Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - The Wrong Bride

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Wrong Bride by Catharina Maura

12 reviews

bookfulthoughts's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

2.25

It had potential 😅

“She’s like the moon, Raven. Beautiful on a lonely night, but cold and distant. You? You’re the sun. You’re warmth and happiness, and the centre of all that’s good.“

It was hard to rate this book. I don’t want to be too harsh 😮‍💨. I was going back and forth between rating it two in a half stars or two stars. The book wasn’t terrible let’s start there. Um, I felt like the concept could have been executed better. The characters needed more depth. If I’m going to care about these characters I need to feel like I know them. Ravens character is the only character that I felt had a decent amount to character detail. To be honest, this book was extremely predictable 😩. I felt that Ares needed more character development. He didn’t truly deal with his feelings enough, felt actually remorseful about how he treated Raven, or did the work to truly understand Raven. Most of the time he felt contradictory. He was also CONSTANTLY comparing them! I felt that we didn’t gain anything from his POV or if he’s proven that he deserves her 😭.

Too many of the same phrases kept being repeated and it was unnecessary. The world felt very vague. The book barely described the surroundings. The emotions felt sporadic! The story just needs work. I somewhat enjoyed some parts but It was just okay. I read “The Unwanted marriage” as a standalone but I got curious to see what the other books in the series were like. I’m not finishing the series.

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absolutely_court's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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_msmarian_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was an interesting, yet challenging read. It was my first of the "Marriage of Convenience" trope.
While I couldn't wait to devour more of the relationship between Ares and Raven, I was really struggling with Hannah constantly getting in the way & her manipulative ways. It was frustrating watching Raven getting pushed around by her family, and every bit of happiness constantly being taken away whenever she got it.

But in spite of the negatives, I gave the 4 stars for the way Ares loved Raven and fought for her in spite of the conflicting relationship they had, and of course, for the extremely *spicy* scenes (of which there were A LOT to consume!).

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koistyfishy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional lighthearted sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

4 Cupcake Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

I am pretty sure that this book was filled with crack as I was pretty much addicted. I am not really sure why I was so captivated, mesmerised or hypnotised but this was legitimately almost impossible to put down. I sacrificed sleep to read this! I was thinking about this non-stop when I was not reading this! And when I was reading, I was fighting with myself to devour the story but also pace myself so it wasn't over too quickly... it was impossible to put down!

So this is a dual POV that follows Ares and Raven. Ares is the eldest son of this very wealthy family and the CEO of a media production company. Raven is a gorgeous supermodel and fashion designer. Raven also happens to be in love with Ares, even though he happens to be her best friend's brother and her sister's fiance. Ares's family has a tradition that all the members of the Winston Family have an arranged marriage, and when Raven's sister gets cold feet, the wedding has to happen one way or another and Raven ends up walking down the aisle...

There is so much ANGST in this book... like to the extreme that it's mentioned as a "trigger warning" at the start of the book. I am pretty sure this is one of the factors that influenced why I loved this so much as I could physically feel the tension and emotional baggage these characters have and seeing how they dealt with their soap opera ridiculous life was predictable but entertaining.

I really liked how Raven grew as a character and learned to stand up for herself. She has been gaslighted, overlooked and taken for granted by her family. To see her push back and be selfish for her, setting those personal boundaries and standing up for herself was really one of the best things in the book. I was her biggest cheerleader and it provides a really important message that everyone should be able to stand up for themselves, even if it is against family. No one, not even your family, your sister, or your mother is allowed to cross your own personal boundaries!

The development of the relationship was strange especially for Ares, as I felt it switched VERY QUICKLY into the "My Wife" mentality. I found I preferred him and his banter with Raven before they were together. Almost all their interactions and dialogue were along the same vein of fidelity and not straying from the marriage - which are all valid points to discuss as there is a sense of contractual fidelity in a marriage...But the possessiveness came about very, very quickly. I needed a little more of Ares realising that he never actually loved Hannah. I wanted to see more of him getting over her and coming to terms with his love for Raven. A lot of stuff happens in a span of a month and his switch from engaged to in love with Raven bordered on Insta-lovie.

I was very set on giving this a full five stars because of how much I was enjoying the drama and the angst until about the 70% mark of the book when I started getting frustrated as it was almost too over the top. These situations do not happen in real life and I was taken out of the magic and blatantly reminded that I'm reading a book. The conflict, the plot twists and the reactions of everything felt so scripted.

I also found the smut to be very very repetitive and formulaic. It would follow the same pattern and almost every scene would have Raven pressed up against a wall with Ares carrying her with his hands in her hair. Now I do get that she is a tiny supermodel and probably weighs as much as a feather, and Ares is a super busy businessman who still manages to look like a picture-perfect Adonis with a 6-pack... but it kinda takes you out of the story when you have to constantly question the physics of a smut scene...AND THE HAIR GRABBING.... It was so much, that every time I saw the words I would roll my eyes...

Ultimately, this book is not perfect, and if I think too long about it, it had its issues and I keep finding more... but this was the second billionaire romance that I have read recently and I absolutely enjoyed the shit out of it! I had a great time reading it as it was a perfect escape to relax and get out of your head.

Your Trope Summary:
▶ Dual POV
▶ Best Friends Brother/Sister Ex-Fiancé
▶ Arranged Marriage
▶ Billionaire Romance
▶ "My Wife"
▶ SO MUCH ANGST!!!!
▶ Soap Opera Level Drama

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anniereads0714's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.0

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jasantij's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

3.75

This was a good read, cute even. I just couldn’t get into how the mmc kept doubling back to the fmc’s sister. This story was honestly twisted. Raven deserved better but I’m just happy she ended up growing a pair and getting her happily ever after. I don’t think it’s a story , I’ll read again and won’t read the second book either. Again cute and nice read, just slightly not for me.

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teambedward123's review against another edition

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3.0

Let me preface this by saying that I hate angst. It’s one of the reasons I avoided this for so long. But you know, well-written books, at the speed I read, can be hard to come by. And so going into it, I knew I wasn’t going to have a hehe-haha good time. Those first handful of chapters, I almost threw my kindle across the room. Yes, Ares and Raven were cute and had great sex, but was it worth all the moments my anger at the situation spilled into the interactions I had with actual people around me? Idk. Don’t know if I’ll read again.

I will say though, Hannah and Mom can both choke on a donkey dick. Was it really all resolved, cause it didn’t feel like it. Raven’s a better person than I’ll ever be.

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