Reviews

And They Lived Happily Ever After by Therese Beharrie

dannyphantomsg1's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

artsandbookish's review against another edition

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3.0

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC of this book fin exchange for an honest review.

This book is one of those reads I found by scrolling through my recommendations, and I'm quite happy that I picked it up. I was intrigued by the blurb, and really, the story was what kept me going from start to finish. The plot was so interesting, I just had to read it. However, I struggled a bit with the writing style. Maybe I'm used to something different, but I can't really put into words what bothered me, except that the dialogues felt off sometimes. (I scrolled through a bunch of other reviews, and maybe it's just me and not the book.)

As I said, I loved the storyline. The female protagonist, Gaia, is a successful romance novelist with magical abilities. I enjoyed the premise that every scene she writes down, she gets to live it out in her dreams. Cue the handsome younger brother of her best friend, Jacob. As she tries to hide in one of the bedrooms during her friend's party, she stumbles upon Jacob, obviously dressed in only a towel. And we all know what's going to happen, right?! As she gets home, she starts plotting and envisioning Jacob as the male main character. Like always, her writing comes to life in her dreams, only that this Jacob seems to have a mind on his own. It turns out it's actually her best friend's younger brother dreaming and not following along with the scene Gaia imagined. She finds herself questioning how he is able to enter her magical dream and if that means anything to her ability.

As light as this story might seem, this book also explores heavier topics (CW for anxiety and panic attacks). Gaia grew up in foster care and still deals with severe social anxiety and panic attacks. This is why she ends up hiding in one of the bedrooms. Jacob, on the other hand, is a classical workaholic, seeing it as his responsibility to keep the family and his father's business together. Both have a lot to work through; thus I wouldn't consider this a light read.

Apart from the problems I've mentioned, I enjoyed this book. A contemporary romance with a magical twist which people definitely should give a go, if the blurb catches their attention. Solid 3 stars.

kikki_heart's review against another edition

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

3.5

shyanneyoung13's review against another edition

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3.0

ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick read and overall a decent book. I thought the dream plot point was a very unique idea but I also felt like there was too much going on. With such a short book, multiple plot lines can sometimes get confusing as there is not enough time to explore each subplot in detail. In terms of the romance, it kinda felt like insta love which I'm not a huge fan of.

jodeezle's review against another edition

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4.0

Gaia is a romance author who has gotten used to her dreams being the scenes that she writes. Which may not seem so bad since the scenes are on her mind when she goes to bed.

Now Gaia grew up in the foster care system and now doesn't like to be around other people. So when she leaves a party and runs into Jacob Scott, who is the younger brother of her best friend. When they kiss IRL they are both surprised. Afterwards Gaia writes a story like she normally does but this time Jacob shows up in her dreams but this time is much different that ever before. Jacob knows that he is in Gaia's dreams and it blows his mind.

I enjoyed that the author shows you how dreams and real life compare to each other. As much as I liked the book, it was a bit of challenge to get through. But I am very glad that I read it, and I think others will also enjoy reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books, Zebra publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review..

bbookmylife's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

ambi_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

3.0


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andrea_author's review against another edition

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4.0

Romance author Gaia has grown used to the fact that the scenes she writes magically come to life in her dreams. But she's shocked when, after a single kiss, her dreams begin melding with those of Jacob, her best friend's handsome brother. What's going on? And what does it mean? Jacob is even more freaked out than she is, but somehow, they're able to weather it together. Until family secrets threaten to tear them apart.

This story is delightful. The magical elements were fun without intruding on the story or the character development. The worldbuilding was on the light side—I'd have preferred a little more setting detail to ground me in the story. The dream worlds were much more vivid that the real life world, so maybe that was intentional. Overall, it's an emotional read as Gaia deals with her anxiety and her wounds from a childhood in foster care.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

tirmer's review against another edition

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medium-paced

2.75

ruxandra_grr's review against another edition

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3.0

I really liked some of this, but some things felt a bit... thin?

For instance, I liked the protagonists, I thought they were nicely drawn and the communication between them felt completely refreshing. They're both observing, aware people, so their interactions were quite nice, they *read* each other really well.

Another thing I really liked was the friendship between Gaia and her best friend, Seth. There's a paragraph that gave me JOY to read:

But that sounded stupid and quickly put his own jealousy into perspective. Human beings didn't have a finite amount of any feeling. Simply because she shared something special with Seth didn't mean what she and Jacob had wasn't special.

PREACH! I love reading romances, but I'm not a person who believes in the One anymore. That way laid a lot of suffering for me. I do believe that love is abundant and shouldn't be caged and that paragraph really reflected that.

At the same time, the dream sequences didn't do that much for me? It felt like they were there for a drop of magic, but didn't add that much to the story, except for some bit of conflict/ obstacle.

So the main issue I have with the book, reflected in multiple issues, is that I kept waiting for it to start, it felt a bit like an endless tease. Sure, the two characters advanced in their affections toward one another, but it feels like some side plots, had they been in the spotlight, would have enriched the whole thing. The friendship with Seth is put on hold for a long while. And then there is another plot that I kept waiting for it to get kickstarted.

Spoiler The whole sister thing was the ultimate tease. We find about it early and it would have been *so* interesting if Gaia had had some healing on her abandonment issues through the relationship with her sister, in the actual book, and that would have helped her relationship with Jacob. Instead, she finds out almost at the 90% mark, there is no catharsis there in the plot, we don't get to see them together. But that's because of the sequel. That bothered me a lot. The book about Gaia ended with a teaser about her sister, and that was a disappointment, like, for this book to feel richer, I needed something to happen between them in this particular book. Instead it's just a tease.


The sexy times also felt like a tease, but those are my expectations and my problem.

Another thing I liked was how Gaia's anxiety was rendered. And how being alone and feeling lonely and abandoned can turn into a vicious cycle. I relate to that. I just wish this book hadn't postponed all of the developments until late in the game.