Reviews with content warning for Car accident - The Marriage Game

Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Marriage Game by Sara Desai

30 reviews

em_catherine's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

Typical third act breakup, characters wouldnt be compatible longterm and barely made any actual characters development. I enjoyed the storyline, but didn’t find the characters that likeable, and wasn’t a fan of the phrasing of female physical appearances /spoiler>

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overflowingshelf's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.0

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Narrator Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

CW: domestic abuse; physical abuse; emotional abuse; sexism; toxic relationship; medical content (heart attack & paralyzation); death of a sibling; misogyny; car accident

The potential of this far surpassed the execution. I was so here for the premise as it sounded so cute! But I ended up HATING some of the characters and didn’t buy the romance.

First off, all the men (except for Layla’s dad) are the WORST™. Truly, they are the most sleazy, scummy, rude men I’ve ever seen. If I encountered any of them in real life, I would have all the warning bells going off.

Our main male lead, Sam Mehta, is not the guy for me. The dude is a walking red flag. I feel like he’s supposed to come off as flirty and suave, but it came off as cocky, arrogant, creepy, and overly sexual. Like, dude, can you stop thinking about her breasts every two seconds? Layla did not welcome his advances in the beginning so it could easily be read as sexual harassment. He’s also so blinded by revenge that it negatively impacts all the relationships in his life – with his family, friends, and even Layla. Sam also does some severely unethical things to get revenge, even though his sister would rather leave the past in the past. He fails to support the women in his life when they need him and instead stifles and hurts them instead of building them up. I feel like he’s supposed to be a sympathetic character, but instead, he comes off as heartless, sleazy, and controlling to me, so I was not a fan.

Honestly, thank god for Layla’s dad as he seemed like the only man with his heart in a good place. I loved him and didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. All he wants is for his daughter to be happy (even if he goes behind her back to do it). He even can make Sam see reason regarding the situation with Sam’s sister. He’s a delight, and his love for his family shines through. Layla’s whole family is truly a delight and one of the bright spots of this book, as they really support each other and have each other’s back, even if they also get on each other’s nerves. It felt like a real family, with so much love and warmth there.

I also struggled a bit with Layla, particularly towards the end. She’s not a perfect person by any means, which I appreciated. She’s honestly a bit of a mess, but she knows that. I love that she turned to her family when she realized she needed to find herself, as they truly love her unconditionally and want the best for her. But Layla started to get on my nerves towards the end. I wanted to see more growth from her, to be honest. She makes some genuinely questionable decisions towards the end that had me screaming. Also, the whole thing with her business and how having a name is the most important thing irritated me. A name does not a business make.

I feel like this book was trying so hard to be a RomCom at times (despite some pretty heavy subject matters), but it didn’t come across that way. The setups for the big romantic moments feel very RomCom-y as there is some humor laced in them, but it fell flat for me.

Unsurprisingly, I struggled with the romance between Sam and Layla. Some of that is due to my intense dislike of Sam, but there also wasn’t any chemistry between the two of them. This book is supposed to be an enemies-to-lovers type story, but there was none of that sizzling passion, that rapid-fire banter that is a staple of that trope. When they kissed the first time, I was like meh. And then the sexy times felt so uncomfortable and not sexy to me – probably because Sam was giving me the ick. I also wish their romantic relationship had more time to grow. Things felt like they happened very quickly, and I wasn’t sure what drew them to each other and why they loved one enough. I just wanted more from the romance than I got.

I listened to this on audio, and I think Soneela Nankani is an easy narrator to listen to. I did find myself questioning if her delivery of some of Sam’s lines made them come off more sleazy or if it was the lines themselves, but I’ve landed on it’s more the lines themselves as her performance overall was pretty solid. She captured the characters well and did her best with what she was given.

I so wanted to like this book as it sounded like such fun, but by the end, I couldn’t wait to be done with it. That’s the worst feeling – when you cannot wait to finish a book because you’re not feeling it. And I truly wasn’t feeling this. But I don’t want to count Sara Desai out, as I did like her writing style – I just hated the characters in this. I’m skeptical if I’ll continue with this series (I’ve heard some mixed things about some of the other books), but I am intrigued by her newest book, To Have and To Heist, so I may try that instead.

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.75

After a terrible breakup, Layla returns home and decides to open her own business in the office above her family's restaurants. But her dad has already leased the office to Sam. When Sam arrives for his first day in his new office, he finds his polar opposite and new enemy Layla at his desk. So, they make a wager, if Sam helps Layla find and go through a list of potential husbands then Sam gets the office. But maybe they're a perfect match, for each other.
The book was as predictable as most contemporary romances. It had a good amount of humor but not quite enough spice. Most of the sex was off page, with some foreplay depicted.
I think this book should have been at least 2 hours shorter. I got to around 69% and wondered how there could be so much of the book left. It just felt very drawn out.
Overall a pretty good book, just too long and with not enough spice. Also, a bit heavier than your usual contemporary romance, which I wasn't expecting.

Extra ratings: Fluff - 2/5 Heartfelt- 3.5/5 Helpful-NA Horror- 0/5 Inspiration- NA Love aka Romance-4.5/5 Mystery-0/5 Predictability- 4.5/5 Spice- 2/5 Suspense- 0/5 Tear 1.5/5 Thrill- 0/5 Humor-3.5/5

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vj_thompson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

1.0

This book was an emotional roller coaster that I did not need. I wasn’t a fan of Sam and Layla’s relationship. I thought it was very unhealthy. I also hated how every male character was written. Not every man constantly thinks about banging women…

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claire_fitzgibbon13's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted sad 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

4.25

Loved it. It was fun and flirty.

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amotoquinha's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.5

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angelfireeast24's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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sweetchocolatez's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.0

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sarahmae531's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-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? No

2.5

Overall, I found Sam and Layla’s relationship confusing.. Things moved way too fast to be believable, (

him acting as a “chaperone” after knowing each other 48 hours? her squeezing his leg under the table to get him to stop talking on the first date? they randomly started calling each other boyfriend/girlfriend without a conversation about it??

) and I know it’s a romance and doesn’t have to be believable all the time, but this was just too out of this world.
Also some descriptions of Layla’s body read so much like a man was writing the novel.. Enough said, I think.
I thought the ending was pretty predictable, but I did think it was cute and is the reason it got an extra .5 stars from me.

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jennabenna's review against another edition

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1.5

Read this book if you like toxic masculinity. The love-interest, Sam, full-on only every wants to sleep with or "protect" women, and punch other men. He is emotionally stunted, estranged from his family, possessive of his sister. He literally gets in bloody bar fights against his friend, randomly threatens people for no reason, is a total jerk at work, and has self-absorbed bullies as friends and coworkers. His behavior is WAY out of line in the climax of the book

attending a cocaine and stripper filled party instead of meeting Layla's family, and then defending his decision to evict Laylas family from their restaurant

and yet somehow Layla is the one making a grand gesture to win him back?
Also, most of the banter between the two leads is in front of other people in a way that is really awkward. And the pacing of the book is off as well.
Plus, TONS of trigger warnings (in addition to the violent toxic masculinity). A bunch of stuff happens that should be really
upsetting to the characters, but is just casually presented in a cluncky way to move the plot along and doesnt get the attention it deserved

just to name a few, her parents are losing their restaurant, her brother died, her dad has a heart attack and is comatose in the hospital, the leads get in a car accident, one of her suitors beats up his female Employee within earshot of Layla, Sam's sister was pushed down the stairs by her abusive husband and is now wheelchair bound, Layla has a coworker with a girlfriend who is constantly sexually harassing her, including rubbing her body against his boner when she asks him to stop

and thats not even all of the intense or misogynistic stuff that is presented casually in the story. I would have given a lower star rating, but the Indian representation was nice, and her dad was sweet. Overall, Do not recommend.

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