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opossumreads's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
This book was rough. The sex scenes felt awkward. I enjoyed the beginning and likes the idea of the ending but the 50%-85% mark of the book felt very rushed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
emily_journals's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I was expecting to really enjoy this book from the premise, I was a big archaeology fan as a kid/teen, and a romance also centering an archaeological expedition sounds right up my alley. However, I knew from pretty much the first time we're viewing the MMC's (Ford's) inner monologue that I was not going to support the resulting romance. I also found myself really disappointed in the level of archaeology in this book, it really was treated just as the back drop for this romance rather than it's own story element for the majority of this book.
Alright, so my biggest issue with this book is I personally think from Ford's inner monologue that he does not respect women in general and only respects very specific women after they've proven themselves to him, which is not a man that should end this story in a relationship. In the first quarter-ish of this book, Ford questions literally everything Corrie says to him even though he manipulated her into coming to this dig because HE KNOWS she's the most renowned expert on this particular artifact and it's story in the whole world. Also, I find the disrespect he has for the way Corrie does her job and practices archaeology as a woman of color unforgivable, and he does nothing to redeem himself and does not change his mind or say anything good about it by the end of the book. I think this book would have been infinitely more tolerable/better for me if we stayed only focused on Corrie and her inner monologue for the whole book and cut all of Ford's focused chapters because from Corrie's POV and inner monologue, Ford is a fine MMC who isn't full of internalized misogyny and bigotry.Also, why are all the sex scene's from Ford's POV??? Confusing.
My big issue with this book is the writing and plot outline. The writing is pretty cheesy through the whole thing (and I'm fine with a good amount of cheesy writing in my romance books, but this is over the top cheesy and always veering into straight up cringe worthy). There were so many times that I highlighted a passage in my e-book just because I couldn't believe that actually got written. And then the plot of the story was kind of a complete mess at the end; there were so many plot points that just got thrown straight into the reader's face out of no where instead of being integrated into the story and woven in until the reveals happened.ALSO, there was literally no resolution to third act breakup? Like Ford is still an awful person who did awful shit to Corrie, didn't ever respond to her questions of being like you wouldn't have done this to me if I was a man, but he gets injured SAVING THE ARTIFACT (and Corrie on the side) and fade to black, a year later, all is forgiven. I'm seriously so confused why the author decided to completely cut out any resolution or emotional growth these characters could have gone through at the end of the book in favor of a cheap pseudo cliff hanger that lasted for half a chapter.
I did really like the archaeological aspects of this, I just wish there was more of that as it felt more like a plot device to get the characters together than its own story element. I also like the FMC most of the time although there were times that there seemed like a little internalized misogyny creeping through and some of the stuff she thought in her inner monologue was really cringe.
Alright, so my biggest issue with this book is I personally think from Ford's inner monologue that he does not respect women in general and only respects very specific women after they've proven themselves to him, which is not a man that should end this story in a relationship. In the first quarter-ish of this book, Ford questions literally everything Corrie says to him even though he manipulated her into coming to this dig because HE KNOWS she's the most renowned expert on this particular artifact and it's story in the whole world. Also, I find the disrespect he has for the way Corrie does her job and practices archaeology as a woman of color unforgivable, and he does nothing to redeem himself and does not change his mind or say anything good about it by the end of the book. I think this book would have been infinitely more tolerable/better for me if we stayed only focused on Corrie and her inner monologue for the whole book and cut all of Ford's focused chapters because from Corrie's POV and inner monologue, Ford is a fine MMC who isn't full of internalized misogyny and bigotry.
My big issue with this book is the writing and plot outline. The writing is pretty cheesy through the whole thing (and I'm fine with a good amount of cheesy writing in my romance books, but this is over the top cheesy and always veering into straight up cringe worthy). There were so many times that I highlighted a passage in my e-book just because I couldn't believe that actually got written. And then the plot of the story was kind of a complete mess at the end; there were so many plot points that just got thrown straight into the reader's face out of no where instead of being integrated into the story and woven in until the reveals happened.
I did really like the archaeological aspects of this, I just wish there was more of that as it felt more like a plot device to get the characters together than its own story element. I also like the FMC most of the time although there were times that there seemed like a little internalized misogyny creeping through and some of the stuff she thought in her inner monologue was really cringe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Misogyny, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, and Kidnapping
ms_elchert's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer and Alcohol
doseofromance's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Was this book secretly written by a man? The FMC was so weirdly sexualized, despite the issue of sexualizing women being a main theme of the book. Like she was barely thinking about anything besides sex or making suggestive jokes. Both MCs - though mainly the FMC - kept thinking and talking about their previous sex lives, which just didn't make sense at all. Bringing it up once is great, but why keep emphasizing that the FMC really enjoys casual hookups?
While I didn't really like either main character, the MMC was the bigger problem. He's actually the exact type of guy women complain about in their fields. Does he sexually harass anyone or sleep with students? No, he just doesn't ever step in when someone else disparages women, uses his romantic relationships to further his career at a woman's expense, and actually explicitly steals said woman's career opportunities. I can't believe the FMC kept going back to him without him actually putting in any effort. He'd do something fucked up, she'd storm of and then come back to him right after. Stop it.
While I didn't really like either main character, the MMC was the bigger problem. He's actually the exact type of guy women complain about in their fields. Does he sexually harass anyone or sleep with students? No, he just doesn't ever step in when someone else disparages women, uses his romantic relationships to further his career at a woman's expense, and actually explicitly steals said woman's career opportunities. I can't believe the FMC kept going back to him without him actually putting in any effort. He'd do something fucked up, she'd storm of and then come back to him right after. Stop it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Death of parent
cassielaj's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
4.75
I have been excited for this book as long as I’ve known of its existence. Which has been probably close to a year at this point. I have been BEGGING the publishing industry at large for more adventure books centering women, and this one is so good! It is definitely heavy on the romance side of things, so I wish there was just a bit more adventure, but in this case I just want there to be more of this book. Corrie is such a cool character, and Ford is a great counterpart to her. It took me a little while to like him, but I think Segura manages the “flawed character who makes mistakes but is still believably lovable” very well. I loved this story and I want more of Corrie and Ford’s adventures!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Violence, and Death of parent
annamay1021's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent
lakinglaze's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A raunchy archaeological contemporary romance — was it reflective of real-life archaeology? No. But — was it fun? Yes! This was a bit spicer than my typical read, but it was a pretty fun story. It’s nice to see archaeology in romance and on a dig at that — speaking as someone with two degrees on the subject. Fun time all around. I hope to see more archaeological themed contemporary romance novels in the future!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
hazelgirl21's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence and Death of parent
amberlfaris's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent
Archaeological dig, enemies to lovers, Mexico, adventurearomanticreadsromance's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
okay, hear me out, i know romance sells in the book world, but this totally should have been the first book of an adventure series with corrie as the sole and primary lead. in each book, she goes on a different archaeological dig, and she is met with different challenges and light mysteries. remove ford entirely from the equation. that man is like the bran flakes or shredded wheat of men. corrie is like the frosted flakes or lucky charms of women. she's a total badass, and i LOVED her character (she only annoyed me once... or possibly twice... in the entire book). i want every woman lead to be as strong and independent as her.
the romance in this was... senseless and kinda awful??? trust me, i know romance is MY genre, but i could have done without the romance. the third act conflict was TOO big to be resolved in the five remaining chapters. ford did not do much, if any, groveling. he just didn't understand how hard it was to be a woman, especially a woman of color, in academia broadly and archaeology specifically, and that's my least favorite brand of white man. i just don't think his character was developed enough. several parts of his storyline felt unresolved or unanswered, like his feelings about his dad. did i understand ford's motives? sure. were his motives enough to absolve him? absolutely not.
i still enjoyed this book, for the most part. the writing was solid, and the adventure was fun.
the romance in this was... senseless and kinda awful??? trust me, i know romance is MY genre, but i could have done without the romance. the third act conflict was TOO big to be resolved in the five remaining chapters. ford did not do much, if any, groveling. he just didn't understand how hard it was to be a woman, especially a woman of color, in academia broadly and archaeology specifically, and that's my least favorite brand of white man. i just don't think his character was developed enough. several parts of his storyline felt unresolved or unanswered, like his feelings about his dad. did i understand ford's motives? sure. were his motives enough to absolve him? absolutely not.
i still enjoyed this book, for the most part. the writing was solid, and the adventure was fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Violence and Blood