Reviews

The Bachelor's Valet by Arden Powell

emilyrpf's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

rosska22's review against another edition

I had a weird amount of trouble picturing Alphonse as blonde, because his name was Alphonse. This book did not move me, particularly, but I enjoyed it. It's very short, and I breezed right through it. My favorite part was probably how completely fucking oblivious Alphonse is to LITERALLY EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD.

lukka2008's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? No

5.0

maggieluong's review against another edition

funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.0

capnlinnius's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

so soft and sweet and exactly what i needed.

kberry513's review

3.0

I liked it, but it felt sort of unfinished. Not the story itself - they get the happy ending- but more like it needed fleshing out of something? The reader never gets much from Jacobi other than that he loves Alphonse and is an exceptional valet. We don't even find out if Jacobi is his first or last name. No insights into his past. there is way more banter between Alphonse and Aaliyah than alphonse and Jacobi. So even though it was very cute and had some funny lines, it felt a little dissatisfying.

braincell4rent's review

2.0

¿Sabéis cuando leéis una novela o veis una serie, vuestro ship no termina junto, y decidís escribir un fic pésimo y forzado para juntarles? Bueno, pues así sentí esta novela.

La tomé porque me llamó la atención que se pareciese tanto a Jeeves & Wooster (unas novelas de humor donde, pese a no haber romance entre ellos, sus personajes también son un prota con pocas luces y su eficiente ayuda de cámara). Y de hecho, creo que la autora se inspiró en esas novelas, pero le salió el tiro por la culata.

Esta novela tiene un plot LGBT muy forzado y sin prácticamente nada de background. Al prota su madre le manda casarse (con una urgencia que nunca se explica a qué viene) y la elegida es una mujer que, ¡sorpresa!, es lesbiana y sólo busca un marido para que su familia también la deje en paz y pueda estar con su amante (síp, ignoremos el hecho de que aquí todos son adultos y ricos, y técnicamente podrían ir a donde quisiesen sin dar explicaciones).

Sea como sea, y aunque no me desagrada el carácter de nadie particularmente, sí me molestó que el prota no tenga criterio propio y que parezca que es su prometida quien lo lance a los brazos del ayuda de cámara sin ningún motivo (no, es que literal, es como: "oye, a ti te gusta tu ayuda de cámara" sin que haya mostrado señal de ello, les juro que parecía un self insert de la autora tratando de justificar el juntarlos de alguna manera)

Y esto por no mencionar que del ayuda de cámara prácticamente no se sabe nada, apenas hay interacciones que nos muestren que es algo más que un empleado. El poco romance que hay se desarrolla al final y, antes de que uno pueda asimilarlo, el relato ya se acabó...

En definitiva, esta es una historia a la que le falta contexto y cuyos personajes son demasiado simples como para tomarles cariño.

_ann_'s review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective fast-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

vezreads's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

Cute, funny, lighthearted. Just an absolute cinnamon roll of a main character and I loved that he wasn't too bright but everyone liked him for who he was a didn't try to change him. Delightful 

kenzie_f's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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