cliche "but HOW could he love me I've never been and never will be good enough" followed by the hero assuring her, with no success, that she's actually perfect
i only picked this up bc it reminded me of my favorite fanfic.. why i thought i'd like a straight version of one of my ao3 bookmarks is still a mystery.
this author has a weird definition of slow burn: the characters can't have sex bc age gap and omg he's my old friend's son, but fall in love in less than three days as if they didn't live the last ten years far away from each other (one of them being literally a child when his family moved out). and why be loyal to a "friend" who forgot you existed for a whole decade? I guess McCade's priority was to fill the 600 pages with miscommunication and farm work descriptions (which I skipped when I realized they didn't bring anything to the story), instead of plot and relationship development.
Luca and his effect on gentle giant Imre was also unconvincing: I can't fathom how he managed to draw the interest of a demisexual person with the double of his age when he acted like a child or an ungrateful teenager most of the time. don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have started this book if I didn't like age gap romance, but it made me realize what I actually like about this trope: two adults who complement each other falling in love despite their age difference that only contributes to the pinning and their fulfilling relationship. McCade didn't accomplish that here.
however, gentle giant characters are always appealing to me, and there were other great tropes in the story, like bed sharing and hurt/comfort. on top of that, this book helped me stay afloat this last week when I really needed to take my mind elsewhere, so I'm not even rating it.
Luca and his effect on gentle giant Imre was also unconvincing: I can't fathom how he managed to draw the interest of a demisexual person with the double of his age when he acted like a child or an ungrateful teenager most of the time. don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have started this book if I didn't like age gap romance, but it made me realize what I actually like about this trope: two adults who complement each other falling in love despite their age difference that only contributes to the pinning and their fulfilling relationship. McCade didn't accomplish that here.
however, gentle giant characters are always appealing to me, and there were other great tropes in the story, like bed sharing and hurt/comfort. on top of that, this book helped me stay afloat this last week when I really needed to take my mind elsewhere, so I'm not even rating it.