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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2 stars.
[Content warnings: loss of a brother (implied suicide); absent parents; emotional abuse/manipulation (from a parent); loss of a mother (alcoholism - not discussed in depth); cheating. Nothing in this review].
This rating seems harsh, but I'm really stretching to find positive comments about Match Point. In most cases, its strengths were not things I particularly enjoyed or were impressed by, but rather, I can see what the author was trying to do but it didn't get the desired result. For instance, I can see that Katherine Reilly was really promoting and celebrating a relationship that is big on emotional support, encouragement and belief in each other. Which is nice, of course, but in practice this made the characters come across as childishly insecure and more in need of strong friendships rather than a romantic partner with the same crippling level of self-worth.
The ending was nice, I guess, and Reilly was clearly gunning for a movie-like rom-com climax. But in terms of tone I didn't think this moment fit well with everything I had read before, which didn't share that kind of uplifting energy, or slightly unbelievable humour.
In fact, none of the humour in Match Point worked for me. The banter was not bantering. And whilst it didn't quite sink to cringe levels, I still needed a lot more in the way of light-hearted giggles. Without that, I often struggle to invest myself in a couple, and indeed that was the case with Flora and Kieran.
[Content warnings: loss of a brother (implied suicide); absent parents; emotional abuse/manipulation (from a parent); loss of a mother (alcoholism - not discussed in depth); cheating. Nothing in this review].
This rating seems harsh, but I'm really stretching to find positive comments about Match Point. In most cases, its strengths were not things I particularly enjoyed or were impressed by, but rather, I can see what the author was trying to do but it didn't get the desired result. For instance, I can see that Katherine Reilly was really promoting and celebrating a relationship that is big on emotional support, encouragement and belief in each other. Which is nice, of course, but in practice this made the characters come across as childishly insecure and more in need of strong friendships rather than a romantic partner with the same crippling level of self-worth.
The ending was nice, I guess, and Reilly was clearly gunning for a movie-like rom-com climax. But in terms of tone I didn't think this moment fit well with everything I had read before, which didn't share that kind of uplifting energy, or slightly unbelievable humour.
In fact, none of the humour in Match Point worked for me. The banter was not bantering. And whilst it didn't quite sink to cringe levels, I still needed a lot more in the way of light-hearted giggles. Without that, I often struggle to invest myself in a couple, and indeed that was the case with Flora and Kieran.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If I had only read the final 3/4 of this book it would likely have been a 5-star. It was smart and charming and I liked both characters a lot. However, I read the whole book, and did not like that first part at all. Flora was petty and entitled and hard to like even though she should have been sympathetic since she was coming off of a horrible breakup where she was entirely the victim and had lost her job because men of a certain class are sometimes fuckwits who value maintaining class and gender supremacy over good work. Kieran seemed to have more potential even though he was also petty and entitled. Kudos to Reilly for redeeming those characters and making me like and root for them, but there was a setup that would have worked fine and which would not have required her to redeem them. Once we got past that though, this was really great. I fell in love with the characters, the romantic moments felt authentic-ish (just more romantic than in real life) and were genuinely sweet and sexy. Reilly even wrote the sport well, which is rare in sports romances. I have never attended Wimbledon, but I have been to US Open matches, and I think she did a good job of communicating the buzz of live tennis. Lovely!
Also, I listened to this on audio, and the reader, Amy Noble, was excellent. Her American, Irish and Australian accents were pretty strong (I assume the English accent was her own), and she did both male and female voices quite well.
Also, I listened to this on audio, and the reader, Amy Noble, was excellent. Her American, Irish and Australian accents were pretty strong (I assume the English accent was her own), and she did both male and female voices quite well.
hopeful
lighthearted
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:
Yes
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-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
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Death of parent
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was an enjoyable read. I liked Flora, and I wanted to throw hands on her behalf pretty much after the first chapter because her ex is absolute trash. The MMC, Kieran is a complicated character, but complicated in a way where you’re rooting for him. I enjoyed their chemistry, but maybe tennis just isn’t for me. There are parts in the novel where the narrator will walk the reader through the tennis match, and I thought that was a nifty narrative move.
I liked the dialogue and secondary characters were a solid add. The story opens with Flora, finding her ex-boyfriend in bed with her neighbor and later in the novel, her neighbor tries to approach her and apologize. I appreciated that, but I also didn’t really connect with the apology or the character. It made me think that perhaps this is a set up for us to read the neighbors story in a later book, but I don’t know that I’m invested enough to care about the neighbor. Ultimately, I enjoyed the writing. I am already starting to forget some of the characters, but I really enjoyed the dynamic between the two leads.