Chantelle

I feel like this had so much potential but there were just too many missed opportunities for building tension, developing the relationships, and world-building.

Friendships seemed unnatural and/or shallow, with lots of things happening 'behind the scenes'; the University was described in all it's dilapidated glory but somehow the author manages to avoid mentioning the emotional aspect of Ophelia sharing a location her parents spent so much of their time, and ultimately met their end; and the sub-plots of stalker, Mafia, and scholarship aren't fleshed out enough to feel the stakes are real.

There was also a jarring tendency to time skip, and to kind of flit over connecting bits of dialogue and action, so that things didn't flow smoothly. Also key plot points are glossed over or neglected entirely, like how the stalker always knew where she was, and how his obsession with her mother spiralled into murderous hate, how their relationship formed and ended, why her room-mate's brother never entered the book again, what was on the tape...I could go on.

So what did I like? Some of the interactions were humorous, and the odd moment felt gritty and real. In the second half of the book, Alex was a real winner, and Ophelia had her merits. I just wished there wasn't the abrupt 'shift' in their relationship around the mid-point. The secondary characters were intriguing, though they existed more as props.

Mostly, the scene at the tarn was gripping.

Do you ever wish you could get your hands on a raw manuscript? That's this book.

It's the vulnerability, and the realistic character flaws, and the eccentric secondary characters, and the healthy conflict resolution, and the strong narrative voice/style, and the humour for me! So, basically all of it, okay! I also think I need an Alex in my life, as he just made my cheeks hurt from smiling, and that would be a lovely way to exist perpetually.

Also, I liked the ending and don't feel like a sequel fits the genre expectations (Romances have a HEA, so why would I read a sequel that would naturally have very low stakes after book one ended with a HEA?) so, despite how much I loved this I will not be reading the second in this series, and the reviews of #2 support me in this.