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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
'I am anger reborn and frustration unjustified. I am brutal hate and cold, dead winter. I am turning, tumbling in despair and there is no light, no warmth, no world, no heart.'
This book killed me! Dead. I've read Halle before and have liked everything from her so far. But this one gave me the feels so hard. I couldn't put it down.
This book killed me! Dead. I've read Halle before and have liked everything from her so far. But this one gave me the feels so hard. I couldn't put it down.
emotional
medium-paced
I have slowly been making my way through Karina Halle's work and I can't say I'm at all disappointed. I've really enjoyed reading her books and reading this felt no different than reading any other book by her.
Steph and Linden have been friends for years, and that's all that either thought they'd ever be. But Linden has deeper feelings, and in a sly turn of events, orchestrates this pact between the two of them. When they are 30 years old (five years from our starting point), if both are still single, then they will marry each other.
The pact seems to work out in Linden's favour for the first few years, but when it matters most... it seems like neither one is ready to act on their pact. Linden is dating Nadine, Steph is dating Aaron. Both are supposedly happy... but when it feels like there is a ticking timer going on in your subconscious... your life is kinda put into perspective.
I think people who loved One Day or Love Rosie would appreciate this one. That's what I was making connections to as the book went on. Honestly though, this was very cute. I love best friend to lovers romances and this just made me very happy. I kinda wanted to shake them half of the time, but it was mostly out of frustration because the ANTICIPATION. YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING BUT YOU JUST COULDN'T WAIT.
I'm sorry but the Scottish in Linden.... loved that a whole lot. Need me a good Scottish man, not going to lie to you.
This was super fun and light and I honestly loved their friendship so much... it was a joy watching it grow.
James can eat shit mostly. But like whatever.
Steph and Linden have been friends for years, and that's all that either thought they'd ever be. But Linden has deeper feelings, and in a sly turn of events, orchestrates this pact between the two of them. When they are 30 years old (five years from our starting point), if both are still single, then they will marry each other.
The pact seems to work out in Linden's favour for the first few years, but when it matters most... it seems like neither one is ready to act on their pact. Linden is dating Nadine, Steph is dating Aaron. Both are supposedly happy... but when it feels like there is a ticking timer going on in your subconscious... your life is kinda put into perspective.
I think people who loved One Day or Love Rosie would appreciate this one. That's what I was making connections to as the book went on. Honestly though, this was very cute. I love best friend to lovers romances and this just made me very happy. I kinda wanted to shake them half of the time, but it was mostly out of frustration because the ANTICIPATION. YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING BUT YOU JUST COULDN'T WAIT.
I'm sorry but the Scottish in Linden.... loved that a whole lot. Need me a good Scottish man, not going to lie to you.
This was super fun and light and I honestly loved their friendship so much... it was a joy watching it grow.
James can eat shit mostly. But like whatever.
Hier endlich meine Review zu „The Pact“. Ehrlich gesagt hatte ich nicht viel von dem Buch erwartet. Umso mehr freut es mich, wie gut es mir gefallen hat.
Der Schreibstil des Buches fand ich wunderschön. Sehr gefühlvoll und irgendwie träumerisch, was ich bei Erotik nicht unbedingt gewohnt bin
Der Schreibstil des Buches fand ich wunderschön. Sehr gefühlvoll und irgendwie träumerisch, was ich bei Erotik nicht unbedingt gewohnt bin
I'm honestly at a loss for how to rate this book. And I don't think that has ever happened to me before. I'm not even sure I know how to begin this review but I'm going to give it a try because I have a LOT of thoughts and I need to express them, even if no one else reads them.
The quality of the writing, the pacing, all of that was unquestionably good. Great, even.
So, then, why am I so conflicted over this book and how to rate it?
I started off loving this book. I love a good friends to lovers romance - it is easily my favorite romance trope. The same way I love that trope, I hate the love triangle trope. I just can't deal with it, usually because one of the parties ends up being written as a total douchebag or just ends up heartbroken. Either way, I get annoyed (exception: if the rejected person ends up heartbroken and the author writes a book giving said person his/her own love story). This book had the dubious distinction of having the rejected person be a douchebag AND be heartbroken...sort of.
I also, in turn, loved both of the main characters and yet absolutely hated some of the choices they made. Which would indicate strong NEGATIVE feelings towards the book. Except...isn't that a perfect metaphor for life? Sometimes, the people we love are also the ones who hurt us the most, the ones who annoy the crap out of us, the ones we occasionally want to punch in the face.
This book just felt very real to me. Almost uncomfortably so. I felt super judgmental towards the characters in certain scenes, only to look within myself and feel ashamed for doing so because, quite frankly, these were some of the most human, honest, flawed characters I've ever come across in a romance. I'm still not entirely sure how to rate this book. There were things in the book that annoyed me but upon further reflection, I feel like, it was the most honest writing I've ever read in quite some time. I think maybe my feelings on this book can be best summed up by directly quoting from it.
But through it all I'm learning to appreciate all the grey between the black and white. And just like the Bay Area fog, grey can be absolutely beautiful.
The quality of the writing, the pacing, all of that was unquestionably good. Great, even.
So, then, why am I so conflicted over this book and how to rate it?
I started off loving this book. I love a good friends to lovers romance - it is easily my favorite romance trope. The same way I love that trope, I hate the love triangle trope. I just can't deal with it, usually because one of the parties ends up being written as a total douchebag or just ends up heartbroken. Either way, I get annoyed (exception: if the rejected person ends up heartbroken and the author writes a book giving said person his/her own love story). This book had the dubious distinction of having the rejected person be a douchebag AND be heartbroken...sort of.
I also, in turn, loved both of the main characters and yet absolutely hated some of the choices they made. Which would indicate strong NEGATIVE feelings towards the book. Except...isn't that a perfect metaphor for life? Sometimes, the people we love are also the ones who hurt us the most, the ones who annoy the crap out of us, the ones we occasionally want to punch in the face.
This book just felt very real to me. Almost uncomfortably so. I felt super judgmental towards the characters in certain scenes, only to look within myself and feel ashamed for doing so because, quite frankly, these were some of the most human, honest, flawed characters I've ever come across in a romance. I'm still not entirely sure how to rate this book. There were things in the book that annoyed me but upon further reflection, I feel like, it was the most honest writing I've ever read in quite some time. I think maybe my feelings on this book can be best summed up by directly quoting from it.
But through it all I'm learning to appreciate all the grey between the black and white. And just like the Bay Area fog, grey can be absolutely beautiful.
Originally posted on Three Little Birds Book Blog
A seriously sexy, impeccably sweet, sneakily poignant book about love, friendship, growth, sex, and dreams.
Karina Halle wrote this book on a whim. It was unplanned, natural, and completely instinctual. This was supposed to be a quick, sexy, uncomplicated read – an entertaining rom-com that you don’t look too deeply at. That might have been her intention, but to me this book was more. Karina’s smart, and so is this book. I understood these characters, and I loved these characters. I got my quick, sexy read, but I also got a smart, and touching one too.
The Pact begins with a pinky swear between best friends. They promise each other that if they’re both unattached by the time they’re thirty, they’ll marry each other. It’s a promise made under a drunken haze, and neither takes the dare seriously. Or do they?
“Sometimes his smile rips the air from my lungs. It’s not an exaggeration. It’s messy, violent, and abrupt and I wish it wouldn’t happen because, fuck it, I like breathing.”
“I wanted something real and pure and true…I needed something in my life that made my life worth sharing. I wanted Steph. My best friend. She was my baby blue and I was her cowboy.”
The Pact is made when they are both 25, and the journey these two take to 30 is filled with fun, laughter, broken hearts, and dreams realized. Linden and Steph’s story is the type that I really love to read, because their connection is already there, but it’s changing, morphing into something that was oh so fun to watch. The longing glances, the accidental touches, the racing heartbeats – gah, it was delicious! The love story built gradually, and organically, as these two realized just how deeply they felt for their best friend, and how that connection was more than just sex.
“At times it was like he was the only one who reminded me to chase my dreams, I guess because he chased his dreams so hard. It was nice to have someone you wanted to make proud.”
“We aren’t friends with benefits, we are friends with something most people die without knowing.”
I loved that this was a grown-up romance. These two have survived college, and lived life. They’re in their 30s and still struggling to realize their dreams and to find love. It’s not too grown up though, because they still do stupid shit, and they still have the fire and passion, the naïve hope, that they’ll get what they want.
This book is New Adult for adults. Minus the college backdrop, the frat parties, and rewashed angst-filled storyline, this is still a story about people on the verge of something real, who struggle to find true love and happiness. That’s something that everyone deals with, and Karina Halle smartly addresses this, with Linden and Stephanie, as they live, love, and make mistakes in their late 20’s and early 30s. I fell in love with Linden, and I rooted for Stephanie. I understood exactly what they were going through, the insecurities they faced about finding their place in the world, as well as the fear they battled against as they tried to open themselves up to love, and to find that one person to share their life with.
“I think I’m losing myself…In the end you might have all my pieces. Please be gentle with them.”
I absolutely loved this book. I loved everything about it, really. In the author’s note, Karina mentions that she hoped to create a sexy, fun, and enjoyable read that’ll leave you smiling. And that she did, but she also created something thoughtful, real, and touching. The Pact is a book that I will be reading over and over again, because it’s the type of book a book lover daydreams about, long after they’ve finished it, and the type they recommend to all their friends. So I’m recommending it to you. Read it.
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A seriously sexy, impeccably sweet, sneakily poignant book about love, friendship, growth, sex, and dreams.
Karina Halle wrote this book on a whim. It was unplanned, natural, and completely instinctual. This was supposed to be a quick, sexy, uncomplicated read – an entertaining rom-com that you don’t look too deeply at. That might have been her intention, but to me this book was more. Karina’s smart, and so is this book. I understood these characters, and I loved these characters. I got my quick, sexy read, but I also got a smart, and touching one too.
The Pact begins with a pinky swear between best friends. They promise each other that if they’re both unattached by the time they’re thirty, they’ll marry each other. It’s a promise made under a drunken haze, and neither takes the dare seriously. Or do they?
“Sometimes his smile rips the air from my lungs. It’s not an exaggeration. It’s messy, violent, and abrupt and I wish it wouldn’t happen because, fuck it, I like breathing.”
“I wanted something real and pure and true…I needed something in my life that made my life worth sharing. I wanted Steph. My best friend. She was my baby blue and I was her cowboy.”
The Pact is made when they are both 25, and the journey these two take to 30 is filled with fun, laughter, broken hearts, and dreams realized. Linden and Steph’s story is the type that I really love to read, because their connection is already there, but it’s changing, morphing into something that was oh so fun to watch. The longing glances, the accidental touches, the racing heartbeats – gah, it was delicious! The love story built gradually, and organically, as these two realized just how deeply they felt for their best friend, and how that connection was more than just sex.
“At times it was like he was the only one who reminded me to chase my dreams, I guess because he chased his dreams so hard. It was nice to have someone you wanted to make proud.”
“We aren’t friends with benefits, we are friends with something most people die without knowing.”
I loved that this was a grown-up romance. These two have survived college, and lived life. They’re in their 30s and still struggling to realize their dreams and to find love. It’s not too grown up though, because they still do stupid shit, and they still have the fire and passion, the naïve hope, that they’ll get what they want.
This book is New Adult for adults. Minus the college backdrop, the frat parties, and rewashed angst-filled storyline, this is still a story about people on the verge of something real, who struggle to find true love and happiness. That’s something that everyone deals with, and Karina Halle smartly addresses this, with Linden and Stephanie, as they live, love, and make mistakes in their late 20’s and early 30s. I fell in love with Linden, and I rooted for Stephanie. I understood exactly what they were going through, the insecurities they faced about finding their place in the world, as well as the fear they battled against as they tried to open themselves up to love, and to find that one person to share their life with.
“I think I’m losing myself…In the end you might have all my pieces. Please be gentle with them.”
I absolutely loved this book. I loved everything about it, really. In the author’s note, Karina mentions that she hoped to create a sexy, fun, and enjoyable read that’ll leave you smiling. And that she did, but she also created something thoughtful, real, and touching. The Pact is a book that I will be reading over and over again, because it’s the type of book a book lover daydreams about, long after they’ve finished it, and the type they recommend to all their friends. So I’m recommending it to you. Read it.
Connect with Three Little Birds Book Blog:
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DNF @ 64%
This book offers nothing new, clever, exciting, or funny to the romance genre. The characters are decent at best, the story is generic, and the writing style does nothing to improve the faults.
The Pact is a friends to lovers novel that has no consistent chemistry or spark. There are a few small moments at the beginning of the novel that are fun and interesting, but the novel quickly falls to ruin as the characters realize their feelings for each other. The novel collapses into a checklist of moments that need to be hit upon to make a romance story. There are plot lines that are emphasized in the moment, but are then left on the wayside and never mentioned again.
Overall, The Pact was an absolute disappointment. The characters lacked chemistry, the story lacked substance, and the writing lacked the skills to realize a friends to lovers story.
This book offers nothing new, clever, exciting, or funny to the romance genre. The characters are decent at best, the story is generic, and the writing style does nothing to improve the faults.
The Pact is a friends to lovers novel that has no consistent chemistry or spark. There are a few small moments at the beginning of the novel that are fun and interesting, but the novel quickly falls to ruin as the characters realize their feelings for each other. The novel collapses into a checklist of moments that need to be hit upon to make a romance story. There are plot lines that are emphasized in the moment, but are then left on the wayside and never mentioned again.
Overall, The Pact was an absolute disappointment. The characters lacked chemistry, the story lacked substance, and the writing lacked the skills to realize a friends to lovers story.