Good and well developed weird: Big Swiss and Motherthing

Unsuccessful weird: this 

Kind of reads like a fan fiction of a Bachelor episode and I hate the Bachelor franchise 🫣

I hated a Reese's Book Club pick - what a shock to no one. 

I finished this and I'm very ashamed to say that up until about 75% in, I was going to give this four stars. 

What the author has done here is disgusting. This is a fiction with a smidge of spying. 

If you're wondering what the historical fiction aspect is in this is that Berry has made a modern day (2018/2019) Northern Ireland where the Good Friday Agreement didn't happen in the 1990s. Which...the 1990s are not considered historical fiction yet, but she and the publisher think they are.

This takes place in a Belfast where the IRA is conducting all of the violence and the loyalists do nothing. So there you have her completely ignoring actual history...again. 

I think it's clear here that her target audience consists of American readers as we do not learn much, if anything at all, about the Troubles in school. We have to seek out the information on our own. 

What she has done here is inaccurately portray modern day Northern Ireland as well as come off as an imperialist. Which is weird since she's American. 

On that note, you'd think the characters were American considering the only thing that seems Irish about the characters is the slang they use. The main character also has no personality besides being a single mother and a horrible 'spy'.

Also the title is the name of an apple. 

I'm mad I kept this on my shelf for so long and will be seeking out books that actually factually and accurately portray the Troubles, Good Friday Agreement, and the aftermath by people from the region - not Americans wanting a extra pay day with help from Reese. 

Please check reviews from readers of Northern Ireland and Ireland. Their reviews have much more to say on the issues behind this.

All of this ends with me thinking, how do we as readers hold celebrity book clubs accountable for choosing books that do not accurately portray modern day regions by changing history in a harmful way? 

I liked this story, but I honestly just finished it and can't remember what happened. 

I was enjoying this, but then as the story started developing some things weren't feeling right to me. So this is kind of a fantasy retelling. We have a Cinderella (Ella), an Aurora (Rory), and a Beauty (Nani).

We also have a Beast, which in this situation, the author chose to make a trans character the Beast and that doesn't sit right with me at all. 

The author also chose to lean into racist stereotypes and gave Nani, a half Black/half Native Hawaiian character, a father that is never around. 

She then also decided to give a character a anxiety disorder, but then was not consistent with treatment or signs of the disorder. 

Can only describe it as pretentious, insufferable, and a slog to get through. Not worth the hype it got in 2022 at all. 

Can't wait to get it off my shelves. 

ALL OF THE STARS

Too many characters to keep track of but I appreciate the inclusion of South Bend, Indiana