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michelle904's review against another edition
5.0
This was book #61 for Romanceopoly 2020.
Pack: Sun
Square: Campus Corner
Challenge: Read a new adult where the h/H is a nerd
Pack: Sun
Square: Campus Corner
Challenge: Read a new adult where the h/H is a nerd
zaza_bdp's review against another edition
3.0
J'avais beaucoup aimé Un amour interdit, de Alyssa Cole, et j'avais envie de retrouver sa plume, cette fois avec une romance contemporaine. Si je ne suis pas vraiment friande des histoires de prince, princesse et compagnie, j'ai néanmoins été séduite par le résumé (et par cette magnifique couverture !) de ce roman.
Derrière la romance et le "remake" de Anastasia (un de mes dessins animés cultes) version africaine, Alyssa Cole raconte l'histoire de deux jeunes gens qui essaient de se forger leur propre destin, en dépit des cartes qui leur ont été distribuées à la naissance, pour l'une, et pour l'autre, comment ne pas se laisser enfermer dans sa fonction, et comment conserver sa personnalité, ses envies, et ses projets pour son pays, sans se laisser influencer par son entourage.
J'ai particulièrement aimé, au début du livre, le portrait qu'on a de Naledi, qui cumule plusieurs "handicaps" dans son milieu professionnel : non seulement c'est une femme, mais en plus elle est pauvre, ET noire (genre, la première fois qu'elle s'est présentée au labo, on lui a demandé d'aller vider les poubelles ...). Alyssa Cole offre là un portrait très réaliste, Naledi va devoir se battre, plus encore que les autres (en particulier les hommes !) pour aller au bout de sa thèse, et pour se bâtir la carrière de ses rêves.
Le roman se divise en deux parties, la première étant un poil longuette mais offrant des moments drôles, et la seconde, plus ... dépaysante, mais qui se termine hélas bien trop vite à mon goût (en fait pour moi, le roman n'est tout simplement pas terminé en l'état, de nombreuses questions restent en suspens, reste à savoir si ce sera développé dans les tomes suivants ...
Tout au long du livre, je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de penser au film Black Panther, que j'ai vu récemment, et que j'avais vraiment beaucoup aimé. Du coup, je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher d'imaginer certains des acteurs à la place des personnages du livre.
Côté personnages secondaires, j'ai bien apprécié Likotsi, qui n'a pas sa langue dans sa poche ! Sa relation avec le héros est à la fois amusante et pleine de bienveillance.
Une lecture divertissante donc, mais j'avoue ne pas avoir complètement séduite car la fin est pour moi bâclée, et je n'ai pas été emportée par la romance. Néanmoins, cela reste un roman agréable à lire.
Derrière la romance et le "remake" de Anastasia (un de mes dessins animés cultes) version africaine, Alyssa Cole raconte l'histoire de deux jeunes gens qui essaient de se forger leur propre destin, en dépit des cartes qui leur ont été distribuées à la naissance, pour l'une, et pour l'autre, comment ne pas se laisser enfermer dans sa fonction, et comment conserver sa personnalité, ses envies, et ses projets pour son pays, sans se laisser influencer par son entourage.
J'ai particulièrement aimé, au début du livre, le portrait qu'on a de Naledi, qui cumule plusieurs "handicaps" dans son milieu professionnel : non seulement c'est une femme, mais en plus elle est pauvre, ET noire (genre, la première fois qu'elle s'est présentée au labo, on lui a demandé d'aller vider les poubelles ...). Alyssa Cole offre là un portrait très réaliste, Naledi va devoir se battre, plus encore que les autres (en particulier les hommes !) pour aller au bout de sa thèse, et pour se bâtir la carrière de ses rêves.
Le roman se divise en deux parties, la première étant un poil longuette mais offrant des moments drôles, et la seconde, plus ... dépaysante, mais qui se termine hélas bien trop vite à mon goût (en fait pour moi, le roman n'est tout simplement pas terminé en l'état, de nombreuses questions restent en suspens, reste à savoir si ce sera développé dans les tomes suivants ...
Tout au long du livre, je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de penser au film Black Panther, que j'ai vu récemment, et que j'avais vraiment beaucoup aimé. Du coup, je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher d'imaginer certains des acteurs à la place des personnages du livre.
Côté personnages secondaires, j'ai bien apprécié Likotsi, qui n'a pas sa langue dans sa poche ! Sa relation avec le héros est à la fois amusante et pleine de bienveillance.
Une lecture divertissante donc, mais j'avoue ne pas avoir complètement séduite car la fin est pour moi bâclée, et je n'ai pas été emportée par la romance. Néanmoins, cela reste un roman agréable à lire.
shelleydavis's review against another edition
DNF - just wasn’t capturing my attention enough… and felt very coming to America-ish
kyandesu's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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? It's complicated
4.5
seymone's review against another edition
3.0
It took me 13 days to finish this book. That says a lot! I fought through to the end. Nice story but nothing captivating. I am glad to be done.
katemc's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? No
4.0
This was soooo cute. A contemporary royal romance is so interesting compared to how it all works in a historical setting!
I loved Naledi and I felt like the science-y references throughout were cute and not too gimmicky. Thabiso was a bit flatter but men usually are to me lol. Main thing is just how condensed the original connection timeline was to the strength of their feelings (though I guess Cole was trying to bypass that a bit with the childhood connection). And the ending was rushed and scrambly compared to how grounded the rest of the book was though! But the actual bones of their connection was sooo well done and I was rooting for them so bad.
Excited for the next one - Portia already feels pretty well defined so very looking forward to her story.
I loved Naledi and I felt like the science-y references throughout were cute and not too gimmicky. Thabiso was a bit flatter but men usually are to me lol. Main thing is just how condensed the original connection timeline was to the strength of their feelings (though I guess Cole was trying to bypass that a bit with the childhood connection). And the ending was rushed and scrambly compared to how grounded the rest of the book was though! But the actual bones of their connection was sooo well done and I was rooting for them so bad.
Excited for the next one - Portia already feels pretty well defined so very looking forward to her story.
joanna1905's review against another edition
3.0
I cute quick romance read! I didn't love our love interest but our MC makes up for it! I also loved that this followed black characters since mainstream romance novels have been too white for too long!
rellimreads's review against another edition
2.0
I guess I’m in the minority here ~ but I’m DNFing.
1st ~ I like Alyssa Cole. I own the Off The Grid series and have read it several times.
I think my problem may be that this story is very slow to me. And sometimes that works and sometimes it just feels boring. My mind kept wandering. I kept stopping and starting and trying again. I wouldn’t normally try this hard to keep going but since I’ve enjoyed Cole’s work in the past and this got such great reviews I kept thinking, “maybe it’s me.” And maybe it IS me. But apparently it’s the past 6 months me. So I’m going to let go...
1st ~ I like Alyssa Cole. I own the Off The Grid series and have read it several times.
I think my problem may be that this story is very slow to me. And sometimes that works and sometimes it just feels boring. My mind kept wandering. I kept stopping and starting and trying again. I wouldn’t normally try this hard to keep going but since I’ve enjoyed Cole’s work in the past and this got such great reviews I kept thinking, “maybe it’s me.” And maybe it IS me. But apparently it’s the past 6 months me. So I’m going to let go...
tatyanavogt's review against another edition
3.0
This was really enjoyable. I had a lot of fun reading this, I really like Alyssa Coles books. This is a book about deception which isn't my favorite theme in books, but I surprisingly wasn't super upset about it, I think it was handled in a nice way. I also felt like the book was pretty lighthearted so perhaps i'm more forgiving because of the overall tone of the book.
Its basically about a woman who keeps receiving spam mail from a supposed prince in Africa who needs her personal identification so that she can claim her rightful place as queen. She ignores the spam messages as one does under the circumstances, BUT the prince is determined and during a trip to NY decided to find her and confront her.
After a bit of a misunderstanding he is helping her with her shift at work in an attempt to learn more about her and why her family left when they were children. It is a cute, fun, light hearted novel about learning who you are while falling in love..
I WILL say that there are some frustrations that she deals with in the beginning that are a little TOOOO real and not as light hearted as the rest of the book, I found myself very annoyed and frustrated on her behalf, but I think overall the book is a light fun read.
Its basically about a woman who keeps receiving spam mail from a supposed prince in Africa who needs her personal identification so that she can claim her rightful place as queen. She ignores the spam messages as one does under the circumstances, BUT the prince is determined and during a trip to NY decided to find her and confront her.
After a bit of a misunderstanding he is helping her with her shift at work in an attempt to learn more about her and why her family left when they were children. It is a cute, fun, light hearted novel about learning who you are while falling in love..
I WILL say that there are some frustrations that she deals with in the beginning that are a little TOOOO real and not as light hearted as the rest of the book, I found myself very annoyed and frustrated on her behalf, but I think overall the book is a light fun read.