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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
A little over an hour into the audiobook and I know very little about who these characters are and frankly I don’t care about them. I want to feel invested and I don’t think this book will have a great ROI on my time spent reading it.
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I don’t understand the other reviews on this, there are definitely faults to the book but the writing was rather nice. Lots of yearning and the spicy scenes are well written. The climax is, well, anticlimactic. The way it was written implied (to me at least) that Theo was flashing back to witnessing r*** which caused a lot of anxiety so finding out the actual story i felt a mix of relief and frustration at the unnecessary tension caused by the way the writer chose to reveal things. We also never find out what Lucia was telling Theo to tell magdeline (he continuously mentions that he never mentioned this to anyone else) so overall it feels like a rather immature piece of writing with these glaring faults. The writer would’ve done better to just write a “spicy summer in Italy” book rather than trying to make something heavier.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“I wish for seashells to capture that sound, that beautiful laugh, so when I hold it up to my ear, I can hear him instead of the sea”
There was a lot that I loved about this book. The writing style was stunning, there were many lines in this book that were so beautifully crafted. I also loved the pacing. I continuously wanted to pick this book up when I wasn’t reading it. I liked most of the characters, especially Magdalen and her father. I SOBBED at the ending that was heartbreaking. I didn’t need normal people pt.2 IM WEAK.
The romance unfortunately just didn’t work for me. It was hard to believe these two characters were in love when from the beginning there was a sexual note to every thought and feeling. The way Theo talked about Magdalen almost solely in a sexual way made it so hard to root for the couple or to believe they are truly in love and destined to be together. He was also so unnecessarily cruel and mean to her at times I truly could not understand how Magdalen forgave him time and time again. I understand he was dealing with things but it felt like punishment that she had to endure it and it made it difficult for me to want them to fix things.
Overall I would 100% read more from Cameron Capello and would love to see where her writing journey takes her I just wish this beautiful prose translated to more within the romance aspect.
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
1. A stunning debut novel
2. The yearning!
3. Brother/sister dynamics for both sets of family rang true
4. Italy setting - town gave me call me your name (vibes only not subject matter)
5. Thought 451 pages was long but she used every sentence to the max. I understood their innermost thoughts and their behaviour made sense
6. Haircutting scene! So many OMG HERE WE GO scenes
7. Where can I find someone with a Scottish/italian accent, a Callum Kerr type who speaks Italian?
2. The yearning!
3. Brother/sister dynamics for both sets of family rang true
4. Italy setting - town gave me call me your name (vibes only not subject matter)
5. Thought 451 pages was long but she used every sentence to the max. I understood their innermost thoughts and their behaviour made sense
6. Haircutting scene! So many OMG HERE WE GO scenes
7. Where can I find someone with a Scottish/italian accent, a Callum Kerr type who speaks Italian?
Magdalen returns to her hometown in Italy for her sister's wedding, where she runs into her best friend's brother, Theo, who has not been home in 7 years. As they reconnect, the tension builds and they struggle to stay away from one another.
I was so excited for this book after following the author on social media for quite a while. So I hate to say it, but this was a bit of a mess. There was no real plot. Things seemed to just hop from one thing to the next with little to no explanation, so you couldn't really get your footing in the story. The characters felt very one dimensional, and a lot of their motivations for things didn't add up. (Like why was Theo so stuck on not being able to date his best friends little sister, but that same best friend was seemingly in a bit of a situationship with Theo's little sister.) It just seemed like the author wanted to keep the tension going for as long as she could, without being able to justify it. It just reads a bit like a bad soap opera.
In terms of the narrators of the audiobook, I was a little distracted because both of them kept slipping out of their British accents. It felt really inconsistent.
The main thing this book had going for it was the setting. Beautiful Italian towns were definitely a good place to stage a romance book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC!
I was so excited for this book after following the author on social media for quite a while. So I hate to say it, but this was a bit of a mess. There was no real plot. Things seemed to just hop from one thing to the next with little to no explanation, so you couldn't really get your footing in the story. The characters felt very one dimensional, and a lot of their motivations for things didn't add up. (Like why was Theo so stuck on not being able to date his best friends little sister, but that same best friend was seemingly in a bit of a situationship with Theo's little sister.) It just seemed like the author wanted to keep the tension going for as long as she could, without being able to justify it. It just reads a bit like a bad soap opera.
In terms of the narrators of the audiobook, I was a little distracted because both of them kept slipping out of their British accents. It felt really inconsistent.
The main thing this book had going for it was the setting. Beautiful Italian towns were definitely a good place to stage a romance book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC!