Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Spanish Love Deception

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

66 reviews

sherlene_06's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

I didn't read this book when the hype on BookTok was rampant. But recently when I had no choice in a particular situation I found myself reading this book. I had to get through the excruciatingly slow and repetitive parts of Catalina calling Aaron everything that ranged from 'Hot' to 'Cyborg' and Aaron being so persistent in "caring" for her.

Half the parts that were emphasised for the plot weren't elaborated on.

(E.g. The Fundraiser/Auction thing where Catalina "wins" and they need to go on a date)

So that was confusing for a 500-page book.

The book also jumped tropes like a monkey swinging branches. I couldn't pinpoint the theme; it was all over the place. Enemies to Lovers, Boss-Emploee Love Story, Forced Proximity, Fake Dating. The situations and their pacing felt off too.

Somehow in Spain, Aaron is suddenly oversharing with Catalina? They happen to have sex? And then back in New York, two days into work, they almost break up?

Then the epilogue is some half-assed 'he might propose' kind of thing that ended with a cringy dialogue.

Though I must say, the things that Aaron Blackford says before Spain, in Spain and after Spain, I was down bad. Giggling like a little schoolgirl with a crush. Like, was I down bad or was I down bad? Because that man would kneel? Beg? Say 'please'? Would be so delighted to see her eat? Doesn't care if she drained his card? Sign me up someone.

And uh... the smut- Uhm. I skipped over it the moment the dialogue popped up. Absolutely weird. Did not like it. 0/5 (Maybe it's just me, I can't read smut)

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saffotron's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I started this book despising the main character. The book took several chapters to give us any reason whatsoever to sympathise with her disliking the love interest and by the time they had gotten together, I kind of disliked him too just on the basis of how cheesy he was. I found some moments sweet and funny, but having to get past the initial 'i hate him, because I hate him and he's soooo unemotional' of the first third of the book is a chore.

Lina isn't the most enjoyable character to live through, because the way she hates Aaron seems so unearned for so much of the story. I felt like maybe there would be some Eleanor Oliphant twist where I'd understand her through all the meaner aspects of her character, but all of the interesting aspects of the story are clear as day before their 'reveals' and all the character development is kind of rushed or expected too.

Finally, if I had a dollar for every time the name of the book or the word 'deception' was used to refer to the main plot, I'd have enough to ride the bus into town, grab a snack and then ride back again. Not the worst writing, just really not the best.

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cdkm9's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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candyflosscurls's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.25

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stormeno's review

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emotional lighthearted fast-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

3.0

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aschmitttyy's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I enjoyed this one, but it wasn't my favorite of the genre. Their enemies to lovers storyline was cute enough, but it just didn't seem realistic that Aaron was always into Lina but she never knew? Did wrap up with a cute little bow though.

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blackveilbeccy's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

This was an enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, fake dating romance between two engineers. Lina is vivacious and a little flighty, Aaron is serious. He offers to play fake boyfriend to Lina and accompany her to her sister’s wedding, but it turns real along the way. Lina’s family are big and loud, and they add colour to the story. I wasn’t convinced about either the FMC or the MMC as Lina annoyed me a bit and Aaron was two dimensional. He was also super possessive and it came out of nowhere? The book was just okay.

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nyquillll's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective tense 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

3.75

Hopeless romantic here - this book did it for me.

I did think the pacing of the story was a bit slow at times, but I think that was meant to be for this slow-burn, and I’m apparently into those kinds of stories now. In hindsight, when you consider the whole story happens within maybe a couple weeks, it’s probably not so slow.

What can I say about this book. At times I was frustrated with the FMC for how much her inner dialogue and doubts controlled her actions, but then I quickly empathized because isn’t that what we all do? I appreciated the author’s handling of this passionate, soul-consuming, pure kind of love which selflessly offered each other to one another. And, of course, as the reader, we can tell from the beginning how enraptured Aaron is with Catalina. :)

This book touched on self esteem, sexism in the workplace (working in a male-dominated profession), international romance, past trauma, power and gender dynamics in relationships, fake-dating, the things you do for the people you love, strained relationships with parents, loss of parental figures, the presence or absence of extended family, and the strength and courage it takes to trust in love and let it flow in.

I adore the love between the two MCs, even if it took them a while to admit it to one another :)

Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent

Some of my favorite quotes:

”We are ignoring him though. You don’t need to spare his feelings, he doesn’t have any.”

"They probably thought they were not taking any side, but they were. Their silence was doing exactly that."

"Be there in an hour. best, Aaron." "What in the f-"

"What if I still want to tell you about it?"

"What's so surprising, Catalina? I pay attention when you talk. Even when you mumble to yourself."

"If you think I'm not elated to see you eat, then you don't understand how serious I was yesterday."

"Thank you, boyfriend."

"There you are."

"This was a historical moment."

"No sleeping, baby. Please."

"You'll already know that I am."

"And for a while there, it wasn't like that. All that lightness faded out, and seeing my daughter going through something like that wasn't easy...But that's in the past. She's here now, and she's okay. Happy."

"Anything that bothers you matters to me, and I want to hear about it...Nothing about you is boring or doesn't interest me-ever. Understand?"

"I'll earn my four-letter word."

"It doesn't have to be a dream you need to wake up from."

"When there's a rock on the way and you fall, I tumble down with you. We fight our way up together."

"We protect and heal each other. That's how this is supposed to be."

"Half of them wanted to file the complaint themselves..."

"...as long as I had him, my life-altering moment would never be a measurement of time....He was my moment. And for as long as I had him, my life would constantly be changing, be altered. I'd be challenged, cherished, loved. With him, I'd live."

"I'm here. I'm here. I'm running toward you. I trust you. I love you..."

"I would have come back for you, you know? I told you I wouldn't let you quit on us. You still owed me that four-letter word."

"But I finally got it. I understood how hard it'd hit him, losing Mom. How lost he must have been at the reality of not having a way to get her back."

"Your Thea,"

fromjuliereads's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.75

While I had quite a few issues with this book, it was ultimately fine and I did enjoy reading it to an extent. I'm confused by all of the hype praising this book though.
The writing was... not great. Clunky sentences, things were worded strange for characters, and there were whole paragraphs and pages of "filler" that felt repetitive - all of the things going on in Lina's head that seemed to just loop. I admit to skimming a lot of those sections. Also the part in Spain was a shockingly small part of the book?
I did like Aaron's character. Sure he could be stand offish and cold, definitely didn't deal with things in the right way and said "baby" way too much - but I felt like his character had more depth in some ways than Lina.

Anyways. The banter was fun, I liked the fake dating aspect. This is NOT enemies to lovers though. It was a fine read.

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alexxmichelle's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

Its a cute fun read, some cringy moments and pretty slow to start but its overall fun and enjoyable!

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