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tashachowdory's review
1.0
HOW DO BOOKS LIKE THIS GET PUBLISHED?
HOW
HOW
The premise sounded fun. Kinda like a teen movie. But no the book was just utter tripe. I only have myself to blame but the characters are like something out of a fanfiction no development, just playing into the fantasies of the writer. And I know I keep harping on about this, but when you have 17-18 yr olds believing that the perfect life is marriage and kids you have to wonder what's wrong with society. Not being able to view sex as a separate entity, and going along with slut-shaming and the like. Even the language in the book 'she's easy but Hazel's different' aka Hazel's a virgin. But then forcing said character into a weird feminst mould 'I respect women's sexuality' ARGH! ARGH! So weird.
HOW
HOW
The premise sounded fun. Kinda like a teen movie. But no the book was just utter tripe. I only have myself to blame but the characters are like something out of a fanfiction no development, just playing into the fantasies of the writer. And I know I keep harping on about this, but when you have 17-18 yr olds believing that the perfect life is marriage and kids you have to wonder what's wrong with society. Not being able to view sex as a separate entity, and going along with slut-shaming and the like. Even the language in the book 'she's easy but Hazel's different' aka Hazel's a virgin. But then forcing said character into a weird feminst mould 'I respect women's sexuality' ARGH! ARGH! So weird.
jamiebooksandladders's review
3.0
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
From the summary of this one I should have ate this one up: fake relationship, perfect girl falling for the bad boy, FAKE RELATIONSHIP. It was a recipe for success...except, it wasn't. I had a hard time connecting to the characters and thought that there was too much in between the fake relationship stuff that made it kind of blah.
I had to like double and triple check that I was 1. actually reading Felix's point of view and that we weren't still in Hazel's pov because he wasn't written like any guy I know, and 2. his age. I was so confused: was he the same age as Hazel or older? It wasn't super clear throughout the majority of the story. At some points he was made to seem as though he was in college and then other times it seemed like he was a freshman in high school. I got whiplash trying to figure out his age.
I did like the fake relationship and that as they got to "know" one another, they started to realize they had true feelings for one another. But I thought it was kind of weird that they didn't know SOME of the things they learned along the way. Like that Felix at least had a job.
Otherwise this was a fun, fluffy contemporary. And it made me smile so what more could I possibly ask for?
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
From the summary of this one I should have ate this one up: fake relationship, perfect girl falling for the bad boy, FAKE RELATIONSHIP. It was a recipe for success...except, it wasn't. I had a hard time connecting to the characters and thought that there was too much in between the fake relationship stuff that made it kind of blah.
I had to like double and triple check that I was 1. actually reading Felix's point of view and that we weren't still in Hazel's pov because he wasn't written like any guy I know, and 2. his age. I was so confused: was he the same age as Hazel or older? It wasn't super clear throughout the majority of the story. At some points he was made to seem as though he was in college and then other times it seemed like he was a freshman in high school. I got whiplash trying to figure out his age.
I did like the fake relationship and that as they got to "know" one another, they started to realize they had true feelings for one another. But I thought it was kind of weird that they didn't know SOME of the things they learned along the way. Like that Felix at least had a job.
Otherwise this was a fun, fluffy contemporary. And it made me smile so what more could I possibly ask for?
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
rivka's review
2.0
This would have been decent, bordering on fun, but for goodness sake politics does not belong in this kind of book!
melissayabookshelf's review
4.0
Love, love, love. It's like the Beatles could see into the future to the swoony-ness that is Hazel Basil and Felix James (aka Felix the Cat and Player of La Playa) when they came up with the song "All You Need Is Love." I've...if I'm being honest...not understood the appeal of holiday themed books before reading Heidi R. Kling's Not Okay, Cupid, but now I may become a holiday YA romance aficionado...if that's possible.
I loved their witty banter, and I thought the off-feeling of going against what you really want as displayed by both characters was very realistic. I can't wait to read other rom-coms from Heidi R. Kling, and I'm fairly certain that they'll also keep me up way past my bedtime as this one did!
Now, I need to know what everyone I know's fave Classic Sads are. :)
I loved their witty banter, and I thought the off-feeling of going against what you really want as displayed by both characters was very realistic. I can't wait to read other rom-coms from Heidi R. Kling, and I'm fairly certain that they'll also keep me up way past my bedtime as this one did!
Now, I need to know what everyone I know's fave Classic Sads are. :)
lissyiszy's review
3.0
The story starts off strong, right before the action which I felt appropriate because it's right before the inciting incident so I never had time to get bored. A wonderful start! It was easy to get immersed into the story so I sped through this book and loved almost every second of it! I doubt most of what happens in the story is believable but it sure is entertaining!
I like Hazel and Felix, both are both interesting characters but they do lean close towards their stereotypical archetypes of RomCom characters but they do differ a little. I like how the author dove deeper into Felix's background and growth where we learn that he's more than he appears. We learn that he became the way he was because of his past and while I'd like to see him confront it more, I understand that it wasn't quite relevant to the story.
Personally, I'd have enjoyed seeing a more flawed Hazel. She's described as perfect but I didn't get that vibe from her in the story. We see she's not perfect, if anything, I'd describe her as "safe" as she likes making the best safe decisions. I can't really pick out a major flaw other than having bad judge of character. She is relatable but not a character I would say that stands out or is particularly memorable. I would have liked to see more layers of development with them both main characters, especially Hazel.
There were some inconsistencies with the physical description of characters which threw me off in the story. It got to the point where I had to stop reading and flip back to confirm the inconsistency but eventually got more consistent.
The pacing, the character's voice, and author's tone sounded fantastic to me, I feel they are the one of the best parts of the book. I often found myself chuckling and laughing at the antics the characters had gotten into or had said. This is one of the stronger aspects of the story which I loved and would love to see more of in future books.
Now I felt that the conclusion could have been better. The characters just made the wrong choices so I feel like things could have turned out differently than how it did. It would have been clever to end things in a different way if they had only thought of it (Highlight to read: Reverse roles of "Never Been Kissed" Prom Scene anyone?). Or maybe take a higher road but the characters didn't and I felt that was a disappointment. I also felt like a character could have gotten redemption for their choices. However, the heroes weren't willing to let that happen and I feel that it could have been a touching moment and a nice way to end the story. Still the end is satisfying and as is expected so you'll be happy with the end.
Essentially, don't expect character growth or development but if you love an adorable romance and emotions flying everywhere, this book may be for you. I would have loved to have rated this book higher if the characters had more development and the ending had been more clever, touching, and maybe some redemption. Overall, if you enjoy RomComs that make you feel warm and fuzzy with a few laughs, you'll find it in this book.
3.4 out of 5 rating for me!
(A copy was provided for an honest review. I was not compensated in any other way.)
I like Hazel and Felix, both are both interesting characters but they do lean close towards their stereotypical archetypes of RomCom characters but they do differ a little. I like how the author dove deeper into Felix's background and growth where we learn that he's more than he appears. We learn that he became the way he was because of his past and while I'd like to see him confront it more, I understand that it wasn't quite relevant to the story.
Personally, I'd have enjoyed seeing a more flawed Hazel. She's described as perfect but I didn't get that vibe from her in the story. We see she's not perfect, if anything, I'd describe her as "safe" as she likes making the best safe decisions. I can't really pick out a major flaw other than having bad judge of character. She is relatable but not a character I would say that stands out or is particularly memorable. I would have liked to see more layers of development with them both main characters, especially Hazel.
There were some inconsistencies with the physical description of characters which threw me off in the story. It got to the point where I had to stop reading and flip back to confirm the inconsistency but eventually got more consistent.
The pacing, the character's voice, and author's tone sounded fantastic to me, I feel they are the one of the best parts of the book. I often found myself chuckling and laughing at the antics the characters had gotten into or had said. This is one of the stronger aspects of the story which I loved and would love to see more of in future books.
Now I felt that the conclusion could have been better. The characters just made the wrong choices so I feel like things could have turned out differently than how it did. It would have been clever to end things in a different way if they had only thought of it (Highlight to read: Reverse roles of "Never Been Kissed" Prom Scene anyone?). Or maybe take a higher road but the characters didn't and I felt that was a disappointment. I also felt like a character could have gotten redemption for their choices. However, the heroes weren't willing to let that happen and I feel that it could have been a touching moment and a nice way to end the story. Still the end is satisfying and as is expected so you'll be happy with the end.
Essentially, don't expect character growth or development but if you love an adorable romance and emotions flying everywhere, this book may be for you. I would have loved to have rated this book higher if the characters had more development and the ending had been more clever, touching, and maybe some redemption. Overall, if you enjoy RomComs that make you feel warm and fuzzy with a few laughs, you'll find it in this book.
3.4 out of 5 rating for me!
(A copy was provided for an honest review. I was not compensated in any other way.)
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