Churie
Rating this 2.5 stars makes me feel like a killjoy, however it went way too far into cosy escapism for me, and ended up falling completely flat. Though I actually liked the central couple, I was completely disinterested in the story by the end of the book.
For positives, the dual protagonists had distinct voices and good character arcs. There were enough challenges to their relationship that some stakes were introduced but nothing felt too heavy to handle. Overall the heart of the story is a feel-good romance that was a light read.
Unfortunately though, I had enough issues with this book to warrant a list:
- This is billed as enemies-to-lovers, however not only did they stop being enemies and turn to lovers less than a third of the way through the book, but it never really felt like enmity to me - just a bit of one-sided jealousy that was very quickly overcome. The main obstacles they face are not because they're 'enemies' but instead external societal/familial pressures that they rally against together. The enemies-to-lovers tagline feels a bit like false advertising to me, especially as someone who prefers a true slow burn romance.
- There are no real consequences. This was intended by the author, but felt very 'and then everyone clapped'. Even things that you would expect to have severe negative consequences with huge ramifications turned out completely fine, to a suspension-of-disbelief breaking level - in particular the confrontation with the Queen. And if nothing has any stakes, then nothing feels like it matters in the story, either.
- Many of the political statements have aged like milk. They were jarring enough that I paused my audiobook to text my friends a few times with direct, unfortunate quotations.
- Predictable plot twists. This, combined with the lack of real consequences for any of the twists, made the plot deflate for me towards the end, and I ended up just wanting it to wrap up since the tension was gone.
- Nitpick: British slang usage. Most of the instances of 'bloke' had me cringing a bit, and I recall it being used multiple times by supposedly very posh characters speaking with the Queen's English.
- Another nitpick: the audiobook narrator's British accent. The pronunciation of some words threw me off; mostly I would say the narration was fine, but it was just another thing about a book I already wasn't feeling fantastic about.
To conclude, I would recommend for someone looking for a cosy romance that's not too serious. Ultimately I think I went into this in the wrong frame of mind which really impacted my enjoyment of this, but it's not a bad read - just not really a standout for me.
> NO, I wouldn't re-read
> MIGHT recommend to someone looking for cosy romance
(note: it also reminded me of Hetalia USUK fanfic... IYKYK)
Rating this 2.5 stars makes me feel like a killjoy, however it went way too far into cosy escapism for me, and ended up falling completely flat. Though I actually liked the central couple, I was completely disinterested in the story by the end of the book.
For positives, the dual protagonists had distinct voices and good character arcs. There were enough challenges to their relationship that some stakes were introduced but nothing felt too heavy to handle. Overall the heart of the story is a feel-good romance that was a light read.
Unfortunately though, I had enough issues with this book to warrant a list:
- This is billed as enemies-to-lovers, however not only did they stop being enemies and turn to lovers less than a third of the way through the book, but it never really felt like enmity to me - just a bit of one-sided jealousy that was very quickly overcome. The main obstacles they face are not because they're 'enemies' but instead external societal/familial pressures that they rally against together. The enemies-to-lovers tagline feels a bit like false advertising to me, especially as someone who prefers a true slow burn romance.
- There are no real consequences. This was intended by the author, but felt very 'and then everyone clapped'. Even things that you would expect to have severe negative consequences with huge ramifications turned out completely fine, to a suspension-of-disbelief breaking level - in particular the confrontation with the Queen. And if nothing has any stakes, then nothing feels like it matters in the story, either.
- Many of the political statements have aged like milk. They were jarring enough that I paused my audiobook to text my friends a few times with direct, unfortunate quotations.
- Predictable plot twists. This, combined with the lack of real consequences for any of the twists, made the plot deflate for me towards the end, and I ended up just wanting it to wrap up since the tension was gone.
- Nitpick: British slang usage. Most of the instances of 'bloke' had me cringing a bit, and I recall it being used multiple times by supposedly very posh characters speaking with the Queen's English.
- Another nitpick: the audiobook narrator's British accent. The pronunciation of some words threw me off; mostly I would say the narration was fine, but it was just another thing about a book I already wasn't feeling fantastic about.
To conclude, I would recommend for someone looking for a cosy romance that's not too serious. Ultimately I think I went into this in the wrong frame of mind which really impacted my enjoyment of this, but it's not a bad read - just not really a standout for me.
> NO, I wouldn't re-read
> MIGHT recommend to someone looking for cosy romance
(note: it also reminded me of Hetalia USUK fanfic... IYKYK)