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1.75 AVERAGE
1.75 AVERAGE
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This started out fun and intriguing, a quick read that I figured would break the monotony of what I've been reading. The concepts we're quickly introduced to in regards to Ellen and Kate's respective takes on their body image opened up a surprisingly meaningful topic that I felt held merit; specifcally, how they both have their own ideals that are so different from one another's and yet they both similarly struggle to reconcile those ideals when it comes to themselves. But the execution makes this genuinely compelling dichotomy come across as ultimately trite, a repetitive mantra of one note self-hatred that is both literally and logistically entirely superficial.
Then there's the middle section of this book, wherein we make a literal detour to follow Ellen's work. Ellen's area of expertise--the American Civil War era--is obviously a point of interest for the author, which is great, but there's a fine line between interest and blindness, and this crosses that for me. The romanticization of the Confederacy leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as well as entirely pulls you out of the story. This whole section feels like a lecture the author wanted to give more than an actual means of progressing the story. Looking back, it feels like a separate book all together, and doesn't add anything to the book that couldn't have been achieved in a thousand other contextually-appealing ways.
Finally, the ending was...it was something. Maybe I wouldn't go so far as to say appalling, but then again, I just might. I ended up nearly DNF'ing this book at 83% because I was so dreading finishing the last few chapters, and having to listen to these characters go on and on and on about the exact same things in the exact same way for forty more ebook pages. Ultimately, the ending felt like ticking to the top of a rollercoaster only to gently roll back down to the start.Ellen finally confronts her vocally homophobic sister only to find out the sister's husband is cheating on her but with a man, so that totally explains and dismisses the awful way she's treated her sister over the course of the last 200 or so pages. "She hates her husband, who is gay, so free pass on hating her gay sister!" so seems to say the penultimate chapter.
I can read silly, convoluted, messy romances all day long if there's fun to be had in reading them, but getting to the real heart of the matter: there's no fun to be had here.
Then there's the middle section of this book, wherein we make a literal detour to follow Ellen's work. Ellen's area of expertise--the American Civil War era--is obviously a point of interest for the author, which is great, but there's a fine line between interest and blindness, and this crosses that for me. The romanticization of the Confederacy leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as well as entirely pulls you out of the story. This whole section feels like a lecture the author wanted to give more than an actual means of progressing the story. Looking back, it feels like a separate book all together, and doesn't add anything to the book that couldn't have been achieved in a thousand other contextually-appealing ways.
Finally, the ending was...it was something. Maybe I wouldn't go so far as to say appalling, but then again, I just might. I ended up nearly DNF'ing this book at 83% because I was so dreading finishing the last few chapters, and having to listen to these characters go on and on and on about the exact same things in the exact same way for forty more ebook pages. Ultimately, the ending felt like ticking to the top of a rollercoaster only to gently roll back down to the start.
I can read silly, convoluted, messy romances all day long if there's fun to be had in reading them, but getting to the real heart of the matter: there's no fun to be had here.
I finished this book because I felt obligated to once I started it. But I honestly could have cared less about the characters; I had no sympathy for one lead, the other was just annoying, and the best I felt was when I finished it and could put it aside.