Tegan
I didn't understand much of it until almost the end but I think that's the best kind of horror story. All the puzzle pieces were up in the air until they all fell into place at once. This story is creepy and horrible and was definitely worth reading. I've wanted to read it for so long and I'm happy I finally did even though I'm thoroughly creeped out. Content warning for r*pe and sexual assault.
I read this book almost 20 years ago and I still think about it. I haven't re-read it since then, mostly due to the fact I don't want to be emotionally eviscerated again, and yet I remember it so clearly. For someone with ADHD that has issues with converting short term memory to long term memory - it really says something that I remember a book I read when I was 16.
Hannah's story impacted me so much at 16 years old (in a positive way) and those effects are still with me today. If you can handle the heavy topics of child cancer and child death, I recommend it.
I got about 1/4 the way through and couldn't stand the back and forth, the past and present style of misleading the reader. I'm fine usually with books that jump around but I could tell it was written to hide information until the last pages. I'm also usually fine with a book like that but somehow this one ticked me off. I flipped to the back of the book (something I never do), read the ending, and I'm glad I did.
One of the most disturbing collections of stories I have ever read. A good read but a bit confronting.
I finished this in one sitting after switching from audiobook to ebook. I could not put it down! People told me it was good but my god. It was fantastic. I was expecting something to happen at the end but I wasn't expecting THAT. You kind of got an inkling about half way through and hoo boy, did it pay off. I can't wait to read the second one (although I'll pace myself as the third isn't out yet)
10/10 would devour in three hours again
Although many people I have talked to about this book regard it as being boring (as it is a monologue), I believe it's a great book for that very reason. I loved it!
Absolutely terrible. Read Lynley Stace's review here if you want to know specifics. They lasted so much longer than I did (123 pages vs my 10 pages). I couldn't continue reading this as every second paragraph made my eyes bleed. Only read this if you care to hear about a dudes boner every page and enjoy indulging in misogynistic + toxic masculinity traits and behaviour
One of my favourite SK books, I like it all the more because this was one of his first that he wrote.
CW transphobia in book, use of outdated terminology to describe a transgender person
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Got through a hundred pages of encumbering descriptions (I rolled my eyes easily twice a page) before hitting my deal breaker. I can deal with flimsy plot and under developed characters - I was a third of the way through after all. The unnecessarily long descriptions stuck in my craw but I powered through and gave it a chance.
What I will not put up with is explicit transphobia. Yes, this book is from 2005 but that isn't and shouldn't be an excuse. The characters clear revulsion at having to speak to a [outdated term used by the author for a transgender person, most often used negatively] and refusing to accept their femme-aligned name as their real name was distressing to read. The transphobia lasted maybe one page and was written in a way that assumed we would understand and identify with the protag's thoughts and behaviour. Ugh.
You, Stel Pavlou, make my skin crawl.
0/5 stars and I'm glad I bought the book second hand for $1.
This book wasn't what I was looking for but I enjoyed it all the same. Great for those who are wanting to become self employed but don't know where to start. This book contains resources and links for Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, and Canada.
I received this book without purchase via the authors ARC team and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I only made it 4 chapters before DNFing. The writing isn't for me due to the writing in general but also because the plot moved so fast within those first 4 chapters. So fast that I had to check to see if this was a short story collection that I mistakenly thought was a novel. I skimmed ahead a bit and it went in the direction I was hoping it wouldn't, at least not so soon especially given the characters histories with each other.
Ultimately this book isn't for me and I couldn't get past the writing and the errors in order to finish it. I wish I was able to finish it as I am usually of the opinion that things that are confusing in the beginning need to be given the chance to be explained. However, other reviews have stated that the main focus of the book isn't explained so that cancelled out my usual reason to stick with books I'm not enjoying - curiosity.
Edit: the errors were getting increasingly stranger so I downloaded the sample from the Amazon listing and it is free of the errors I mentioned previously (which are now deleted). Something must of gone wrong in the conversion for the ARC that was fixed before publication. There still are some formatting errors in the Kindle version (e.g. large chunks of dialogue and regular text stuck together without paragraph breaks) which are annoying but compared to the previous errors it's not a deal breaker for me.
I'll go into detail about the plot below with spoiler warnings.
Tropes:
- age gap
- second chance
- damsel in distress
- protector/saviour
- insta love/lust
- billionaire (apparently? Didn't get that far)
- forced proximity
- hidden secrets
Triggers:
- violence on page
- unresolved trauma from shared history
- vague medical situation involving a young child
- dubious consent in a sexual encounter
SPOILERS BELOW
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Plot (as far as I got into it): A matchmaker (FMC) has been receiving threats and it's implied the threats are due to a poor matchmaking experience from a previous client. FMC's assistant hires a bodyguard to protect her which the FMC doesn't believe she needs. The bodyguard turns out to be her ex from 12 years ago who left her without a word. FMC is still very upset about this but keeps him as her bodyguard. FMC is attacked by assumed kidnappers which the MMC fights off. MMC drives her home, they share a kiss, she invites him up, decides it was a bad idea, instantly forgets that decision, they have sex, he refuses to answer questions again, and he leaves.
I assume the plot will go further into why she's being targeted and the whole billionaire thing but I couldn't read any longer.
What I didn't like:
- FMC didn't fire MMC after seeing it was her ex (conflict of interest, anyone?)
- FMC was a damsel in distress and didn't have a sense of self preservation during the attack scene (why did she just sit there and not lock the doors or run like the MMC yelled at her to do several times??) and it felt like she didn't have a sense of agency at all. I understand trauma and being frozen but she had multiple opportunities to leave but didn't and clearly wasn't in panic mode as she replied to the MMC twice in a non-agitated manner
- She has 12 years of resentment for him leaving her without warning over a decade ago and in the fourth chapter they're already boning (presumably it wasn't that big of a deal for her despite conveying how hurt she was and is by it?)
- He didn't answer the direct question of why he left multiple times (which is one reason for why she should have fired him)
- Reasons/decisions/reactions are brought up and thrown away without explanation (e.g. FMC is desperate to get her lost necklace back but not so desperate that she'll put off sex and then the matter is dropped even after he leaves)
- Apparently he's only a bodyguard between office hours because he goes home after the sex (I guess the people who tried to kidnap her only do crimes between 8am - 5pm?)
- MMC abused her traumatic vulnerabilities for sex and then left without explaining anything AGAIN after acknowledging to himself and her that he hurt her in the past by not explaining anything
Things I didn't find out:
- Why was a billionaire working as a bodyguard?? It couldn't have been to get close to her as he is surprised to see her in the first meeting as much as she was and he describes it as fate throwing them back together
- Why did she accept him so readily after 12 years of resentment and no contact? Why make a decision to ask him to leave only to change her mind one second later?
- Why was she being targeted? A mismatch in love cannot be the only reason.
I may end up reading the rest of the book to answer these questions but it's very likely that I won't.
I'm typically not a hetero romance reader but this was great! A good start to the series and the perfect length for the story. Not a sentence was wasted so I applaud the editing for keeping it tight. Really quick read at 10k words.
Tropes:
Small town
Enemies to lovers (kind of)
A touch of fake dating
A sprinkle of forced proximity
A heaping of spice
It's a fine short story, just not for me. I have Opinions about how things are resolved but I'm also aware this is supposed to be a fluffy romance story. There's a movie that had a similar plot with the box but I can't think of it right now.
The book was fine. I don't recommend reading it if you have suffered from ED in the past. Every page talks about weight loss and sometimes there would be multiple instances on one page. It was interesting to see the differences between the book and the movie. They made some smart decisions to cut some of the plot of the book for the movie script. I won't be seeking out the sequel(s) but it's good to tick this off the TBR.
