Zoey
I received a free ARC for an honest review.
4.25 stars. I really enjoyed the story and characters and can't wait for the next one!
Especially if you love Finley Fenn's orc series, give this one a chance!
My only note is that the whole book feels too rushed, with not enough descriptions and passing major events in mere lines. Imho, it could have been twice the size.
This book was like therapy. It opened me up and found all my little worries and smoothed them over.
It was refreshing to have a real woman as the protagonist, someone I could relate to in another level. A real woman with real issues I also have struggled with all my life.
No one is perfect and we all deserve love.
Sometimes, rating a book is difficult for me.
I didn't really enjoy this book. It is a good book though. It is well written and interesting.
Still, it tired me out. I didn't feel any connection to the characters.
I cried at some parts while reading it, but the moment I finished I forgot about them immediately.
No lingering sadness, happiness or even just contentment.
All I thought was, “Well, I finished a book”.
How do you rate that?
It was a very nice book. Really enjoyed the plot line and the way it was written.
Colleen's prose flows smoothly but for me some things in her books fall flat. Having just read Ugly Love earlier the same day, I'm quickly realizing that while I enjoy her writing, I haven't shed one tear during either reading. Which for me, is far from normal. I have cried with every other sad book I've read. Not sure why these don't touch me. Something is missing for me. The soul of the book, the connection with the characters, that heartbreak scene that will shatter me. Not there. It may be that her heroines just forgive and forget so easy I doubt they were ever heartbroken. There are not enough ugly parts to make me appreciate the good ones.
Hope that makes sense!
******
I just realized what it is that makes me uncomfortable with the heroines in her book. They act like a sexist man would want them to act. Meek little creatures that let that “special guy” with abs and the V do whatever the fuck he wants to them. No self respect. Yeah, I'm out.
I liked it and I didn't at the same time. You see, I feel like this book lied to us.
Colleen Hoover's writing was masterful, as always. Loved the gimmick of capturing love on the page with changing the format.
The girl has zero self respect or pride. She does not love herself one bit. Therefore how can she love somebody else? I just wanted to yell at her when she did nothing and just took him back without putting up any effing fight.
The lie, is that if you accept everything and persevere, maybe the asshole you're seeing will turn into Prince Charming. Maybe he loved you all along. Maybe he'll love you forever. Yeah, right. This is not realistic. Most often the frog is just a frog however many times you kiss him.
I know it's a book, and I'm not asking for realism, but we're at least owed plausibility when this is fiction and not fantasy.
**
Why are all her heroines such pushovers? Why don't they stand up for themselves? Why are they accepting any shit the man does to them?? Like, you said someone else's name in the middle of being with me? No big deal! Sad, broken man can do whatever he wants because he attractive, duh. You don't want to tell me why I should take you back? Pfff, no worries buddy! All is instantly forgiven! Girl, wtf.
If I could give this book 10 ⭐️ I would. I am.
It broke me in ways I didn't know I could break. I cried all the way through it and loved every second of it.
I now know it's one of those books for me. The ones you revisit when your heart needs a reminder of all the ways it can break and come together again in new ways, changing you in the process.
This book would not be half bad if you removed the forced romance in the middle. It was insta-love with no chemistry, no build-up, only shoved there to allow for the ending.
The main characters didn't have any feelings whatsoever and their reactions to things happening were nonexistent. Hard for me to care if they don't.
The overall plot was interesting in theory and it held up to a point, but the sexism and misogyny were comically overplayed making some things feel silly. Like, no man loves their daughter other than 1? They're all happy to send them away to be tortured mercilessly and then get them back in pieces. They even pay for that. They even EAT them. Tired with your wife? Oh, look at that, just noticed she's a witch. Hang her immediately without proof or any semblance of a judgement process.
Everyone is ignoring everything important for some unfathomable reason.
The writing was good mostly if you don't look too closely at the constant catchphrases trying to make things epic out of nothing.
I still haven't decided if this book is aimed to 10yos, 15yos or 25yos. Parts seemed to be written with different audiences in mind. The same YA book that keeps shoving hints down our throat like we're 10 and it's our first book ever, has the amount of gore and darkness found in NA books.
I don't know how to rate this book. It was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I read it in one sitting and stayed up all night to finish it.
I almost dnf'd it at the start because the reviews I read raised a lot of red flags. But I'm nothing if not stubborn so I stayed with it and I feel rewarded.
The emotional connections between and with the characters slowly built, and after the (amazing) spiciness came a conclusion I loved.
I do have some issues with things along the way, but they slowly faded into the background as I kept on reading.