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lunahale's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
i love a good academic rivals to lovers!!! and the little mystery plot running through this was fun. i did have a couple qualms, but overall this was enjoyable and i’m glad i read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Cancer
ajay913's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying, Sexism, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Racism
essie__reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I loved this book! A slow burn, enemies-to-lovers, romcom, with Indiana Jones vibes?! Sign me up! Seriously! So good! Not too steamy, if that's not your thing. There is a bit of a mystery component towards the end. I loved the adventure aspect and the plot, outside the romance. It took me a little bit to get into it, but then I was hooked until the end. I recommend for a fun, fairly light-hearted romcom read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Blood
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: Injury/Injury detail and Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Blood, Colonisation, Sexual content, and Cancer
Minor: Bullying, Body shaming, and Kidnapping
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: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, Cursing, Body shaming, Cancer, and Stalking
wendahh324's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Sexism
mtnest'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? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Cursing, Bullying, Death, and Chronic illness
laheath's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
This is actually a review for the audiobook. Unique concept of two previously competitive archeologists teaming up on an Aztec dig and rekindling a years-old flame. I definitely appreciated the strong female characters, especially the lead with a career in STEM. There was an added mystery about possible theft from the site, but the personal issues of the 2 lead characters did not draw me in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Terminal illness, Body shaming, Sexism, and Death of parent
Minor: Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
jackiepreston's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Cancer, Misogyny, Sexism, Body shaming, and Death of parent
aklovekorn's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This was fun, but to me it had the wrong ratio of romance to adventure. Also, Ford is kind of dumb I'm afraid, and not in a cute way. 😂 The side characters were great but I wish we'd spent more time with them. All that said, I did love the setting and the overall vibes of an archaeological dig!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexual content