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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
2.5 stars
It just took too long for them to communicate their feelings and their 3rd act conflict was just ridiculous for their age. But they did have chemistry and I was rooting for them to get together.
It just took too long for them to communicate their feelings and their 3rd act conflict was just ridiculous for their age. But they did have chemistry and I was rooting for them to get together.
funny
fast-paced
“She’s mad but she’s magic. There is no lie in her fire.”
Just read it. If you've ever been in any relationship of any kind you need to read this book. Its so good.
Just read it. If you've ever been in any relationship of any kind you need to read this book. Its so good.
This had a heavier tone than I was expecting. I thought the thing with Jack was also a really realistic portrayal even if it made it seem like he had an ugly personality.
DNF'ed this one. Almost halfway through and my complete detachment and borderline disgust for the main characters has made me set it aside. It is hard to like the main couple when they are both emotionally cheating on their current partners. No thank you.
1 star
Yeah, you read that right. 1 freaking star. I may be a bit of a picky bitch but it's actually very rare for me to rate a book this low. If you wanna know why, there are a lot of negative reviews for this one floating out there already, and I'll pretty much agree with everything they say so I'm not going out of my way here to pick this book apart. Having said that, I'm going to have to vent at least some because it's been a very long time since a book has pissed me off to this degree. I wish I could get those 5 hours of my life back. I mean, seriously? I put off Mortal Instruments for this crap?
I think this is one of those cases where the book cover is just so pretty and the blurb so well done, you can't help but be giddy with excitement at cracking open the damn thing. I don't know exactly what I expected but something along the lines of fireworks, and some well done angst, hot sex and yes a big deal about this so called "pact". I also expected a slow burning friends-to-lovers story.
So forget all those expectations. What did I get instead? A hero with balls the size of tiny marbles, a bunch of idiotic 30 year olds that behaved more like they were in freaking highschool and a romance that was so meh, I was wondering all the time what the big fuss about this Karina Halle chick is. Keep in mind this is my first book by her. Boy, it seems I picked the wrong book. Anyway, the fact that these two were banging other peeps for the first half of the book didn't bother me. I still had hope for the second half. And then things get so convoluted I couldn't help but wonder whether I was reading a badly written YA romance instead of a romance about grown ass people already in their damn 30s.
I HATED the plot, HATED the lack of chemistry, HATED the forced denial (I mean seriously, it was obvious they wanted each other, and they kept waltzing around the issue like damn pre-teens, and being all scaredy and denialy) At one point I wanted to bitch-slap Stephanie and actually kept groaning COME ON. It was so obvious that Linden DID want her and she was all like... "oh my" what if he doesn't? I think I nearly popped an eye at that point from rolling them so much.
And Linden..., and I HATED the very convenient plot device thrown at the end. There was also the very convenient truth or dare stuff in the beginning that made me wonder if I was reading the right genre. In all reeked of lazy writing. That thing in the end that brings people back together, I was wow, tons of lack of creativity.
Obviously, this absolutely did not work for me. There were a couple of hot sex scenes thrown in there, but even the dirty talk felt cheesy at times. Overall it was like watching a Friends rerun if the writing had been subpar quality and they had still been in junior high. The idea of the pact was so good and it completely fell flat. I wish someone did this premise justice because it's actually a pretty cool premise, just not at all well realized here. That's freaking all.
Yeah, you read that right. 1 freaking star. I may be a bit of a picky bitch but it's actually very rare for me to rate a book this low. If you wanna know why, there are a lot of negative reviews for this one floating out there already, and I'll pretty much agree with everything they say so I'm not going out of my way here to pick this book apart. Having said that, I'm going to have to vent at least some because it's been a very long time since a book has pissed me off to this degree. I wish I could get those 5 hours of my life back. I mean, seriously? I put off Mortal Instruments for this crap?
I think this is one of those cases where the book cover is just so pretty and the blurb so well done, you can't help but be giddy with excitement at cracking open the damn thing. I don't know exactly what I expected but something along the lines of fireworks, and some well done angst, hot sex and yes a big deal about this so called "pact". I also expected a slow burning friends-to-lovers story.
So forget all those expectations. What did I get instead? A hero with balls the size of tiny marbles, a bunch of idiotic 30 year olds that behaved more like they were in freaking highschool and a romance that was so meh, I was wondering all the time what the big fuss about this Karina Halle chick is. Keep in mind this is my first book by her. Boy, it seems I picked the wrong book. Anyway, the fact that these two were banging other peeps for the first half of the book didn't bother me. I still had hope for the second half. And then things get so convoluted I couldn't help but wonder whether I was reading a badly written YA romance instead of a romance about grown ass people already in their damn 30s.
I HATED the plot, HATED the lack of chemistry, HATED the forced denial (I mean seriously, it was obvious they wanted each other, and they kept waltzing around the issue like damn pre-teens, and being all scaredy and denialy) At one point I wanted to bitch-slap Stephanie and actually kept groaning COME ON. It was so obvious that Linden DID want her and she was all like... "oh my" what if he doesn't? I think I nearly popped an eye at that point from rolling them so much.
And Linden...
Spoiler
SO much forced drama because of James?? JAMES?? I mean what the fuck 30 year old guy worth his salt acts like a weenie and tosses his relationship away because his supposed best friend has an infantile stick up his ass?? There was sooo so much wrong with that whole angle it's not even worth picking apart. It was actually insulting. Linden's dick just shrivelled to Vienna sausage proportions in my eyes at that stage.Spoiler
I actually predicted Linden's helicopter crash. I wanted to cry with frustration when I saw that happen because I was so let down that I'd been able to guess that much. And that was the straw the broke the camel's back for me. This was going in my worst reads list.Obviously, this absolutely did not work for me. There were a couple of hot sex scenes thrown in there, but even the dirty talk felt cheesy at times. Overall it was like watching a Friends rerun if the writing had been subpar quality and they had still been in junior high. The idea of the pact was so good and it completely fell flat. I wish someone did this premise justice because it's actually a pretty cool premise, just not at all well realized here. That's freaking all.
*** 3.5 STARS ***
"Life follows many directions and hopefully, eventually, your mind and body and life and love, all catch up with each other."
"The Pact" is another one of the little gems I found while scrolling through the free books on the kindle e-books shop. I'd already read a couple of Karina Halle's books before starting "The Pact" and really liked them, so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw that the kindle edition of this book was free on amazon.
I mainly decided to read this book because I was looking for something to read after having finished ACOWAR. I felt like a "book hangover" was coming my way and knew that once it was there, I'd have a hard time getting into a new book. The other books by her that I've already read were really well written and you could literally just get lost in the stories without really having to think about it. That's what I was looking for again and "The Pact" definitely didn't disappoint. I just got lost in the story of Stephanie and Linden and suddenly I'd read 30% of the book, then 60% of it and suddenly I had finished the last page.
In her acknowledgements Karina Halle says that she had actually just spontaneously started writing this book on vacation and then it had suddenly been finished. She just wanted to make people happy with this book and I feel like she's definitely achieved that and made me smile a lot while reading it.
All in all, "The Pact" was a really enjoyable book that you can easily read in one sitting. It's well written and features some great characters. But it's definitely more of an adult book and not only new adult since the characters are in their thirties for most of the novel. But if you don't have a problem with explicit sex scenes, you'll definitely this book.
There's not really anything negative to say about this book except that I still liked some of her other books a bit better because they were a little more gripping and that there are still some typos in this book. Nothing major that would disturb your reading but there are a couple of words that are spelled incorrectly among some other minor things. As far as I know though Karina Halle is still self-publishing the majority of her books so you really can't hold that against her.
3.5 out of 5 stars for The Pact!
"Life follows many directions and hopefully, eventually, your mind and body and life and love, all catch up with each other."
"The Pact" is another one of the little gems I found while scrolling through the free books on the kindle e-books shop. I'd already read a couple of Karina Halle's books before starting "The Pact" and really liked them, so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw that the kindle edition of this book was free on amazon.
I mainly decided to read this book because I was looking for something to read after having finished ACOWAR. I felt like a "book hangover" was coming my way and knew that once it was there, I'd have a hard time getting into a new book. The other books by her that I've already read were really well written and you could literally just get lost in the stories without really having to think about it. That's what I was looking for again and "The Pact" definitely didn't disappoint. I just got lost in the story of Stephanie and Linden and suddenly I'd read 30% of the book, then 60% of it and suddenly I had finished the last page.
In her acknowledgements Karina Halle says that she had actually just spontaneously started writing this book on vacation and then it had suddenly been finished. She just wanted to make people happy with this book and I feel like she's definitely achieved that and made me smile a lot while reading it.
All in all, "The Pact" was a really enjoyable book that you can easily read in one sitting. It's well written and features some great characters. But it's definitely more of an adult book and not only new adult since the characters are in their thirties for most of the novel. But if you don't have a problem with explicit sex scenes, you'll definitely this book.
There's not really anything negative to say about this book except that I still liked some of her other books a bit better because they were a little more gripping and that there are still some typos in this book. Nothing major that would disturb your reading but there are a couple of words that are spelled incorrectly among some other minor things. As far as I know though Karina Halle is still self-publishing the majority of her books so you really can't hold that against her.
3.5 out of 5 stars for The Pact!
I was pretty much enjoying this til about, oh, 75% into the book.
What I liked:
The slow burn and friends-to-lovers nature of the story.
The heroine - Steph.
the dual narration was well done.
Seph calling Linden on his shit.
Jenny - James' girlfriend who should have kicked him in the nads.
What bothered me:
Whiny, petulant, jealous James - the third in the best friend triumvirate of Steph, Linden and James
The hero - Linden elevating whiny James' feelings over his and Steph's own relationship
Linden being a wuss and not manning the fuck up
30-somethings acting with the emotional maturity of people half their age
It is a shame that my enjoyment of Linden sank like a lead balloon over the course of the story. I really liked him at first. He is a rarity in a these types of romances. He was funny with a rather sunny nature, in other words he was not a brooder.
There is a tv show on Netflix called Lovesick (which is also about three BFFs two guys and one gal -- which I heartily recommend by the way) with a character named Luke. Linden reminded me of Luke on that show. Just a great personality. But then Linden allows himself to be diminished -- first by a jealous girlfriend and then by a jealous BFF. As is was listening, I kept wondering "why can't he see what they are doing? It s so transparent." I get that the author was really trying to make Linden a decent, selfless person -- but there is fine line between being a decent boyfriend or a good friend and being a martyr.
Everything gets tied up in a Deus ex Machina bow. Steph and Linden end up HEA, but the last quarter of book really did not stick the landing.
What I liked:
The slow burn and friends-to-lovers nature of the story.
The heroine - Steph.
the dual narration was well done.
Seph calling Linden on his shit.
Jenny - James' girlfriend who should have kicked him in the nads.
What bothered me:
Whiny, petulant, jealous James - the third in the best friend triumvirate of Steph, Linden and James
The hero - Linden elevating whiny James' feelings over his and Steph's own relationship
Linden being a wuss and not manning the fuck up
30-somethings acting with the emotional maturity of people half their age
It is a shame that my enjoyment of Linden sank like a lead balloon over the course of the story. I really liked him at first. He is a rarity in a these types of romances. He was funny with a rather sunny nature, in other words he was not a brooder.
There is a tv show on Netflix called Lovesick (which is also about three BFFs two guys and one gal -- which I heartily recommend by the way) with a character named Luke. Linden reminded me of Luke on that show. Just a great personality. But then Linden allows himself to be diminished -- first by a jealous girlfriend and then by a jealous BFF. As is was listening, I kept wondering "why can't he see what they are doing? It s so transparent." I get that the author was really trying to make Linden a decent, selfless person -- but there is fine line between being a decent boyfriend or a good friend and being a martyr.
Everything gets tied up in a Deus ex Machina bow. Steph and Linden end up HEA, but the last quarter of book really did not stick the landing.