You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Work in Progress by Kat Mackenzie

3 reviews

monalyisha's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

I thoroughly enjoyed this literary, travelogue romance with a UK setting. I mean, how could a book that features attendance at the Whitby Goth Festival with a bus-full of totally game octogenarians be anything other than delightful? Castles; sheep; dreamy, historical libraries; British slang; and cream tea only richen the pot.

I have some complaints, however…

First, the conflict hinges upon a stupid, avoidable misunderstanding. I hate this trope. I understand that Alice is traumatized by her cheating ex and is, therefore, more liable to jump to conclusions. But it’s nothing that a little transparency and communication couldn’t have solved. Just talk to each other!

Furthermore, the MC & love interest’s relationship begins with an absolutely ridiculous, stilted level of grudge-holding and sauciness. She at least pokes fun at herself (and her moods) from time to time, like when she compares herself to Veruca Salt. Alice quips, “I had always thought of myself as a mature sort of person —an adult, surely —but somehow, in front of this man and his stupid smirk, I was no more self-possessed than Veruca Salt…Annoyingly, he walked off before I got a chance to make any other stupid objections or demand that my father buy me the whole chocolate factory.”

Additionally, there’s a sprinkling of unnecessary exclamation points (which I know is rich coming from me!), along with references to “fat thighs”, JK Rowling (sans critique), and some gendered language. However, the book also contains LGBTQ representation, lots of heart, quirky jokes, a main character named Alice Cooper (hilarious), and innumerable nods to books much-adored by bibliophiles everywhere! 

I liked it a whole lot more than my nitpicking suggests.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bringmybooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mcstressy's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

LIKED:

  • The setting & the premise. The idea of the bus your and whole basis of the tour was really fun
  • The old ladies. Having a gaggle of old ladies as a support system is something I always love
  • The goal of re-discovering oneself after a break-up or loss of some kind. I think that FMC (Alice) doesn’t start her journey *quite* early enough in the book for it to be the most worthwhile, but I do still think it was a good journey for her to be on for the sake of the book
  • The MMC (Robbie) was pretty charming and I enjoyed him (especially more than the FMC)

LOATHED:

  • Alice, the POV character for the entirety of the book, is exhausting to follow. She’s outright mean for the majority of the first act of the book and it’s frankly very unpleasant. She is just a stereotype of an American abroad to the Nth degree and it’s just infuriating to read AS an American 
  • The "Bridget Jones" Tally was...not my favorite. Maybe it's just a generational thing, but I don't have a fondness for Bridget Jones. The tallies were...fine? They kind of spoiled what was going to happen in the chapter, which isn't the end of the world and has been done in the past. But these tallies were also under, like, a rule as well? It just made the start of the chapters really murky. 
  • The Tristan plotline. Why is it there. 
  • The culmination of the story of Robbie’s mom and the WHOLE miscommunication of it all. This version of miscommunication is my absolute least favorite where someone overhears something, jumps to a conclusion without talking to the other party, and then just…festers in their wrong assumptions for the whole thing. It’s drama for drama’s sake and it adds so little
  • Them being enemies of this caliber? Why was her attitude getting off the airplane and being rude enough for him, a businessman focusing in customer service, to hate her to this level? And they were *vicious* and I think it was for the sake of being able to truly call this an enemies-to-lovers which, to be fair, I do appreciate the effort. But I think it would have been more fun for them to have been more feisty than outright cruel

LONGED FOR:

  • A bit more differentiation between the ladies of the tour. Some of them felt very distinct and then some of them I just kept mixing up or misremembering or forgetting entirely 
  • More of a hero’s journey design to the actual plot. This felt very meandering, even with the tour and it made the momentum a bit hard to get onboard with (pun unintended) 
  • This is a bit minor, but more exploration with Alice’s backstory outside of her past relationship. I wanted to know who she was outside that relationship and if it was something she didn’t know herself (which I believe it was), I wish that had been a bit more incorporated into the third act growth. 


Will I read the next one? : Probably not

*Thank you to Avon & Netgalley for providing this ARC!

 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings