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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book had a lot going for it. But ultimately, it didn’t deliver on its most interesting elements.
Ordinarily, I would give a mediocre book like this 2 stars, but this is a rare instance where I found the author’s writing voice charming enough to momentarily distract me from the messy plot and world building.
You see, it’s hard to take a story that seems out of the realm of realistic given its plot of a game for thieves where people have the risk of dying and a kidnapped mother seriously when, on the first page, K-Dramas on Netflix are referenced.
Not that there’s anything wrong with K-Dramas, it just felt out of place and this repeated throughout the whole book. I can see that the goal was to appeal to Gen-Z (which is a condition that a lot of books are guilty of these days) through the less than sophisticated writing style and pop culture references with a strong female main character (actually, the main character was one of the things I liked the most about this book, her inner monologue was fun to read) but, to me, it comes off as kind of tacky and inauthentic.
Like I said, I enjoyed the main character, who I did not enjoy was her love interest. Starting with his name, Devroe? Seriously? That sounds like I just made it up on the fly!
That’s like saying:
Introducing the fun BFF characters, Glipglorp and Rascal!
Do you see my point?
Anyway back to Devroe or whatever, he was such a cookie cutter “bad boy enemies to lovers” option that I half hoped he was meant to be a satirical caricature. Alas, he wasn’t. He’s so…what’s the word?
I got it!
“BookTok-y”
I’ll bet you ten dollars that if I walk into Barnes and Nobles right now, I’ll find this book on one of those stupid specially designated “BookTok” shelves with a bunch of meaningless tropes listed.
those are my main gripes with this book.
Other than those, it’s not all that bad.
Ordinarily, I would give a mediocre book like this 2 stars, but this is a rare instance where I found the author’s writing voice charming enough to momentarily distract me from the messy plot and world building.
You see, it’s hard to take a story that seems out of the realm of realistic given its plot of a game for thieves where people have the risk of dying and a kidnapped mother seriously when, on the first page, K-Dramas on Netflix are referenced.
Not that there’s anything wrong with K-Dramas, it just felt out of place and this repeated throughout the whole book. I can see that the goal was to appeal to Gen-Z (which is a condition that a lot of books are guilty of these days) through the less than sophisticated writing style and pop culture references with a strong female main character (actually, the main character was one of the things I liked the most about this book, her inner monologue was fun to read) but, to me, it comes off as kind of tacky and inauthentic.
Like I said, I enjoyed the main character, who I did not enjoy was her love interest. Starting with his name, Devroe? Seriously? That sounds like I just made it up on the fly!
That’s like saying:
Introducing the fun BFF characters, Glipglorp and Rascal!
Do you see my point?
Anyway back to Devroe or whatever, he was such a cookie cutter “bad boy enemies to lovers” option that I half hoped he was meant to be a satirical caricature. Alas, he wasn’t. He’s so…what’s the word?
I got it!
“BookTok-y”
I’ll bet you ten dollars that if I walk into Barnes and Nobles right now, I’ll find this book on one of those stupid specially designated “BookTok” shelves with a bunch of meaningless tropes listed.
those are my main gripes with this book.
Other than those, it’s not all that bad.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-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