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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
There was a LOT going on. This was cute and I still love the main idea of the guys in the book club, but this kinda got way too heavy and it felt a bit forced. Loved the main characters, unnecessary drama aside.
Not my favorite instalment in the series (that was book 2). Let's break it down.
I appreciated
- That the book inside the book is less present in the story. I never really cared for them and I don't think they put the point across (maybe a bit on the first book)
- I really appreciated Alexis as a character, more than any other character's we've met since the beginning of the series. She's got a heart on her sleeve, but she's fierce and very self-aware.
- One of the drama scenes in this is the biggest (very entertaining) shit-show I've ever read. I was thoroughly entertained.
- I also really connected with the characters when they talked about grieving a parent. I believe the writer must have gone through that too to put it into the right perfect words. I really did not expect to find that in this book but I really appreciated it.
- I like family stories, so I appreciated how family was important in this.
Some complaints :
- Noah has some important issues and that's not making me root for him. I feel like he wants to protect Alexis so much that he gets in the way of her making her own decisions (not that she let him affect her, because she's stronger than that). His toxic (and violent) behavior was never addressed and it deeply rebukes me.
- There was less time spent with the guys from the bromance book club. It's both a bad and good thing. Bad because I appreciate these scenes, but good because they feel so staged. Their conversations are never naturals in the way things are said and it's a bit cringe to read even though I appreciate a lot what's being said.
- At this point in the series the characters feels way too much like each other. Their personality are not clear enough and it's become potâto-potato.
- I feel like the ending was really rushed. Everything happens really quickly and things that were problems all throughout the books get resolve too easily. We really see a lack of development and details compared to the beginning of the book.
The next installment in the series is about "The Russian" and I won't be reading it. I never really liked his comic-relief-fart-joke-cutsie role in the series. The fact that he is a completely ridiculous character called only "The Russian" (no name) leaves a sour taste in my mouth and it reminds me of all the immigrants whose names people don't even bother trying to say because "they're too hard"... I think we saw more of him in this one, probably in preparation for the next book, but I'm still not interested. The books are just starting to feel too similar for my interest to still be peeked.
I appreciated
- That the book inside the book is less present in the story. I never really cared for them and I don't think they put the point across (maybe a bit on the first book)
- I really appreciated Alexis as a character, more than any other character's we've met since the beginning of the series. She's got a heart on her sleeve, but she's fierce and very self-aware.
- One of the drama scenes in this is the biggest (very entertaining) shit-show I've ever read. I was thoroughly entertained.
- I also really connected with the characters when they talked about grieving a parent. I believe the writer must have gone through that too to put it into the right perfect words. I really did not expect to find that in this book but I really appreciated it.
- I like family stories, so I appreciated how family was important in this.
Some complaints :
- Noah has some important issues and that's not making me root for him. I feel like he wants to protect Alexis so much that he gets in the way of her making her own decisions (not that she let him affect her, because she's stronger than that). His toxic (and violent) behavior was never addressed and it deeply rebukes me.
- There was less time spent with the guys from the bromance book club. It's both a bad and good thing. Bad because I appreciate these scenes, but good because they feel so staged. Their conversations are never naturals in the way things are said and it's a bit cringe to read even though I appreciate a lot what's being said.
- At this point in the series the characters feels way too much like each other. Their personality are not clear enough and it's become potâto-potato.
- I feel like the ending was really rushed. Everything happens really quickly and things that were problems all throughout the books get resolve too easily. We really see a lack of development and details compared to the beginning of the book.
The next installment in the series is about "The Russian" and I won't be reading it. I never really liked his comic-relief-fart-joke-cutsie role in the series. The fact that he is a completely ridiculous character called only "The Russian" (no name) leaves a sour taste in my mouth and it reminds me of all the immigrants whose names people don't even bother trying to say because "they're too hard"... I think we saw more of him in this one, probably in preparation for the next book, but I'm still not interested. The books are just starting to feel too similar for my interest to still be peeked.
“Empathy warred with self preservation, and if that wasn’t the story of her entire life, she didn’t know it was.”
Loved the twists in this one. Didn’t see them coming! Always love a happy ending!
Not very good. The plot & story lines of this were way out in ‘soap opera land’- the whole long-lost-family & kidney transplant story was poor; the characters of Candi (who was a pretty bad person) & most of her family engendered very little empathy. Eh.
I wasn’t planning on continuing this series after finishing the previous book, but I’m glad I took a chance on this installment. I felt the first two books were extremely heavy handed in discussing toxic masculinity. Listen, I love the idea of men getting together to read romance novels and dismantle toxic masculinity, I just didn’t love the delivery. The author found a way to integrate it more seamlessly into this book, so it no longer felt inauthentic every time it came up. Much more like actual conversations men would have with each other, less like an SNL skit.
Honestly I didn’t care about these characters going in, I had to look up who they were because they’re barely in the other books. I didn’t find it compelling or fitting to the series. Seemed forced and I was underwhelmed.
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I almost gave this 4 stars but decided to raise it a smidge to a full 5. In the same way I felt Mack and Liv more fully than Thea and Gavin, I was more connected to Alexis and Noah! Their relationship rang truest to me of the 3 couples so far. Noah and Lexa were believable in their friendship bond and in each's hesitation to blow that friendship out of the water with what they considered to be unrequited love and the resulting awkwardness they assumed would ensue if either made a move. Of course being a Bromance Book Club title it's not a spoiler to say things changed.