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adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Made me laugh a lot and made me cry a little. So glad I checked out the audiobook 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"..don't fly too high little heart."
-Aurora to herself
••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• •••••
"Some days you pick up eagles like theyre chickens and some days you run screaming away from innocent bats. I like you both ways, Angel. All ways."
-Rhodes to Aurora 🥺💜
••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• •••••
"His gaze tried to eat me up, but I wasn't edible anymore." 🙌🏻
-Aurora to herself
-Aurora to herself
••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• •••••
"Some days you pick up eagles like theyre chickens and some days you run screaming away from innocent bats. I like you both ways, Angel. All ways."
-Rhodes to Aurora 🥺💜
••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• •••••
"His gaze tried to eat me up, but I wasn't edible anymore." 🙌🏻
-Aurora to herself
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Abandonment
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.5 🌟
I loved this book and the characters. The story was really cute and had a unique premise.
The reasons for deducting 1.5 stars:
1. This book was just too long. It could have been probably 100-150 pages shorter and still been a great story.
2. Aurora came off as a bumbling/rambling idiot a lot and I wish that wasn’t the case. Her being written as a more competent, independent character would have fit the story a lot better. She spent 14 years living under some other guy’s thumb and she deserved redemption . I get why it was appropriate at certain points to move the plot along but the author kind of overdid it.
Honestly….still a super cute story with lovable characters and I would definitely read more from this author!
I loved this book and the characters. The story was really cute and had a unique premise.
The reasons for deducting 1.5 stars:
1. This book was just too long. It could have been probably 100-150 pages shorter and still been a great story.
2. Aurora came off as a bumbling/rambling idiot a lot and I wish that wasn’t the case. Her being written as a more competent, independent character would have fit the story a lot better. She spent 14 years living under some other guy’s thumb and she deserved redemption . I get why it was appropriate at certain points to move the plot along but the author kind of overdid it.
Honestly….still a super cute story with lovable characters and I would definitely read more from this author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Death of parent
Moderate: Abandonment
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
new comfort author??? possibly??? and one of my fave romance books too???
this is my first ever Mariana Zapata book and I'm obsessed with it. at first I was drawn to her because we share our first name with the exact same spelling and it's not often that I see someone with my name outside of my country. then I decided to add a few of her books to my tbr over time and then I went to the Lisbon book fair and I saw this one and decided to buy it and I decided to immediately start reading it (yes I have 1100+ books on my tbr and yes I still did this).
and I'm in love. I love Aurora. and I'm in love with Rhodes 😭❤️
I'm not even an age gap girlie (even tho this age gap wasn't that big, she was 33/34 and he was 42/43) but I loved this SO much. I understand why people call Mariana the slow burn queen because WOW. this had me at the edge of my seat the whole time. I mean.... at the 400 page mark they hadn't even kissed yet 😭. I honestly had no idea I would love a slow burn like this as much as I did but omg. I want all my slow burns to be like this now. I'M OBSESSED.
but as I said before, I loved Aurora and Rhodes and their whole relationship from the beginning but I also loved Amos and Clara and Jackie and Yuki and all the other good side characters. these people are my family fr.
can't wait to read more Mariana Zapata books 🫶🏼
this is my first ever Mariana Zapata book and I'm obsessed with it. at first I was drawn to her because we share our first name with the exact same spelling and it's not often that I see someone with my name outside of my country. then I decided to add a few of her books to my tbr over time and then I went to the Lisbon book fair and I saw this one and decided to buy it and I decided to immediately start reading it (yes I have 1100+ books on my tbr and yes I still did this).
and I'm in love. I love Aurora. and I'm in love with Rhodes 😭❤️
I'm not even an age gap girlie (even tho this age gap wasn't that big, she was 33/34 and he was 42/43) but I loved this SO much. I understand why people call Mariana the slow burn queen because WOW. this had me at the edge of my seat the whole time. I mean.... at the 400 page mark they hadn't even kissed yet 😭. I honestly had no idea I would love a slow burn like this as much as I did but omg. I want all my slow burns to be like this now. I'M OBSESSED.
but as I said before, I loved Aurora and Rhodes and their whole relationship from the beginning but I also loved Amos and Clara and Jackie and Yuki and all the other good side characters. these people are my family fr.
can't wait to read more Mariana Zapata books 🫶🏼
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment
Moderate: Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i like rom-coms and i like books featuring a slow burn romance, so i thought i might try a book focusing on just the romance part. i don't know if it was just this book or if the genre just isn't for me, i might give the genre another try but i am pretty sure mariana zapata just isn't my cup of tea.
i'll start with the positive(s?): the pacing of the main relationship. i like how slow it was, and it felt believeable that rhodes would slowly warm up to aurora, despite their initial meeting.
that's probably it. all other relationships were sacrificed in order to develop rhodes x aurora, and it was very tiring to read. clara's home situation was difficult, but it just wasn't realistic that she had to cancel every plan just for rhodes to swoop in and save the day. and every time we had the chance to see the main characters in a group setting, zapata just skipped the scene. we get the driving back and forth, but that's it. i don't think zapata understands that you can develop romantic relationships in a group setting. the relationship between amos and aurora also felt off? sometimes. like at some points i sort of thought he might have a crush on her? and that just felt icky to me. also, in the end aurora says that shehas fallen in love with the and i think she mentions the town residents, but like, what residents? i would have loved some scenes with named town residents so that would make sense. we see her interact once with walter, but i really would have liked some scenes sprinkled in with him throughout the book just so we could gauge where she was in her relationship with the town itself.
next, the writing.... it was just bad. like almost every sentence ended with.... dots? i found myself wishing for more detailed descriptions of the forest and the environment, as aurora has just left the city, she's supposed to be a bit in awe of the beauty and just falling in love with everything and yet the descriptions are plain and boring.
by the way, why was aurora always peeing or mentioning pee? i've heard the main character in kulti also has an obsession with poop, so it might just be zapata who's weirdly fascinated by bodily excretions.
all in all, not a book for me, despite featuring tim bradford as the main love interest :(
i'll start with the positive(s?): the pacing of the main relationship. i like how slow it was, and it felt believeable that rhodes would slowly warm up to aurora, despite their initial meeting.
that's probably it. all other relationships were sacrificed in order to develop rhodes x aurora, and it was very tiring to read. clara's home situation was difficult, but it just wasn't realistic that she had to cancel every plan just for rhodes to swoop in and save the day. and every time we had the chance to see the main characters in a group setting, zapata just skipped the scene. we get the driving back and forth, but that's it. i don't think zapata understands that you can develop romantic relationships in a group setting. the relationship between amos and aurora also felt off? sometimes. like at some points i sort of thought he might have a crush on her? and that just felt icky to me. also, in the end aurora says that she
next, the writing.... it was just bad. like almost every sentence ended with.... dots? i found myself wishing for more detailed descriptions of the forest and the environment, as aurora has just left the city, she's supposed to be a bit in awe of the beauty and just falling in love with everything and yet the descriptions are plain and boring.
by the way, why was aurora always peeing or mentioning pee? i've heard the main character in kulti also has an obsession with poop, so it might just be zapata who's weirdly fascinated by bodily excretions.
all in all, not a book for me, despite featuring tim bradford as the main love interest :(
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What I liked:
- Rhodes, who wouldn’t love him?
- A strong and independent woman as FMC, take that patriarchy and famous people thinking money can buy everything
- THE ROMANCE!
- The found family dynamics, prepare your heart to melt many times
- Small town vibes (without the usual neighbour overload that comes with it), outdoor vibes
- The growth arc for Aurora, I was truly happy for this character to heal, find herself centered again and loved
- The chemistry between both MCs, genuine and strong bond described over the book
- No excessive smut scenes used as filler chapters, we cheered! Like they waited until it felt right and not just instincts and attraction?
What I liked less:
- Things which were said too many times:
calling him my landlord, Why does she have to pee so many times, why do we get excessive repetitions of how hot is Rhodes (even if I still can’t imagine fully what he looks like), is it a way to compensate the age gap? I don’t know if it’s the lack of dual POV but I did not see the shift in their relationship, especially from Rhodes’. It’s like he fell before we even knew but just did not show it. I don’t like that shortcut to use a kind of grumpy x sunshine excuse and then make the grumpy say he fell first but did not show. Also he’s not really grumpy. And she’s not really sunshine by default, it’s more she’s become the one she felt was right going on a hike and get in trouble, trying to put the bat house and get trouble.. it felt a bit reckless from her the third act break up trope almost? I didn’t get how both guys would get angry when they found out about her ex, by that time they were already on the same page
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Stalking
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment
animal phobia: presence of bats, rats
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A favorite out of MZ's works. This is a wonderful story about grief and healing, and the power of a support system. Beautifully written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse