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thebashfulbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
How to Survive a Modern Day Fairy Tale by Elle Cruz is a nice, modern-day re-telling of Cinderella, with a multicultural twist.
Claire Ventura works in a bookstore with hopes of starting her own cookie decorating business. She’s the daughter of first-generation Filipino parents and has two sisters and a very large extended family. She’s always put her family first and doesn’t want to disappoint them. She has a special bond with her grandmother who has to live in a facility due to her advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
She literally runs into Nate, the CEO of a tech company and they fall for each other almost instantly and he flies her to Paris for a first date. But, with completely different backgrounds and financial statuses, can their love survive?
I enjoyed Claire’s family very much, their large loud gathering reminds me of Filipino families I’ve known over the years. I liked Claire’s determination to become a business owner and do something she enjoys.
I was not a fan of the romance. I didn’t feel the connection between Claire and Nate and found their instant love a bit unbelievable. Not that instant love is not believable, but the author did not make me feel this connection was realistic. I thought Nate was very nice and sweet, but I didn’t understand his instant connection with Claire.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Claire Ventura works in a bookstore with hopes of starting her own cookie decorating business. She’s the daughter of first-generation Filipino parents and has two sisters and a very large extended family. She’s always put her family first and doesn’t want to disappoint them. She has a special bond with her grandmother who has to live in a facility due to her advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
She literally runs into Nate, the CEO of a tech company and they fall for each other almost instantly and he flies her to Paris for a first date. But, with completely different backgrounds and financial statuses, can their love survive?
I enjoyed Claire’s family very much, their large loud gathering reminds me of Filipino families I’ve known over the years. I liked Claire’s determination to become a business owner and do something she enjoys.
I was not a fan of the romance. I didn’t feel the connection between Claire and Nate and found their instant love a bit unbelievable. Not that instant love is not believable, but the author did not make me feel this connection was realistic. I thought Nate was very nice and sweet, but I didn’t understand his instant connection with Claire.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
baileymorrison's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
2.25
I had high hopes for this romance and it really fell flat. The characters are trite, the ~romance~ pure cringe, and the conflict was stupid.
auburnivy's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
4.25
Amazing!! Wish it wasn’t in 3rd person though
twiinklex's review
1.0
Why I requested this Netgalley arc: The gorgeous cover, #ownvoices debut, a Cinderella retelling as a "fun, flirty romcom". Basically, all the things I usually love.
By the time I got round to reading the book, it had dipped to a 3.22 rating and it took me only a few chapters to see why.
1. The writing (particularly the protagonist's voice) came across as juvenile.
The entire book read more like a Wattpad story (in fact, I've read better there) instead of a published adult novel. I was actually shocked to learn that Claire is 30 years old because I felt like I was reading tweenage fiction (not even YA).
2. There is hardly any cultural/ownvoices or Cinderella element.
I know this is largely a romance novel, but I was hoping to learn more about Filipino culture and hence was disappointed by the lack of depth. What we have is a huge family including some annoying aunties and two sisters, all of whom are one-dimensional with no backstory. There were just some fleeting mentions of Filipino food but that's about it.
3. The steamy scenes scenes were cringeworthy.
4. This book made me realise just how much I dislike the instalove trope.
The romance was super fast-paced and bland, with no development or buildup. The characters do acknowledge this, which I appreciated. I tried to read the book like I would a fairytale (quick, fluffy, minimal conflict) but it just didn't work for me.
5. Claire and Nate are clearly incompatible.
Claire does not grow at all throughout the book and remains unchanged (and not in a good way). Nate is manipulative and a red-flag love interest who employs the 'love bombing' tactic in the guise of big romantic gestures.
The argument they had at 86% is SO problematic. Nate chides Claire for having 'bullshit insecurities" that she can't get past and which "get in the way". These are also classic lines of a manipulator:
6. Claire's arc was highly disappointing.
Claire spends bulk of the book talking about how much she loves baking. She repeatedly mentions her desire to set up her own business and spends a lot of time deliberating whether to take the leap. She repeatedly tells everyone that she wants her own career outside of her romantic relationship. She judges the wives of Nate's friends for giving up their careers to be housewives and says she doesn't want to be like them.
For all her so-called passion and professionalism, Claire ghosts her customer and walks off into the sunrise with Nate. What was the point of the book? It would have been preferable if the book decided to pull an unconventional twist and go against the fairytale stereotype by having Claire choose herself.
Not fun, not flirty and definitely not my idea of a modern fairytale.
By the time I got round to reading the book, it had dipped to a 3.22 rating and it took me only a few chapters to see why.
1. The writing (particularly the protagonist's voice) came across as juvenile.
The entire book read more like a Wattpad story (in fact, I've read better there) instead of a published adult novel. I was actually shocked to learn that Claire is 30 years old because I felt like I was reading tweenage fiction (not even YA).
2. There is hardly any cultural/ownvoices or Cinderella element.
I know this is largely a romance novel, but I was hoping to learn more about Filipino culture and hence was disappointed by the lack of depth. What we have is a huge family including some annoying aunties and two sisters, all of whom are one-dimensional with no backstory. There were just some fleeting mentions of Filipino food but that's about it.
3. The steamy scenes scenes were cringeworthy.
"He was a big boy, indeed. Claire had seen several penises in real life, and all of them were perfunctory enough. But this was not a regular penis. This was a cock – long and thick and beautiful all at once. He had the kind of dick that belonged in porn, and Claire was certain her eyes were deceiving her." (34%)
4. This book made me realise just how much I dislike the instalove trope.
The romance was super fast-paced and bland, with no development or buildup. The characters do acknowledge this, which I appreciated. I tried to read the book like I would a fairytale (quick, fluffy, minimal conflict) but it just didn't work for me.
5. Claire and Nate are clearly incompatible.
Claire does not grow at all throughout the book and remains unchanged (and not in a good way). Nate is manipulative and a red-flag love interest who employs the 'love bombing' tactic in the guise of big romantic gestures.
The argument they had at 86% is SO problematic. Nate chides Claire for having 'bullshit insecurities" that she can't get past and which "get in the way". These are also classic lines of a manipulator:
"You promised me you'd always tell me what was in your mind, and that you'd always be here. You said you'd never walk away, but you didn't mean it."
"You'd better be fucking sure this is what you want. Because if you leave, I don't even want to see you again."
6. Claire's arc was highly disappointing.
Claire spends bulk of the book talking about how much she loves baking. She repeatedly mentions her desire to set up her own business and spends a lot of time deliberating whether to take the leap. She repeatedly tells everyone that she wants her own career outside of her romantic relationship. She judges the wives of Nate's friends for giving up their careers to be housewives and says she doesn't want to be like them.
Spoiler
And yet she ends up choosing Nate over her career."Business opportunities would come and go. True love would not." (97%)
For all her so-called passion and professionalism, Claire ghosts her customer and walks off into the sunrise with Nate. What was the point of the book? It would have been preferable if the book decided to pull an unconventional twist and go against the fairytale stereotype by having Claire choose herself.
Not fun, not flirty and definitely not my idea of a modern fairytale.
turtlereader's review against another edition
2.0
This book blew my feminism out of the water. Okay, I’m not big on the feminist ideals but this is just so painful to read. Honestly, this is a one star read but I’ve added the extra star because we don’t have a lot of filo contemporary romance in this parts of town.
I was so excited to chance upon this book. Again, we needed more filo books in this world. The start easily hooked me but then I realised that the filo toxicity in the form of aunts and annoying sisters(add in the jealousy and gold digging bit) piss the living daylights out of me.
Ok here’s my list.
1. This book is the final nail in my I hate the insta love trope. I hate it so much. I hate it most especially in this book. They are sexually attracted to each other yes but it was written off as love- strong love when we really weren’t given a strong foundation of that strong love story. It’s seggs i tell ya.
2. The female MC- is a doormat in the first chapter up to the very end. She made caring for her grandmom her personality. She made fighting with her aunt about her career and business a big thing then end up giving it up. That was lame as. She kept in running away from her insecurities instead of dealing with them.
3. The male MC- is a freaking douchebag. He clearly have his faults in this relationship but NO, everything that went astray in their story is all Claire’s fault. He didn’t even apologise for being MIA, for not understanding that his lifestyle is all very new to Claire and for sending Claire to war twice- one on a surprise date outside the country, on an airplane for I might reckon as a 10+ hours-ish flight alone and for asking Claire to meet his mom for the fist time- ALONE. Who does that?? He is smug, manipulative and I don’t use this word ever so often- gaslighting SOB. I could just imagine 20 years down this marriage. He literally is have the ingredients of a cheating husband and an absentee dad in the other stories we read that gives his daughters daddy issues.
4. The ending scene- really Claire? You end up chasing the guy halfway across the world. The guy who at the first sign of trouble in paradise, didn’t even fight for you? And went on to apparently your honeymoon alone- and already wanted to move on from you? What is this. Please. You did the grand gesture on top of giving up your career because as per you, career and family are always there but you can only get love once in your lifetime. Yeah, you can only get a bajillionaire once in your lifetime but love? Love is everywhere. Love chooses you. Fights for you. Have some sort of a character development with you from day one to the end page but not this.
I was so excited to chance upon this book. Again, we needed more filo books in this world. The start easily hooked me but then I realised that the filo toxicity in the form of aunts and annoying sisters(add in the jealousy and gold digging bit) piss the living daylights out of me.
Ok here’s my list.
1. This book is the final nail in my I hate the insta love trope. I hate it so much. I hate it most especially in this book. They are sexually attracted to each other yes but it was written off as love- strong love when we really weren’t given a strong foundation of that strong love story. It’s seggs i tell ya.
2. The female MC- is a doormat in the first chapter up to the very end. She made caring for her grandmom her personality. She made fighting with her aunt about her career and business a big thing then end up giving it up. That was lame as. She kept in running away from her insecurities instead of dealing with them.
3. The male MC- is a freaking douchebag. He clearly have his faults in this relationship but NO, everything that went astray in their story is all Claire’s fault. He didn’t even apologise for being MIA, for not understanding that his lifestyle is all very new to Claire and for sending Claire to war twice- one on a surprise date outside the country, on an airplane for I might reckon as a 10+ hours-ish flight alone and for asking Claire to meet his mom for the fist time- ALONE. Who does that?? He is smug, manipulative and I don’t use this word ever so often- gaslighting SOB. I could just imagine 20 years down this marriage. He literally is have the ingredients of a cheating husband and an absentee dad in the other stories we read that gives his daughters daddy issues.
4. The ending scene- really Claire? You end up chasing the guy halfway across the world. The guy who at the first sign of trouble in paradise, didn’t even fight for you? And went on to apparently your honeymoon alone- and already wanted to move on from you? What is this. Please. You did the grand gesture on top of giving up your career because as per you, career and family are always there but you can only get love once in your lifetime. Yeah, you can only get a bajillionaire once in your lifetime but love? Love is everywhere. Love chooses you. Fights for you. Have some sort of a character development with you from day one to the end page but not this.
transportedlfl's review against another edition
4.0
This story really is a modern-day fairytale. Claire works at a bookstore, as she tries to grow her own business of cookie decorating. Her meet cute with Nate is one to remember. She has no idea who he is and is surprised upon learning he's the billionaire owner of many technology and media companies. He sweeps her away in a whirlwind relationship.
The story is really fast-paced with a bit more instalove than I prefer. But it also has some heavier aspects, as Claire navigates family issues including caring for her grandmother with Alzheimer's. Additionally, there's some thoughtfulness about extreme wealth and how money should be spent. I really enjoyed that Claire was Filipino-American, and Nate was Japanese American.
There are some funny puns and hilarious nicknames. If you like super steamy romance and a fairytale relationship, this is a great book for you.
Thank you to Entangled and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.
3.5 stars rounded up
The story is really fast-paced with a bit more instalove than I prefer. But it also has some heavier aspects, as Claire navigates family issues including caring for her grandmother with Alzheimer's. Additionally, there's some thoughtfulness about extreme wealth and how money should be spent. I really enjoyed that Claire was Filipino-American, and Nate was Japanese American.
There are some funny puns and hilarious nicknames. If you like super steamy romance and a fairytale relationship, this is a great book for you.
Thank you to Entangled and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.
3.5 stars rounded up
transportedlfl's review
4.0
This story really is a modern-day fairytale. Claire works at a bookstore, as she tries to grow her own business of cookie decorating. Her meet cute with Nate is one to remember. She has no idea who he is and is surprised upon learning he's the billionaire owner of many technology and media companies. He sweeps her away in a whirlwind relationship.
The story is really fast-paced with a bit more instalove than I prefer. But it also has some heavier aspects, as Claire navigates family issues including caring for her grandmother with Alzheimer's. Additionally, there's some thoughtfulness about extreme wealth and how money should be spent. I really enjoyed that Claire was Filipino-American, and Nate was Japanese American.
There are some funny puns and hilarious nicknames. If you like super steamy romance and a fairytale relationship, this is a great book for you.
Thank you to Entangled and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.
3.5 stars rounded up