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After reading three books by Selena Montgomery, I have to say that the prologues for each of the books I read aren’t sufficient. I ended up reading this book after reading Book 2 (Deception) in this trilogy, because I didn’t know it was a trilogy (which was maddening to find out too late). The prologue for this story immediately follows the defining moment that changed Kell’s, Fin’s, and Julia’s lives and created a ripple effect, but we’re not told what happened. We’re just shown their reaction afterward and their plan to split up. We’re finally told about everything that happened in Book 2, secondhand rather than experiencing it. That’s what this prologue should’ve done. It would’ve been nicer to have known what Kell couldn’t tell Luke and to not have gotten the details secondhand in Book 2. It wasn’t mysterious, as I’m sure was the aim. Instead, it was an annoyance and then a complete letdown.
As for the rest of this story, it was rather slow. The one thing that kept me reading was Luke. I really, really liked Luke. Overall, though, it’s not a bad story. There’s some flaws, sure, and it was slow, but the characters redeemed it. Especially Luke. I said that already. Didn’t I?
It’s unfortunate that Book 3 for Julia was never written/published because we’re left with the leader of Stark still at large and questions unanswered. And sweet Julia never gets her man, which was promised to her. (Sorry, Julia.) I wish I could know who that man would’ve been and how he would’ve fit into the story to help them solve the rest of the mystery.
One final thing, the head-hopping really gets to me. (This is the case for everyone one of her books…Nora Roberts-style head-hopping.) In Chapter One, we’re told what a few jurors are thinking, which we shouldn’t know in Kell’s point-of-view. Then the very next line says, “Kell wasn’t privy to the thoughts of the jurors,” which, again, means we shouldn’t have been told any of that. Then in Chapter 8 we’re suddenly in a nameless intruder’s POV right before switching to Kell’s POV in the same scene. Those are things, as an editor, that bring me out of an otherwise good story.
3.75 stars…could be rounded up to an optimistic 4 stars.
3.75 stars…could be rounded up to an optimistic 4 stars.
I loved Raleigh and Adam’s dynamic…their past and their relationship. It made for lots of interesting and exciting tension. I also really liked both of their characters.
However, I did not like how Adam threatened her with violence a lot and the things he said to her that, in my mind, were pretty unforgiving, which he never apologized for. He probably didn’t think he needed to because he doesn’t even consider it. It was always Raleigh’s mistakes that were brought up time and time again as being unforgivable and her traits that were constantly pointed out as wrong but not his traits or the things he did or said. I didn’t like that.
The prologue pulled me in right away, but after reading more, I wish the prologue had been about what happened with the warehouse explosion and Phillip, and then Chapter One could’ve been about what happened with Cavanaugh. With how many times the past was brought up and we’re given their memories of it later, I would’ve liked to have fully experienced their past relationship and what happened the night their world went up in flames.
Since we’re not given that full experience to build their past relationship, there was a lot of repetition and padding throughout the story. I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again about the situation and their thoughts about each other and the past. And that’s because I was.
The head-hopping will never fail to pull me out of a story. Also, there was a moment when Raleigh was thinking back on the past and then all of a sudden it *was* the past, without no indication of a change like a scene break or italics. That pulled me out of the story, too. Again, that could’ve been solved by starting the book with the defining moment in their relationship and the moment that changed everything.
With all that said, I really enjoyed this story. It kept me reading, kept me engaged., but the happy ending, the resolution to their relationship, felt rushed. I would’ve liked a bit more after all that tension and betrayal (on both their parts).
P.S. The cover is deceiving. It looks like a sweet-ish romance but is really romantic-suspense.
However, I did not like how Adam threatened her with violence a lot and the things he said to her that, in my mind, were pretty unforgiving, which he never apologized for. He probably didn’t think he needed to because he doesn’t even consider it. It was always Raleigh’s mistakes that were brought up time and time again as being unforgivable and her traits that were constantly pointed out as wrong but not his traits or the things he did or said. I didn’t like that.
The prologue pulled me in right away, but after reading more, I wish the prologue had been about what happened with the warehouse explosion and Phillip, and then Chapter One could’ve been about what happened with Cavanaugh. With how many times the past was brought up and we’re given their memories of it later, I would’ve liked to have fully experienced their past relationship and what happened the night their world went up in flames.
Since we’re not given that full experience to build their past relationship, there was a lot of repetition and padding throughout the story. I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again about the situation and their thoughts about each other and the past. And that’s because I was.
The head-hopping will never fail to pull me out of a story. Also, there was a moment when Raleigh was thinking back on the past and then all of a sudden it *was* the past, without no indication of a change like a scene break or italics. That pulled me out of the story, too. Again, that could’ve been solved by starting the book with the defining moment in their relationship and the moment that changed everything.
With all that said, I really enjoyed this story. It kept me reading, kept me engaged., but the happy ending, the resolution to their relationship, felt rushed. I would’ve liked a bit more after all that tension and betrayal (on both their parts).
P.S. The cover is deceiving. It looks like a sweet-ish romance but is really romantic-suspense.
I would’ve preferred to have the focus solely on Zoe and her father than having the kid’s baking competition added in as a subplot. The reason for that is that the competition and her wanting to audition for it seemed rather pointless when she later wasn’t allowed to audition and then the competition got canceled anyway. I would’ve liked more of a focused story about her and her dad (and her family), as well as her friendship with Trevor. The baking stuff interrupted the story for me. Although, I will say I did enjoy the baking moments. It just seemed like a little too much was going on. That’s my only criticism. I really enjoyed this story. Read it in one sitting…in the ER.
Content Warning: conversations about racism and imprisonment
Content Warning: conversations about racism and imprisonment
Every story had a purpose, a lesson learned or new understanding gained and “let me tell you all about it” that made each story (all different with various topics) worthwhile. Readers will walk away from each one with some nugget, whether it’s Gabrielle’s wisdom, or a sense of companionship with having experienced something similar, or a new insight.
Content warning: n-word, racism, miscarriages and fertility struggles, rape, suicide
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Utterly DELIGHTFUL. Fans of little women who love remakes and modern takes on this classic story (and who won’t mind creative liberties) and who also want to see more diversity will enjoy this graphic novel.
Now, if you don’t like those things, you won’t like this book.
For me, there’s no such thing as too diverse. I suppose when you’re used to an all-white cast, first for the book and then for every adaptation after that, it could be viewed as too much, but this is a modern retelling, and it has to look and feel modern, which means it can’t be an all-white or all-straight cast. None of the changes surprised me in the least.
The illustrations are so colorful and brought the characters to life. The entire time I was reading I kept thinking about how this version (with this title, obviously) should be made into a movie. Especially an animated one. Looking at you, Pixar!
My favorite character in this retelling (and for the first time ever) is Amy. She’s a ball of obnoxious fun. I love her. (Although she’s certainly not for everyone. I believe she’s supposed to be in sixth grade here, but she did seem a lot younger. I will say that.)
I loved this interracial, blended family in many ways more than the original family. There, I said it, and I am a HUGE fan of Little Women. You get the backstory for how their family formed when Jo’s white mom and Meg’s Black dad fall in love, and I was all for it.
There’s a lot of modern twists, including how their dad is over in the Middle East, but my favorite is how Jo is a fierce feminist (which could be too much for some readers when several important, relevant topics are mentioned).
Modern Takes:
Jo is gay in this modern retelling. I guessed it from the start and right away was nodding, saying, “yes, that feels right.” Even in Louisa May Alcott’s book and all the remakes of the film that I’ve seen it made perfect sense to me.
Meg breaks up with Brooke (I think he had a different name but I can’t remember what it was) at the end after realizing he wasn’t right for her. I applauded this, and I honestly think Louisa May Alcott would, too, because Little Women was first published in two parts. Part One ended after Brooke proposed to Meg. Readers wanted to see Jo and Laurie together and to see the little women marry. Her publisher wanted to accommodate readers (one word: money), so Alcott was forced to write an ending she didn’t feel in her heart and give Jo a romantic interest. She had absolutely refused to marry Jo to Laurie to please her readers and wanted Jo to stay unmarried, much like herself. Knowing that, this modern take with Meg dumping Brooke and Jo being gay and not having a romantic interest really makes sense to me.
Beth’s scarlet fever is now leukemia, which also makes sense given the times.
Jo shaving her head when Beth starts to lose her hair and Meg and Amy also shaving their heads is another change that works very well. It gave me tears.</spoiler)
Now, if you don’t like those things, you won’t like this book.
For me, there’s no such thing as too diverse. I suppose when you’re used to an all-white cast, first for the book and then for every adaptation after that, it could be viewed as too much, but this is a modern retelling, and it has to look and feel modern, which means it can’t be an all-white or all-straight cast. None of the changes surprised me in the least.
The illustrations are so colorful and brought the characters to life. The entire time I was reading I kept thinking about how this version (with this title, obviously) should be made into a movie. Especially an animated one. Looking at you, Pixar!
My favorite character in this retelling (and for the first time ever) is Amy. She’s a ball of obnoxious fun. I love her. (Although she’s certainly not for everyone. I believe she’s supposed to be in sixth grade here, but she did seem a lot younger. I will say that.)
I loved this interracial, blended family in many ways more than the original family. There, I said it, and I am a HUGE fan of Little Women. You get the backstory for how their family formed when Jo’s white mom and Meg’s Black dad fall in love, and I was all for it.
There’s a lot of modern twists, including how their dad is over in the Middle East, but my favorite is how Jo is a fierce feminist (which could be too much for some readers when several important, relevant topics are mentioned).
Jo is gay in this modern retelling. I guessed it from the start and right away was nodding, saying, “yes, that feels right.” Even in Louisa May Alcott’s book and all the remakes of the film that I’ve seen it made perfect sense to me.
Meg breaks up with Brooke (I think he had a different name but I can’t remember what it was) at the end after realizing he wasn’t right for her. I applauded this, and I honestly think Louisa May Alcott would, too, because Little Women was first published in two parts. Part One ended after Brooke proposed to Meg. Readers wanted to see Jo and Laurie together and to see the little women marry. Her publisher wanted to accommodate readers (one word: money), so Alcott was forced to write an ending she didn’t feel in her heart and give Jo a romantic interest. She had absolutely refused to marry Jo to Laurie to please her readers and wanted Jo to stay unmarried, much like herself. Knowing that, this modern take with Meg dumping Brooke and Jo being gay and not having a romantic interest really makes sense to me.
Beth’s scarlet fever is now leukemia, which also makes sense given the times.
Jo shaving her head when Beth starts to lose her hair and Meg and Amy also shaving their heads is another change that works very well. It gave me tears.</spoiler)
