Scan barcode
seagirl8907's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
kdurham2's review against another edition
4.0
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
Annie is returning home to lay claim on a home from her past that she must inhabit for 60 days per an agreement between her mother and step father. She must return to this house in the dead of winter on an island off of Maine and tough it out while having memories of her childhood haunt her. Theo is a part of these childhood memories that are haunting and he is living in his family's home trying to work on his next novel.
Their love story was great. I loved the ups and the downs and the realizations they each had to make to get to where they ended up. My favorite secondary character was a young, sweet girl named Livia who had been through a lot, but actually helped the other characters learn more about themselves through her. She wins a prize for top secondary character in my book.
Annie is returning home to lay claim on a home from her past that she must inhabit for 60 days per an agreement between her mother and step father. She must return to this house in the dead of winter on an island off of Maine and tough it out while having memories of her childhood haunt her. Theo is a part of these childhood memories that are haunting and he is living in his family's home trying to work on his next novel.
Their love story was great. I loved the ups and the downs and the realizations they each had to make to get to where they ended up. My favorite secondary character was a young, sweet girl named Livia who had been through a lot, but actually helped the other characters learn more about themselves through her. She wins a prize for top secondary character in my book.
ragesandpages's review against another edition
4.0
Annie, who has hit her lowest point in life, decides to go back to her childhood summer home on an isolated island off of the coast of Maine and think things through. There, she runs into Theo Harp, her once childhood sweetheart-turned-psychopath-turned-hero. But there's more to the story that meets the eye.
Having shunned the romance genre for predictability and cheesy one-liners, I really liked this book!
Why it's awesome: Elements of the Gothic are everywhere in this book: Annie as a forelorn heroine, Theo as the brooding hero, and a whole tribe of unfortunates that need to pick themselves up and do what's right to become heroes in their own right. I also love the reference to older gothic novels and incorporating elements of those historic pieces into this work.
The characters really shine, too.
Annie is at the bottom. Yet her personality is relatable, and the troubled relationship with Theo is believable. Her passion for puppetry makes the book definitely more interesting as well.
Theo has been harboring guilt over many past events that were not his fault. He's a bit dark, charming, and won't forgive himself easily. But he eventually learns to trust himself and make sure that he doesn't let Annie get away again. The genuine and realistic dialogue between Annie and Theo is a nice bonus.
The drawback: The only thing I didn't like was how Annie kept making remarks over and over about Theo's apparent instability and mental state, repeatedly calling him a psycho and talking about dead bodies. I thought her character would have been more sensitive after a while. For me, a few times was enough. But other than that, this book was a refreshing oasis in the vast desert that consist of disappointing romance novels.
Having shunned the romance genre for predictability and cheesy one-liners, I really liked this book!
Why it's awesome: Elements of the Gothic are everywhere in this book: Annie as a forelorn heroine, Theo as the brooding hero, and a whole tribe of unfortunates that need to pick themselves up and do what's right to become heroes in their own right. I also love the reference to older gothic novels and incorporating elements of those historic pieces into this work.
The characters really shine, too.
Annie is at the bottom. Yet her personality is relatable, and the troubled relationship with Theo is believable. Her passion for puppetry makes the book definitely more interesting as well.
Theo has been harboring guilt over many past events that were not his fault. He's a bit dark, charming, and won't forgive himself easily. But he eventually learns to trust himself and make sure that he doesn't let Annie get away again. The genuine and realistic dialogue between Annie and Theo is a nice bonus.
The drawback: The only thing I didn't like was how Annie kept making remarks over and over about Theo's apparent instability and mental state, repeatedly calling him a psycho and talking about dead bodies. I thought her character would have been more sensitive after a while. For me, a few times was enough. But other than that, this book was a refreshing oasis in the vast desert that consist of disappointing romance novels.
reads2love's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a bit strange for something written by this author. It was darker and lacked the laugh-out-loud moments. But it was intriguing enough for me to finish. I had a hard time connecting the male and female leads as romantic interests though because they were constantly antagonizing one another. If you haven't read anything by this author before, you might not be so disappointed in the story.
I received a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review
I received a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review
bookloverchelle's review against another edition
4.0
Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of my favorite authors and will always be on my Must Buy list. I’ll admit, sometimes her ideas make me question but she does such a good job of pulling me it and making me love each and every one of her characters. Annie is down on her luck. She’s lost her job, has almost nothing left in the bank, her car is about to die on her, she’s recovering from bronchitis, and she just lost her mother. She needs a chance to regroup and finds it in a cottage in Maine where some of her fondest summer memories are. Except that it’s the middle of winter. Annie’s memories are shadowed by the reminders of her mother everywhere she looks and by Theo, reclusive author and former bully. For one magic summer Annie and Theo began a sweet romance but when he turned on her she was ready to never see him again. But since he’s her landlord he’s unavoidable. As the mysteries of the past and the island unravel Annie and Theo begin a romance but with an ‘end by’ date creeping closer is there anything for them to hold on to? I’ll admit, this definitely started out slow for me but because it’s SEP I stuck with it and fell in love with the town, Annie, and Theo. Can’t wait until the next release!
tessisreading2's review against another edition
3.0
A little too Gothic for my taste; the occasional swing towards the usual SEP lighthearted "we're-just-hooking-up-no-feelings-here" banter happened too late and there was too much backstory drama to make that kind of relationship between the hero and heroine believable.
jen286's review against another edition
1.0
This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland
Heroes Are My Weakness was a weird read for me. Annie was...strange. And not in a good way. Really her thoughts and actions throughout didn't make that much sense to me. *spoilers ahead*
Annie was...crazy. Like she talked to her dolls, which could be a bit much at times, but I could also understand if it was just like I would do it. But it was like she had multiple personalities, but they came out through her puppets. She had long conversations with them in her head that were more like she was talking to another personality of hers. It was kind of creepy.
Then she is also obsessed with Theo and how he is a murderer...which was also ridiculous. Like we know that he did three not so good things when he was younger, the dumbwaiter incident being the worst and still upsets Annie to this day, but the rest was meh. And now Annie is stuck on this island (if she leaves she forfeits her inheritance from her mom) and is neighbors to Theo and every time she sees him she is like oh noes! He is going to kill me!! For no reason. Like he has ample opportunity if he had wanted to to kill her, but he doesn't. And he is nice to her and she is still like he is going to kill me!! whenever she sees him. It was ridiculous. I can see being afraid at first, but after a while it was just like come on! He did those terrible things when he was younger. Maybe he grew up some and is a better person now? I mean people can change...
So Annie is stuck on this island with Theo and she would really rather stay away from him as much as she can. But she ends up helping Jayce, who works for Theo, every day. I am not sure why she was so helpful with Jayce. Like Jayce was sooooo whiny poor me, I can't do my job because my foot hurts, poor poor me, boo hoo, I want Theo, but Theo wants Annie so I probably not actually that nice to Annie because poor poor me. Jayce also has a daughter that doesn't talk so Annie is apparently also a trained professional that can "fix" her daughter! Annie kept butting in and trying to fix the daughter and I kept thinking maybe you should let her mom do what she thinks is best for her and fix your own life. You can't even handle your own problems so why would you be able to handle hers? It didn't make much sense why she could magically fix the daughter seeing as how she is not a professional or anything...
Okay so we have established that Annie was not my favorite. I didn't really understand her and she was kind of annoying. But the whole time she is going on about how terrible Theo is and how he almost killed her when she was younger, but we didn't know the details. Well let me tell you when we do find out I was like really?? That is it? Really? He didn't actually try and kill you, you almost killed yourself trying to save the puppies. I mean sure you think he put the puppies in the cave and told you to meet him there, but you could have gotten out before the water would have drowned you. I mean yeah it would have been sad to lose some of the puppies, but puppies vs my own life? I love animals, but I would save myself. So it was your own decision that almost got you killed. I expected more. I expected Theo to at least be there when you almost got yourself killed.
Oh, one more thing. She kept trying to scare Theo away, make him get off the island by trying to make him think his house was haunted. It was ridiculous and super cheesy. Like really? That is all you got? That is how you are going to try and make him think his house is haunted? It was like stuff a kid would do....so you are recovering from pneumonia (yeah I forgot she is sick when she get to the island and can't walk around a lot and stuff), but you are willing to go traipsing around in the super cold and dark just to mess with him? Are you really that afraid of him? Because it seems like risking your health (maybe your life again!) is not worth it. And if you are really afraid that he will try and kill you why would you mess with him so much in the middle of the night when it would be way easier? And if you are really afraid of him and think he is so dangerous why are you always like I need to stay away from him, but he is so hot!! Oh, look at how hot he is!! I can't stay away because the hotness it too much! I don't like that.
I did like Theo. It was obvious from the start that he is a nice person, but has some secrets. Maybe he is protecting someone or something. Like it is obvious the past is not what it seems, but he doesn't go out of his way to discourage people from thinking the worst of him. And when it was revealed what was really going on I did do a big eye roll as I wasn't a fan.
So yeah, obviously this wasn't the book for me. Maybe with a different lead character I could have enjoyed it, but Annie was too much for me.
Heroes Are My Weakness was a weird read for me. Annie was...strange. And not in a good way. Really her thoughts and actions throughout didn't make that much sense to me. *spoilers ahead*
Annie was...crazy. Like she talked to her dolls, which could be a bit much at times, but I could also understand if it was just like I would do it. But it was like she had multiple personalities, but they came out through her puppets. She had long conversations with them in her head that were more like she was talking to another personality of hers. It was kind of creepy.
Then she is also obsessed with Theo and how he is a murderer...which was also ridiculous. Like we know that he did three not so good things when he was younger, the dumbwaiter incident being the worst and still upsets Annie to this day, but the rest was meh. And now Annie is stuck on this island (if she leaves she forfeits her inheritance from her mom) and is neighbors to Theo and every time she sees him she is like oh noes! He is going to kill me!! For no reason. Like he has ample opportunity if he had wanted to to kill her, but he doesn't. And he is nice to her and she is still like he is going to kill me!! whenever she sees him. It was ridiculous. I can see being afraid at first, but after a while it was just like come on! He did those terrible things when he was younger. Maybe he grew up some and is a better person now? I mean people can change...
So Annie is stuck on this island with Theo and she would really rather stay away from him as much as she can. But she ends up helping Jayce, who works for Theo, every day. I am not sure why she was so helpful with Jayce. Like Jayce was sooooo whiny poor me, I can't do my job because my foot hurts, poor poor me, boo hoo, I want Theo, but Theo wants Annie so I probably not actually that nice to Annie because poor poor me. Jayce also has a daughter that doesn't talk so Annie is apparently also a trained professional that can "fix" her daughter! Annie kept butting in and trying to fix the daughter and I kept thinking maybe you should let her mom do what she thinks is best for her and fix your own life. You can't even handle your own problems so why would you be able to handle hers? It didn't make much sense why she could magically fix the daughter seeing as how she is not a professional or anything...
Okay so we have established that Annie was not my favorite. I didn't really understand her and she was kind of annoying. But the whole time she is going on about how terrible Theo is and how he almost killed her when she was younger, but we didn't know the details. Well let me tell you when we do find out I was like really?? That is it? Really? He didn't actually try and kill you, you almost killed yourself trying to save the puppies. I mean sure you think he put the puppies in the cave and told you to meet him there, but you could have gotten out before the water would have drowned you. I mean yeah it would have been sad to lose some of the puppies, but puppies vs my own life? I love animals, but I would save myself. So it was your own decision that almost got you killed. I expected more. I expected Theo to at least be there when you almost got yourself killed.
Oh, one more thing. She kept trying to scare Theo away, make him get off the island by trying to make him think his house was haunted. It was ridiculous and super cheesy. Like really? That is all you got? That is how you are going to try and make him think his house is haunted? It was like stuff a kid would do....so you are recovering from pneumonia (yeah I forgot she is sick when she get to the island and can't walk around a lot and stuff), but you are willing to go traipsing around in the super cold and dark just to mess with him? Are you really that afraid of him? Because it seems like risking your health (maybe your life again!) is not worth it. And if you are really afraid that he will try and kill you why would you mess with him so much in the middle of the night when it would be way easier? And if you are really afraid of him and think he is so dangerous why are you always like I need to stay away from him, but he is so hot!! Oh, look at how hot he is!! I can't stay away because the hotness it too much! I don't like that.
I did like Theo. It was obvious from the start that he is a nice person, but has some secrets. Maybe he is protecting someone or something. Like it is obvious the past is not what it seems, but he doesn't go out of his way to discourage people from thinking the worst of him. And when it was revealed what was really going on I did do a big eye roll as I wasn't a fan.
So yeah, obviously this wasn't the book for me. Maybe with a different lead character I could have enjoyed it, but Annie was too much for me.
maryanne6828's review against another edition
3.0
Not quite as gothic as I hoped it would be given the dedication the author made to Victoria Holt, Phyllis Whitney and other gothic romance writers. But it was a good romance and s great setting.
julesanne's review against another edition
3.0
This light novel, with Gothic like qualities made for a easy, quick and pleasurable read. I have to admit the start of the book I found creepy, the way the heroine spoke with her puppets, but that part lessened as the book continued. This is not a great novel, not a book that is thought provoking, and not written with lovely prose. It is a fun read, just as the author intended.
pattydsf's review against another edition
3.0
I thought I had read every book Phillips has published. But I was wrong. This isn't her strongest, but it did what I wanted - total distraction.