Reviews

Fool Me Once by Ashley Winstead

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sharniandbooks's review against another edition

2.0

I think I am perhaps discovering that cheating in books is not for me?

I saw a few of my friends/people I follow rating this book highly, so I was excited to get into it. I liked the idea of following someone with a bit of a different job to a lot of other books (how many books have we all read where the main character was an author, librarian or worked in a book shop?) So I was excited to switch things up a bit as our main character in Fool Me Once is a communications director at an electric car company and is trying to get a clean energy bill rolling. Not a lot of books I have read have had this type of storyline, so that was something I was interested in (despite knowing nothing about how politics/bills work and being lost a little haha). But there were some great discussions about the people who are in positions of power such as this quote:

“I want a future where we’ve dismantled systemic sexism and racism and every other bias that keeps cis straight white men in charge of society and everyone else under their heels. I want innovation and competition and strong safety nets. I want to celebrate autonomy and recognize the fact that we’re all hopelessly bound together, whether we like it or not.” I paused. There was plenty more, but I tried to read the proverbial room. In my experience, telling older white men you wanted to level out their power didn’t often go over well. Neither did using the word cis.

There were lot's of points made throughout the book about the double standards when it comes to sexism. Some of this was to do with cheating (this book had a lot of it), such as a male Politian cheating on their spouse and no one batting an eye, but if a female did it, she would not be met with the same reaction. While I appreciate this discussion, as I said, there was quite a lot of cheating happening within the book, and I just don't think that is a storyline that I enjoy as it made it hard for me to root for the main character.

I do enjoy a messy main character, and Lee was certainly that, but I just couldn't fully get on board with her line of thinking when it came to the cheating. The main character also punched someone in the face because of something they said, and to be honest, I also don't love that. Let's not normalise punching people.

While this book was not for me, I hope it falls into the hands of those that will love it! So if you enjoy a book with a fun, messy main character, a second chance romance, and a woman standing up to old white men in power...this one is for you.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc for review.

catmerlibrary3's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.75

emilia_pearl's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

emilychau's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

hey_yall's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

This book started of slow and I wasn’t sure where it was going, but it had me giggling and hopeful by the end. I found Stoner’s inner dialogue humorous.

jerlynnt's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Context: I'm not from USA, neither am I familiar with the country's politics so my review is biased because this is a book surrounding USA politics

This book was so tough to finish because it bored me BECAUSE I didn't understand the way the politics works. Going into this book from My Boyfriend Candidate, I was so excited. I loved MBC to bits (I devoured that in 2-3 days) so I was looking forward to reading more from this author. But this book is heavy on the political scene so whenever those parts came out, it became a snooze fest for me.
The romance isn't that great either. The female lead can't decide if she wants to get back with the guy. The guy can't decide either. It was really frustrating to read because the female lead took SO LONG to realise her flaws and she's just an overall sourpus and a gloomy character. Her growth was also too sudden and short. I didn't like her at all.