Scan barcode
banrions's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ETA: audiobook, re-read:
iiiiiii rounded back down to 3 stars, lacking my holiday spirit, now. bummer. i was hoping the audiobook version would really solidify my enjoyment of this more, but it didn't. despite a WONDERFUL performance by Abby Craden, my issues with pacing and such remain. this really isn't a romance, it's a love story, of sorts, and that's an important (imo) discinction. i enjoyed a lot of the characters, but the pacing and plot stuff and the instalove on Jamie's part just didn't do it for me. it's a good story, but it's not a great one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i wavered slightly if this was gonna be in the 3 stars range or the 4, and ultimetly, decided to round up, because there was a lot that i did like here, though i think i'm being a tiny bit generous in bumping it than i might usually be. (i read it on Christmas, holiday spirit, and all that). so this is a 3.75ish, rounded up, for me.
i wonder if i had read this before reading the author's second novel, The Headmistress, if i might think it was a bit better, because i really loved that one, but this didn't quite grab me the same way. i think ultimately, the romance fell a bit short in this one for me. jamie was just... In Love so quickly that i found myself rolling my eyes, but i was also just... annoyed at how much she was deceiving Vivian about her indentity and reason for finding her. i think looking at this more as a story about jamie, the journalist, uncovering a decades long sexual abuse scandal (there is no rape or sexual abuse on the page, but be warned, this story deals pretty heavily with basically a harvey weinstien type of Me Too investigation) and falling in love is a better way to look at it than strictly a romance. i did enjoy their interactions when they were together, but i think a bit of the instalove on jamie's part and a few pacing issues with the timeline/things that happened off page, didn't quite connect it for me as much as it could have.
overall though, i blasted through this in a single afternoon/evening after spending christmas with my fam in the morning, and it was time well spent and i enjoyed it. i loved the other book by this author, and i can't wait to see what they put out next, beacuse there is a lot of good peppered into here.
iiiiiii rounded back down to 3 stars, lacking my holiday spirit, now. bummer. i was hoping the audiobook version would really solidify my enjoyment of this more, but it didn't. despite a WONDERFUL performance by Abby Craden, my issues with pacing and such remain. this really isn't a romance, it's a love story, of sorts, and that's an important (imo) discinction. i enjoyed a lot of the characters, but the pacing and plot stuff and the instalove on Jamie's part just didn't do it for me. it's a good story, but it's not a great one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i wavered slightly if this was gonna be in the 3 stars range or the 4, and ultimetly, decided to round up, because there was a lot that i did like here, though i think i'm being a tiny bit generous in bumping it than i might usually be. (i read it on Christmas, holiday spirit, and all that). so this is a 3.75ish, rounded up, for me.
i wonder if i had read this before reading the author's second novel, The Headmistress, if i might think it was a bit better, because i really loved that one, but this didn't quite grab me the same way. i think ultimately, the romance fell a bit short in this one for me. jamie was just... In Love so quickly that i found myself rolling my eyes, but i was also just... annoyed at how much she was deceiving Vivian about her indentity and reason for finding her.
Spoiler
i did feel a bit better about it once it came out that vivian and Olivia had been Onto Her pretty much right from the jump, so that helped a little but it still made me be annoyed with Jamie in the first place.overall though, i blasted through this in a single afternoon/evening after spending christmas with my fam in the morning, and it was time well spent and i enjoyed it. i loved the other book by this author, and i can't wait to see what they put out next, beacuse there is a lot of good peppered into here.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, and Rape
Minor: Death of parent, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
none of the rapes or sexual assaults happen on the page, and many happened decades ago, but this is a story that deals with survivors coming together to put a serial rapist on trial, a la a harvey weinstein, me too kind of situation.
More...