Reviews

Melt by Robbi McCoy

lezreadalot's review against another edition

3.0

“That’s one of the things you learn in photography. Look for the imperfections and bring them to the fore. That’s where the interest lies. That’s where you can touch someone’s heart.”

3.5 stars. At the midway point of this book I was struuuuggling and I had to work hard to convince myself to continue, and so I'm really glad that things turned around in such a way that I finished this book with mostly positive feelings. I'm still not in love with all of the writing decisions made, and I do think it reads in a very disjointed way, like two separate books cobbled into one and then shortened for length. But I found it to be a really interesting story and a lovely romance.

Kelly is a photographer/journalist who took a job in Greenland, largely because she heard that her old glaciologist professor would also be there. She fell in love with Jordan ten years ago, and although Jordan was kind and acted as a sort of mentor for her, she of course never allowed Kelly to take things further. Now that she's older and more mature, Kelly wants to connect again, see if Jordan could possibly return her feelings. The secondary plotline involves Pippa, a young Inuit woman looking into her ancestry, and the way it possibly connects with the historical Viking presence in Greenland. I actually really enjoyed that part of the plot; it got slightly speculative in a way I could have done without, but it was really interesting, getting those glimpses into the past. I don't know how historically accurate or plausible that entire plot was, but it seemed to have really good foundations for believability. That relentless pursuit of the past was easy to rally behind, especially because she's such a sweetheart. At first, I was a little frustrated by the fact that Pippa's story kept taking us away from the main romance, but I ultimately came to really like it, and Pippa, with all of her baby lesbian woes. 

The main romance hit a lot of my buttons (age gap, one person has been pining for the other for years) but the allure was definitely stymied by a lot of annoying writing decisions, silly drama and conflict. The fact that so much page time was given over to Pippa meant that we didn't see as much of the couple as I would have liked. But that wasn't the problem. Honestly; the main source of my irritation is the silly 'jealous third party tries to sabotage the relationship' plot. These kinds of plots always frustrate me, because almost every author who writes it gives said party a cartoonish villainy that's hard to take seriously. Sonja was annoying, sure, but every time she interfered or lied or tried to seduce someone, I just kept thinking... why? Her character wasn't developed in any significant way to make her actions plausible, so she just seemed like a walking plot device to cause silly melodrama and contrived misunderstandings between Kelly and Jordan, instead of a character in her own right. I just really hate when stuff like this is used as conflict; it feels so dated. I know this is an older book, but still.

Happily, things did pick up a lot for me in the last quarter. There's a little bit of action/peril that's really well-written. I loved the way their rekindled romance happened, when it was finally allowed to. I do kind of wish we'd seen a couple of flashbacks, or gotten more details about Kelly and Jordan's past when they were professor/student, but we were given just enough of a foundation for me to feel like there were actually substantial feelings at play, and for me to really pull for them. There were a few things about the writing that I was a little iffy on; there were more things that I loved, and thought were really well-expressed. I really loved the setting in general, all the natural beauty of Greenland and being amidst the icebergs. The way that science and photo-journalism came into play were really interesting. And when it counted, the romance did tug at my heart.

Listened to the audiobook as read by Anastasia Watley, who just has one of those voices, man. I always love listening to her. I get why this has mixed reviews. Because Pippa's story takes up so much space, it really doesn't feel like the main romance gets to blossom and develop in the way that it could have. I'm just lucky that I enjoyed all facets of the plot. Truly, this could have probably been two books, and maybe that would have solved some of its problems? Still a pretty good read, imo.

“What’s the worst that can happen if you let yourself feel deeply? A broken heart? But what’s the point of keeping it intact if you’re never going to use it?”

elizatanner's review against another edition

3.0

Good book. Would read again.

rickosborne's review against another edition

slow-paced

4.75

mdamodred's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

shereadstales's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

rainbowbookworm's review against another edition

2.0

Too much was going on. I wanted to escape into a romance and this was more fiction with romantic tension that was resolved in the last few pages.

jules_cr's review against another edition

3.0

This book should be a 2.5. I liked it enough to finish it, but that's about it.
There were nice parts to this book- the descriptions of Greenland and its cultures. The writing wasn't terrible.
There were a lot of really bad parts of this book- Pippa's vision, the painfully contrived ending that neatly wrapped everything, undeveloped characters...

If the book had been about Pippa coming of age in Greenland in a culture that doesn't (?) accept her and her relationship with Kelly [that sadly ends with Kelly and Jordan together] it would have been excellent.

wc4's review

3.0

Story of a photojournalist who went to Greenland for an assignment and a chance to re-connect with her college professor that she was in love with. The story is okay and so are the characters. There's an interesting bit about ancient Vikings trying to survive the harsh winters. It also touches upon their relationship (or non-relationship) with the native Greenlanders, who of course, are adept at surviving the climate. I primarily picked up the book because of the setting. The description of the place is wonderful and makes me want to visit Greenland.