Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - All Rhodes Lead Here

5⭐️ (lengthy review for a lengthy book)!

guys i loved this book so much. and im not one to complain about a slow burn so let’s start with that. i don’t mind lengthy books especially if they’re good, have plot, and characters i love. which is exactly what this book was.

the characters really sold this book for me. aurora, rhodes, and amos became my favorite people. they’re dynamics and how they interacted with eachother was everything my heart needed.

let’s talk about a slow burn done right bro. when they first met the dynamic between rhodes and aurora was my personal favorite a grumpy sunshine. then they became friends and became partners. BRO IT WAS SO GOOD. there’s only one smutt scene btw.

quick mention of the tropes! grumpy x sunshine, small town romance, single dad, slow burn

honorable mentions to clara and yuki they’re my favs bro. i’m just saying clara, yuki, and aurora would’ve been an amazing trio!

okay one last thing the epilogue was everything i wanted in an epilogue. i’m sorry but i can’t get over how healthy the relationship between rhodes and aurora is. so yeah i love marianna zapata and i’m so in love with my first book written by her <3

Content Warnings

ranjanireviewsreads's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This is the second Mariana Zapata book I've read and I really like her style. Honestly, Rhodes and Am stole my heart. I've always been a sucker for the strong and silent with a heart of gold type. And I like teens who are cool.

Tropes:
- Small town romance
- (kind of) Single parent MMC
- Divorced FMC
- Character study

Things I liked:

-- Though this novel is a romance, I liked that the main theme was in fact grief, love, and perseverance. It gave a depth to it that romance novels usually lack (despite being written and read mainly for the romance). I loved the description of grief losing someone changes you as a person. I've never experienced it myself and I can't imagine how painful it must be; Zapata does a wonderful job of writing about it.

-- I loved the community feeling of this book. Usually, the small-town romances I read leave me feeling a little underwhelmed when it comes to the presence and importance of supporting characters. But with All Rhodes lead here, I had no complaints. The main character is still very much Aurora and that is made very clear; but to see the impact kind people have on her is great and something I will be looking for in other books.

-- I loved the character journey Aurora took. There was no specific development per se; but I could just feel the loneliness in the beginning, the slight hope of companionship in the middle, and the love of family in the end. This is possibly my favourite thing to read about; someone lonely finding their forever family.

Things I didn't like:

-- Ngl, I cringed every time Rhodes said "Buddy" or "angel face"
I also felt a whole fucking zoo in my chest whenever he said "angel" or "sweetheart" so I guess that makes up for it? Either way, slightly cringe.

-- Rhodes was not the greatest in terms of character development. He was much less explored than Aurora - and while I fully believe this novel is much more a character study than a romance, it still would have been nice to see a little more of Rhodes that the rushed history-and-interests exposition we did get.

-- As a result of Rhodes less-than-ideal development, I wasn't quite on board with the romance. It was sweet and mature but I believe it could have been much better.

-- I am not totally on board with Zapata's writing. There was a lot of repetition of stuff that would have had more impact if it was mentioned only once. For example, when Aurora would think about her mother, I could feel her grief and anger and loneliness but I also got super frustrated because these thoughts would go on for paragraphs at a time. They would say the same thing, just in slightly different words. I skipped paragraphs and even pages (I used an epub so they weren't really long)

-- Continuing with the writing, I sensed a struggle to balance exposition, internal narration, and dialogue. Either the exposition was too long or the dialogue was. As a result, the narration really fell flat at places where it should have kept my attention.

Overall, I really did like reading All Rhodes Lead Here despite my slight frustration with the writing.

Would recommend to fans of romance, but more specifically, character driven stories that border on character studies.

Spice: 🌶.5
- One detailed scene, some mentions.

❗️❗️* SPOILER FOR The Wall of Winnipeg and Me AND All Rhodes Lead Here* ❗️❗️

-- I made a comment on the epilogue of The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, about how I didn't like the inclusion of kids. It felt cheap, like a ploy intended to appeal to readers who wanted that ending. However that is not the case here. Getting married, having kids was a very satisfying conclusion for Rhodes and Aurora.

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rd77's review

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emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved this book. It definitely live up to the hype.

I was initially a little worried that I wouldn’t like Rhodes, but I kept reading because the plot was great, and as Mariana Zapata is always able to pull this off, I end up loving the guy even though I was iffy about him in the beginning. I really loved Aurora and I think she’s one of my favorite protagonists in this genre. Overall, such a sweet book.

the TENT AND SMORES. I had actually gasped. And then Amos and Rhodes coming to get Aurora after they thought she left.

I also really liked the plot line with Aurora’s mother and dealing with grief.

I loved all of the characters (seriously, all of them) and got attached very quickly. It was great to see Aurora get the support and love she deserved. It also felt like a lot more than just a romance (especially compared to other Mariana Zapata books), and I really liked that. The setting in Colorado was great and a good switch from all of the Texas MZ books. Definitely one of my favorite books of this genre!

Content Warnings