Take a photo of a barcode or cover
113 reviews by:
claudgazing
this was my third attempt at reading a king book and it's the only one i've managed to finish let alone enjoy. very engrossing.
me and my friends would've beat ant with hammers i'll say that much
i wouldn't have normally picked this up since i'm not a fan of romance novels, but i'm trying to make it through a reading challenge and i accepted the first recommendation i saw, so i gave it a chance.
i will say, it started off decent. there were some corny moments as i generally expect of a romance, but nothing that would put me off from reading. i liked that the mc didn't read as pathetic around her love interest, and that he wasn't giving off the daddy dom boyfriend vibes romance fans seem to love for some reason.
i spent most of the book somewhat frustrated about not knowing what was happening to the mc's best friend, theirs was also a relationship i cared about sooo much more than the romantic one. i didn't care much for the couple, and with the way the mc spoke about her friend and really drilled the fact that she was the love of her life i just kept thinking how much better this would've been if at some point that turned romantic.
around the beginning of the story i was at least sort of rooting for the main couple? "rooting" might still be a bit of a stretch, but i didn't have negative feelings towards them (yet). ironically, when their relationship goes from just sex to something more it seems like the author gave up on emotional buildup and just had sex scene after sex scene (not all explicit, some just foreplay, all jarring and most out of place). a problem would come up and they'd "solve" it by having sex. this is also when the mc starts talking about the guy in ways that had me grimacing. maybe it's just my general disdain for men, but she spoke about him like he was on a pedestal; he'd do something mundane and she'd immediately imagine giving him head. girl, stand up...
the more the book advanced the weaker it got. if this was supposed to be an angsty, on-and-off, right person wrong time story, it failed. i hate when authors cause low stakes conflict. they get together, mc has an identity crisis, they decide on a break, we literally breeze past months of the mc's life in a few paragraphs so we're informed she's finding herself and enjoying life again instead of actually watching her grow, all while she stays in constant contact with the love interest. her feelings for him only ever grow, they're never out of each other's lives, and when they finally meet face to face again, it's an immediately reciprocated love confession. where's the hurt? the growth? the "off" part? the angst? it seemed lazy to me, undermining the textual promise to "make their way back to each other again."
the part where we find out what's going on with the best friend wasn't all that good either. it's supposed to be an emotional climax for the both of them but the breaking of sad news and discussion of feelings could've been expanded on. you can't have the mc constantly talk about how her best friend is the most important person in her life, her soulmate, her "fairy tale" (exact use of words iirc) and only spare them a short conversation about a pivotal point in their friendship. the most emotion i felt from this book was when the mc gave a speech at her friend's wedding, and again, this would've been so good if it took the lesbian angst route.
the last few chapters feel rushed with no real development happening. the mc started getting on my nerves and though i was indifferent towards the couple, my feelings were leaning negative by the end. there was also a bit in the last chapter about the li knowing how to calm and support the mc when she's in over her head, and she uses the example of him finding her in the field and having sex right there. come ONNN man. no issue sex can't solve, apparently.
i really don't like romance novels.
i will say, it started off decent. there were some corny moments as i generally expect of a romance, but nothing that would put me off from reading. i liked that the mc didn't read as pathetic around her love interest, and that he wasn't giving off the daddy dom boyfriend vibes romance fans seem to love for some reason.
i spent most of the book somewhat frustrated about not knowing what was happening to the mc's best friend, theirs was also a relationship i cared about sooo much more than the romantic one. i didn't care much for the couple, and with the way the mc spoke about her friend and really drilled the fact that she was the love of her life i just kept thinking how much better this would've been if at some point that turned romantic.
around the beginning of the story i was at least sort of rooting for the main couple? "rooting" might still be a bit of a stretch, but i didn't have negative feelings towards them (yet). ironically, when their relationship goes from just sex to something more it seems like the author gave up on emotional buildup and just had sex scene after sex scene (not all explicit, some just foreplay, all jarring and most out of place). a problem would come up and they'd "solve" it by having sex. this is also when the mc starts talking about the guy in ways that had me grimacing. maybe it's just my general disdain for men, but she spoke about him like he was on a pedestal; he'd do something mundane and she'd immediately imagine giving him head. girl, stand up...
the more the book advanced the weaker it got. if this was supposed to be an angsty, on-and-off, right person wrong time story, it failed. i hate when authors cause low stakes conflict. they get together, mc has an identity crisis, they decide on a break, we literally breeze past months of the mc's life in a few paragraphs so we're informed she's finding herself and enjoying life again instead of actually watching her grow, all while she stays in constant contact with the love interest. her feelings for him only ever grow, they're never out of each other's lives, and when they finally meet face to face again, it's an immediately reciprocated love confession. where's the hurt? the growth? the "off" part? the angst? it seemed lazy to me, undermining the textual promise to "make their way back to each other again."
the part where we find out what's going on with the best friend wasn't all that good either. it's supposed to be an emotional climax for the both of them but the breaking of sad news and discussion of feelings could've been expanded on. you can't have the mc constantly talk about how her best friend is the most important person in her life, her soulmate, her "fairy tale" (exact use of words iirc) and only spare them a short conversation about a pivotal point in their friendship. the most emotion i felt from this book was when the mc gave a speech at her friend's wedding, and again, this would've been so good if it took the lesbian angst route.
the last few chapters feel rushed with no real development happening. the mc started getting on my nerves and though i was indifferent towards the couple, my feelings were leaning negative by the end. there was also a bit in the last chapter about the li knowing how to calm and support the mc when she's in over her head, and she uses the example of him finding her in the field and having sex right there. come ONNN man. no issue sex can't solve, apparently.
i really don't like romance novels.
