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gillianw's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars
The first 40% of this book was quite good but it really should’ve ended there. There’s a lot - A LOT - of internal dialogue and a lot of everyone somehow always knowing what someone is thinking, so it feels like the MC’s don’t actually have a proper two way conversation until very late in the book. Plus, I just found the writing to be very flowery and just a little *too much* for my liking. Perhaps a better editor would’ve helped but I’m entirely open to the fact that it just might be me and not the book.
The first 40% of this book was quite good but it really should’ve ended there. There’s a lot - A LOT - of internal dialogue and a lot of everyone somehow always knowing what someone is thinking, so it feels like the MC’s don’t actually have a proper two way conversation until very late in the book. Plus, I just found the writing to be very flowery and just a little *too much* for my liking. Perhaps a better editor would’ve helped but I’m entirely open to the fact that it just might be me and not the book.
avalydia's review
3.5
Well, this book was something else, as James would say. It takes place on the beaches of both California and Hawaii, and the descriptions are so vivid, you can practically smell the salt. James and Sydney have a whirlwind romance (despite clocking in at over 500 pages, most of the book takes place over like... three weeks) and the author does an excellent job of developing their relationship, from that first glance on the pier to the last surfing scene as newlyweds .
What the book really could have used was a good editor.
At 538 pages, this was way too long for a romance where, in all actuality, not much happens. Two surfing competitions, some sex scenes,James moving in with Sydney, and the two of them getting married at the end . Most of the page count is from the writing itself, with beautiful but overwrought descriptions of practically everything under the sun: the sky, the water, the sand, their bodies, memories of events that happened earlier in the book, etc. I'm not joking when I say that 100 pages could have been trimmed from this alone.
On top of that, multiple scenes were written as flashbacks for no clear reason (eg, a character wakes up and then thinks in extensive detail about what happened the night before, even though the last chapter had been about that night before cutting off... so why not just write the scene as it took place that night?). Similarly,the two anal "sex" scenes were written as the characters dirty-talking about it, one time when it hadn't happened yet and another when they were recalling the sex they'd had the night before. Like... why not just write it when they were actually doing it? Very confusing choices.
Finally, there were some surprisingly basic mistakes, eg, dialogue like "blah blah." he said (with a period instead of a comma).
Overall, the book was still really good, with a unique setting/time period/sport - not a lot of surfing romances out there! - and the author's talent for making you feel like you were right there on the beach with the main characters. But sometimes, less is more.
What the book really could have used was a good editor.
At 538 pages, this was way too long for a romance where, in all actuality, not much happens. Two surfing competitions, some sex scenes,
On top of that, multiple scenes were written as flashbacks for no clear reason (eg, a character wakes up and then thinks in extensive detail about what happened the night before, even though the last chapter had been about that night before cutting off... so why not just write the scene as it took place that night?). Similarly,
Finally, there were some surprisingly basic mistakes, eg, dialogue like "blah blah." he said (with a period instead of a comma).
Overall, the book was still really good, with a unique setting/time period/sport - not a lot of surfing romances out there! - and the author's talent for making you feel like you were right there on the beach with the main characters. But sometimes, less is more.
emendelowitz's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
hanlikefawn's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-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
5.0
🥲
rhiandroid_'s review
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
carmadillobear's review
3.75
Solid. Beautifully written but slightly a bit too flowery. not very tightly plotted and lessened the impact in the later half as book just felt a bit overly long. But very sweet
moreteawesley's review
4.0
3.5 ⭐️ I’m torn on this because the writing was beautiful and my god T H E Y E A R N I N G, but it was just too long. I can usually read a book in a day or two, but this took me like a week, and that was with a fair bit of skimming through the last 1/3.
layla87's review
3.0
Omg I'm finally done reading this book.
*insert "It's been 84 years" gif here*
RTC
Ok so the review....
I wanted to love this book more than I did. It had all the makings of a great book for me: Angst, hurt/comfort, beautiful writing. Don't get me wrong, it had all of these things, but...
BUT
This book was LOOOOOONG. And it didn't have to be this long.
Coming from a person who has read Tal Bauer's Whisper, which is an almost 800 page book, that's saying something.
The thing is, this book didn't have to be so long, because when you look carefully, nothing really happens. It's pages and pages of nothing happening
*insert "It's been 84 years" gif here*
RTC
Ok so the review....
I wanted to love this book more than I did. It had all the makings of a great book for me: Angst, hurt/comfort, beautiful writing. Don't get me wrong, it had all of these things, but...
BUT
This book was LOOOOOONG. And it didn't have to be this long.
Coming from a person who has read Tal Bauer's Whisper, which is an almost 800 page book, that's saying something.
The thing is, this book didn't have to be so long, because when you look carefully, nothing really happens. It's pages and pages of nothing happening
always_anxious's review against another edition
4.0
I can honestly say that I can see why this book has such high praise. I felt a lot while reading this and anytime a book can cause me to feel things other than irritation then I usually consider it to be a good book.
I absolutely loved the MCs ( mainly Sydney) and I LOVED how emotional all their scenes felt. I want to see tenderness when reading romance and this book had so much of it!
With that being said, I do agree with some reviewers saying that this was too long, some parts felt very repetitive with the inner thoughts. I felt disconnected when conversations or actions would get halted for us to be stuck swimming in their thoughts for a while before things resumed.
I still really enjoyed the overall story and loved how the author was able to make scenes feel emotional,tender and just…raw. That’s what I’m in this genre for.
I absolutely loved the MCs ( mainly Sydney) and I LOVED how emotional all their scenes felt. I want to see tenderness when reading romance and this book had so much of it!
With that being said, I do agree with some reviewers saying that this was too long, some parts felt very repetitive with the inner thoughts. I felt disconnected when conversations or actions would get halted for us to be stuck swimming in their thoughts for a while before things resumed.
I still really enjoyed the overall story and loved how the author was able to make scenes feel emotional,tender and just…raw. That’s what I’m in this genre for.