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smithrachaelynn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
4.0
Things I liked:
- Gareth’s character was really intriguing and I loved reading his perspective to see how his mind worked.
- Oliver and Gareth’s connection was really cute and also unexpected. I thought from how annoyed Gareth got with things that a child would be irritating. It was cute how much Oliver looked up to him.
Things I didn’t like:
- I could definitely tell Gareth was in love but it felt like he went fr being in denial and pissed at Serena to completely in love and ready to get married overnight. Just didn’t seem believable.
- I don’t really know why but Serena just wasn’t that interesting to me compared to the other characters in the book.
- I really wish we had seen Gareth
finding out that Serena wasn’t a liar or deciding to forgive her. Because that happened SO abruptly and off page.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Rape, Blood, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
cheerfullrain's review
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I really tried to like this book, but just couldn’t no matter how I looked at it. What ruined it for me was the ableist depiction of the MMC. I love an MMC on the spectrum, but his whole character felt like the author screaming “Look at me!! I wrote a hero on the spectrum!! Look how inclusive I’m being!!” He didn’t feel like a unique person, just a list of traits copy/pasted from Wikipedia and never used to build an actual personality for him.
His character made absolutely no sense to me. How can you have an MMC who was exposed to an incredibly dark side of life as a child and still maintain SO much naivety as an adult? I also didn’t understand how just the fact that he was really good at math, made him a brilliant businessman. Based on my experience, the business world requires some semblance of social finesse and having a character be completely inept in any and all social situations, to me, contradicted his supposed business acumen. It would have still fit a character on the spectrum to have him be able to mask enough to flourish in social settings and paired it with a description of what masking feels like and how hard it is. As someone with a sizable case of ADHD, I have some experience with it and I would have been interested in reading a character’s experience. It would’ve made the MMC a lot more believable in my opinion as well as a lot more relatable, but who knows, maybe I’m the one who’s way off.
The FMC wasn’t much better either. Everything about her was so bland and forced, she felt like a bad actress in a b-movie.
I also had a tough time with the narration and dialogue style. It was so modern it took you completely out of the historical setting and felt like reading a contemporary romance in period clothes. As a final note, I find frequent Jane Austen references railroaded into a story simply because you happen to be reading historical romance to be super cringey. Multiple characters referenced “Emma” throughout the book and it was irritating to say the least.
His character made absolutely no sense to me. How can you have an MMC who was exposed to an incredibly dark side of life as a child and still maintain SO much naivety as an adult? I also didn’t understand how just the fact that he was really good at math, made him a brilliant businessman. Based on my experience, the business world requires some semblance of social finesse and having a character be completely inept in any and all social situations, to me, contradicted his supposed business acumen. It would have still fit a character on the spectrum to have him be able to mask enough to flourish in social settings and paired it with a description of what masking feels like and how hard it is. As someone with a sizable case of ADHD, I have some experience with it and I would have been interested in reading a character’s experience. It would’ve made the MMC a lot more believable in my opinion as well as a lot more relatable, but who knows, maybe I’m the one who’s way off.
The FMC wasn’t much better either. Everything about her was so bland and forced, she felt like a bad actress in a b-movie.
I also had a tough time with the narration and dialogue style. It was so modern it took you completely out of the historical setting and felt like reading a contemporary romance in period clothes. As a final note, I find frequent Jane Austen references railroaded into a story simply because you happen to be reading historical romance to be super cringey. Multiple characters referenced “Emma” throughout the book and it was irritating to say the least.
rmt33's review against another edition
lighthearted
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
3.0
books_tea_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
gonturans's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. Having now read two of this author’s books, I can identify at least one specific plot point she’s fond of for some godforesaken reason as either character background or ways of showing the evil character as truly evil: the sexual abuse of children and rape. This ultimately soured and overrode the main narrative, which, in this book, also never felt truly formed. The forgiveness/main conflict resolution felt very “tell not show”. Was it a twist? Yes. Did it feel jarring when the hero never grappled with the heroines supposed betrayal on page except that they fucked and he realized he was just totally horny for her? Yes.
Ironic considering the heroine of the book which gained the same author many readers and praise from authors I trust is a victims of kidnap and sexual abuse wrapped up in the trappings of Orientaljsm ultimately portrayed in a positive way (or, at the very least, where the white brits only act in justified ways)!
Ultimately I read this because of the comparison to one of my favorite romances, THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE (itself not without problems I feel wouldn’t make it past the editing stage in 2020, thankfully), and though Gareth is another savant, the vibe never clicked. Clearly Declan will be another hero, and I have a good idea of his heroine given the way the genre works, but it feels singularly exhausting to have to potentially work through another book where the hero’s childhood and traumas are the result of sexual assault. Giving your characters dark backgrounds isn’t a bad thing, and is generally something I enjoy, but using the same reason in multiple books isn’t a pleasant reading experience.
Ironic considering the heroine of the book which gained the same author many readers and praise from authors I trust is a victims of kidnap and sexual abuse wrapped up in the trappings of Orientaljsm ultimately portrayed in a positive way (or, at the very least, where the white brits only act in justified ways)!
Ultimately I read this because of the comparison to one of my favorite romances, THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE (itself not without problems I feel wouldn’t make it past the editing stage in 2020, thankfully), and though Gareth is another savant, the vibe never clicked. Clearly Declan will be another hero, and I have a good idea of his heroine given the way the genre works, but it feels singularly exhausting to have to potentially work through another book where the hero’s childhood and traumas are the result of sexual assault. Giving your characters dark backgrounds isn’t a bad thing, and is generally something I enjoy, but using the same reason in multiple books isn’t a pleasant reading experience.
lemonbalmlibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
This story was intriguing due to the lead male character being obviously on the spectrum without using such contemporary diagnoses/terms.
Having him created as a wealthy eccentric worked well for the story and his bewildered way of making his way through his life was written in an engaging way.
Having him created as a wealthy eccentric worked well for the story and his bewildered way of making his way through his life was written in an engaging way.
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