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2.99 AVERAGE
2.99 AVERAGE
When I read the premise of this book, I was excited about it because it sounded like exactly my type of read.
After reading it, I am not quite sure if there were things that might've gone lost in translation (the way some words were translated just didn't make sense in English or western culture) or if I'm just too unfamiliar with Korean culture.
I just felt like there was a thread missing throughout this book. I never knew where it was going and when I was done with it I still wasn't quite sure what happened. I also didn't realize there was a sequel coming so I didn't love the cliffhanger.
It all felt like it was happening on one note. It all felt like it all had the same level of excitement and drama no matter what was happening and I couldn't find myself connecting with any of the characters.
I just can't tell if this book is simply not for me or something has gotten lost during translation or isn't relatable for western audiences.
After reading it, I am not quite sure if there were things that might've gone lost in translation (the way some words were translated just didn't make sense in English or western culture) or if I'm just too unfamiliar with Korean culture.
I just felt like there was a thread missing throughout this book. I never knew where it was going and when I was done with it I still wasn't quite sure what happened. I also didn't realize there was a sequel coming so I didn't love the cliffhanger.
It all felt like it was happening on one note. It all felt like it all had the same level of excitement and drama no matter what was happening and I couldn't find myself connecting with any of the characters.
I just can't tell if this book is simply not for me or something has gotten lost during translation or isn't relatable for western audiences.
This book started with lots of potentials. The synopsis sounded like a K-drama and I like K-drama. But not all of them because frankly, a lot of K-drama are clichéd, corny, and predictable. Still, I went on to read. The first quarter of the book was amazing. The food descriptions were excellent. The grumpy tol and perky smol trope is my absolute favorite. I really love suffer-in-silence, grumpy characters who are actually a softhearted sweetie inside. I was really excited to have found this book at the beginning.
Until the flaws started to show up, flaws I couldn't ignore anymore. Lots of grammatical errors, misspellings, wrong info about South Korean things, as well as corny dialogues and unnecessarily long and boring scenes. I didn't know it was a translated work until I went to GoodReads to find out whether the author was ownvoices or not. She is, but the book's potentials diminished as soon as those flaws came up. I also didn't like how they wrote a To Be Continued at the ending and abrupt ended the book. That's not how you end the first book in a series!! I practically skimmed through the last 4 chapters.
Overall, great promises but mediocre to terrible execution. I'm not sure I'll pick up the sequel though.
Until the flaws started to show up, flaws I couldn't ignore anymore. Lots of grammatical errors, misspellings, wrong info about South Korean things, as well as corny dialogues and unnecessarily long and boring scenes. I didn't know it was a translated work until I went to GoodReads to find out whether the author was ownvoices or not. She is, but the book's potentials diminished as soon as those flaws came up. I also didn't like how they wrote a To Be Continued at the ending and abrupt ended the book. That's not how you end the first book in a series!! I practically skimmed through the last 4 chapters.
Overall, great promises but mediocre to terrible execution. I'm not sure I'll pick up the sequel though.
You can find this review of Just the Two of Us on my blog, Heart's Content!
Received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
This is a difficult book to review. I’m not even sure how to explain what was difficult because I’m not sure I can articulate to my own mind what I found difficult. When I found out that the book was translated there was definitely that little bit that I had to set aside in my mind. But then again, I didn’t particularly have an issue with the writing in itself. It was translated well enough and yes, there may be lots lost in translation but I think for the most part, the translation was comfortable enough.
The largest staggering spots for me with the book was perhaps the style, mostly because I wasn’t used to it in books. Usually books are written in first person, second, or third or alternate between characters in any one of these three styles. However, in Just the Two of Us, the narration was as it would be on television. Within a scene, many people appear on screen taking turns expressing their feelings/thoughts. That’s kind of how it is in JtToU; meaning within a paragraph, the POVs jumps among the characters interacting on page. But I find it hard to blame the writing for this because if this is a writing style that’s normal for the original language that the book was written in, then I can’t judge it for that. So I can only say, this style was personally very disorienting for me because I wasn’t used to it and hindered with my progress.
I loved the details. It truly was like watching a Korean Drama show. There was slow but steady progress with the characters and there were many things happening around both the protagonists and many other characters who are a part of the book in the story. The characters were true to their personalities steadily throughout. Soohyuk was difficult in the beginning and difficult at times even towards the end. What was redeemable about him was how we come to understand how his personality was forged and how he slowly breaks out of the shell. Yuna was a sweet heroine, brave and gentle. Like with Soohyuk, Yuna too slowly reveals herself and finds her own as the book progresses.
A big benefit for the book was that this isn’t a standalone which means the author took their time to let the characters find themselves slowly and just at the cusp of their understanding oneself and one another, the setting for book two was created.
I’m hovering on a slightly more neutral rating, because I struggled as much as I liked the book. 2.5-3 stars.
Happy reading and stay safe!
Received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
This is a difficult book to review. I’m not even sure how to explain what was difficult because I’m not sure I can articulate to my own mind what I found difficult. When I found out that the book was translated there was definitely that little bit that I had to set aside in my mind. But then again, I didn’t particularly have an issue with the writing in itself. It was translated well enough and yes, there may be lots lost in translation but I think for the most part, the translation was comfortable enough.
The largest staggering spots for me with the book was perhaps the style, mostly because I wasn’t used to it in books. Usually books are written in first person, second, or third or alternate between characters in any one of these three styles. However, in Just the Two of Us, the narration was as it would be on television. Within a scene, many people appear on screen taking turns expressing their feelings/thoughts. That’s kind of how it is in JtToU; meaning within a paragraph, the POVs jumps among the characters interacting on page. But I find it hard to blame the writing for this because if this is a writing style that’s normal for the original language that the book was written in, then I can’t judge it for that. So I can only say, this style was personally very disorienting for me because I wasn’t used to it and hindered with my progress.
I loved the details. It truly was like watching a Korean Drama show. There was slow but steady progress with the characters and there were many things happening around both the protagonists and many other characters who are a part of the book in the story. The characters were true to their personalities steadily throughout. Soohyuk was difficult in the beginning and difficult at times even towards the end. What was redeemable about him was how we come to understand how his personality was forged and how he slowly breaks out of the shell. Yuna was a sweet heroine, brave and gentle. Like with Soohyuk, Yuna too slowly reveals herself and finds her own as the book progresses.
A big benefit for the book was that this isn’t a standalone which means the author took their time to let the characters find themselves slowly and just at the cusp of their understanding oneself and one another, the setting for book two was created.
I’m hovering on a slightly more neutral rating, because I struggled as much as I liked the book. 2.5-3 stars.
Happy reading and stay safe!
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-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
fuzzy read set in COVID early days but with little to no mention of COVID itself, if you're not in the mood for reading an in your face pandemic book
The colorful cover and the enticing summary tricked me into thinking this was going to be a great contemporary romance. Sadly, it wasn't. I wish I could have loved this; I wanted to. But I soon discovered that the book wasn't what I was expecting. It was a challenging task trying to read and finish this novel. I don't even know how I managed to do so. I found the structure of the book to be confusing. There was no reason to keep going since we already knew from the beginning how the conflict was going to end. I didn't connect with any of the characters, especially Soohyuk. He came off as unlikeable and rude. The book tried to handle many pressing issues but without any real care. Some passages even left a bad taste in my mouth because of how poorly tackled these issues were. The writing style and editing were also bothersome. The book kept jumping from one thing to the other - it felt incomplete. At times it was almost impossible to understand what the author was trying to say. I won't read the second one unless there are significant changes to the writing style and translation.
Arc kindly provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Arc kindly provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Julie and Michael ar at an impasse in their marriage. They aren't happy together, but they don't know exactly why. Julie knows she doesn't want to live like this anymore and visits a divorce lawyer the same day that lockdown starts. Since she and Michael will be stuck together, she decides to wait on giving him the papers.
In the beginning you can see the breakdown of the marriage, the lack of communication between the couple. They are trying to find their footing with each other again after their kids left home. The book bounces back and forth between the past and the present, giving us the good and the bad of their marriage.
I love reading marriage reconciliation books because I love how a couple learns to communicate and comes back together. Communication with the ones you love should be the easiest thing to do, but is often the hardest. I enjoyed Julie and Michael's book tremendously. I have read a few "lockdown" books and this one was done in such a way that it didn't fell overwhelming.
Thank you to Jo Wilde, Grand Central and Netgalley for an early copy.
In the beginning you can see the breakdown of the marriage, the lack of communication between the couple. They are trying to find their footing with each other again after their kids left home. The book bounces back and forth between the past and the present, giving us the good and the bad of their marriage.
I love reading marriage reconciliation books because I love how a couple learns to communicate and comes back together. Communication with the ones you love should be the easiest thing to do, but is often the hardest. I enjoyed Julie and Michael's book tremendously. I have read a few "lockdown" books and this one was done in such a way that it didn't fell overwhelming.
Thank you to Jo Wilde, Grand Central and Netgalley for an early copy.
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Just the Two of Us was an okay and kind of a cute book. In it, you will meet Yuna and Soohyuk. She is a chef and just loves to cook. Honestly all the dishes she made sounded so freaking good and made me extremely hungry. Oh, and he recently moved to Korea from the US for an exchange program. In other words, he is a doctor.
I'm not going to lie, these two had some cute and then super weird interactions with one another. Or even when they weren't together. It took me to drink my second cup of coffee to realize all of this. So in a way, it kind of baffled me but it also seemed like a lost in translation thing as well.
In the end, I enjoyed it somewhat but it ended kind of abruptly. At least to me. Still enjoyable though and I definitely had food envy while reading it.
Just the Two of Us was an okay and kind of a cute book. In it, you will meet Yuna and Soohyuk. She is a chef and just loves to cook. Honestly all the dishes she made sounded so freaking good and made me extremely hungry. Oh, and he recently moved to Korea from the US for an exchange program. In other words, he is a doctor.
I'm not going to lie, these two had some cute and then super weird interactions with one another. Or even when they weren't together. It took me to drink my second cup of coffee to realize all of this. So in a way, it kind of baffled me but it also seemed like a lost in translation thing as well.
In the end, I enjoyed it somewhat but it ended kind of abruptly. At least to me. Still enjoyable though and I definitely had food envy while reading it.
I get this book by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review, so here we go.
I requested this book because it felt like an lighthearted love story and it was, is a story of grumpy but amazing pediatric doctor who finds himself "charmed" by a chef who fears men, which somehow intrigue him and wants to know more about her.
I don't watch K-dramas but I watch turkish stories which aren't the same but some are adapted from K-dramas, and this gave me so much K-dramas vibes that I feel like I need to go and watch some dramas.
The story felt so "easy" and quick to read, and I said "easy" because I feel like the story could be victim of their translation, which makes the story a bit hard to follow, but it doesn't mean that the story per-self is slow, but need a better translation.
I recommend this story if you have a soft spot for k.dramas and love stories.
I want to know this story ends.
I requested this book because it felt like an lighthearted love story and it was, is a story of grumpy but amazing pediatric doctor who finds himself "charmed" by a chef who fears men, which somehow intrigue him and wants to know more about her.
I don't watch K-dramas but I watch turkish stories which aren't the same but some are adapted from K-dramas, and this gave me so much K-dramas vibes that I feel like I need to go and watch some dramas.
The story felt so "easy" and quick to read, and I said "easy" because I feel like the story could be victim of their translation, which makes the story a bit hard to follow, but it doesn't mean that the story per-self is slow, but need a better translation.
I recommend this story if you have a soft spot for k.dramas and love stories.
I want to know this story ends.
Just the Two of Us Book 1 is the first book in the story of Soohyuk and Yuna. It’s a great book for a light read but it is one of those books that leaves you hanging for a happy ever after until the next book. So, if you don’t mind getting the happy ever after right away, this book is great. Unfortunately, I like to have everything in one book so waiting for the next book is frustrating! But it will be worth the wait I am sure.