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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
“– Acho que a arte é assim. Algo que leva uma pessoa ao delírio pode significar absolutamente nada para outra pessoa.”
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Quando Miranda Cheever tinha 10 anos, se apaixonou perdidamente pelo visconde de Turner, Nigel Bevelstoke, irmão mais velho de sua melhor amiga Olivia, que lhe ofereceu palavras gentis num momento de tristeza. Nove anos se passam, e Turner acaba se tornando um homem frio e amargurado, enquanto Miranda cresce numa jovem bela e inteligente, que ainda mantém seu amor por ele no coração, esperando conquistá-lo e fazê-lo feliz.
⠀⠀
Miranda é uma jovem observadora, perspicaz e de humor sarcástico, que nunca esqueceu as palavras que Turner lhe disse quando criança, o amando a distância. No entanto, qualquer traço de sua personalidade marcante se torna apagado perante os sentimentos que têm por ele.
⠀⠀
Conservando um amor platônico desde criança, a personagem dedicou todas as suas ações, pensamentos e falas voltadas para seu interesse amoroso, dedicando-se exclusivamente a ele e a curar suas feridas emocionais.
⠀⠀
Turner é um homem cujo primeiro casamento lhe trouxe grandes amarguras, transformando-o numa pessoa cínica e fria, que não acredita mais no amor. Seu interesse por Miranda acaba lhe abalando emocionalmente, mas a maneira como lida com isso se torna extremamente problemática.
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Por diversas vezes seu comportamento é rude e arrogante, tratando-a de maneira condescendente e autoritária, não só por ela ser mulher, mas também mais nova que ele. Além disso, houve vários momentos em que ele era abusivo fisicamente e emocionalmente, expressando sua opinião de maneira física ao lidar tanto com Miranda, quanto sua irmã Olivia e sua própria mãe.
⠀⠀
Algo positivo a ser ressaltado é a intensa lealdade e amizade que Miranda e Olivia compartilham, como verdadeiras irmãs, mesmo sem laços sanguíneos. Olivia tem uma personalidade honesta com uma opinião forte, e sempre está ao lado de Miranda, ajudando-a no que for preciso.
⠀⠀
"História de um Grande Amor" acaba deixando um gosto amargo na boca, com uma protagonista cujo amor mais lembra uma obsessão baseada em ilusões que construiu sozinha e um "mocinho" que não passa de um bully amargurado.
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was infuriating. It's the worst JQ book I've read so far. Turner is DEFINITELY the worst MMC - he has absolutely no redeeming qualities (except in the prologue, don’t fall for it), and Miranda deserves a LOT better. I struggled to finish and that's a first for me with JQ's books - I have read all of Bridgerton and Rokesby, half of Smythe-Smith, this one became available at my library before Smythe-Smith 3 and now I know why.
I honestly don't remember much about this book other than the fact that I enjoyed it very much. I was deployed in Iraq at the time and it was a great escape from reality. Did lots of reading there and many of the books have run together...
I absolutely loved this book. I love Miranda, her thoughts and emotions and struggles are so realistic. This book is one of those prime examples of men are trash tbh
Similar to Romancing Mr Bridgerton, it's just so sad to see such a lovely woman be cast aside for years, letting the "hero" go live his life without any thought of her until one day in the future realizing she's the only one for her. This idea where women silently suffer until a man takes notice is heartbreaking if you think too hard about it, but I was still rooting for Turner the whole time even though I kept thinking how basically everything he did was toxic.
</spoiler >
Similar to Romancing Mr Bridgerton, it's just so sad to see such a lovely woman be cast aside for years, letting the "hero" go live his life without any thought of her until one day in the future realizing she's the only one for her. This idea where women silently suffer until a man takes notice is heartbreaking if you think too hard about it, but I was still rooting for Turner the whole time even though I kept thinking how basically everything he did was toxic.
</spoiler >
More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.
As I've mentioned a few times already, I'm doing a reading challenge for the Unapologetic Romance Readers in 2017 (info here). One of the categories for it is a "Friends to lovers" romance. After perusing some lists, I shifted around my planned books to fit this one in. (I like to only use an author once for a challenge, and it meant shifting out another Quinn book due out this year, but I swapped that with a Courtney Milan title, so.) This does fit the "friends to lovers" trope, I suppose, but it's short, so it still moves relatively fast.
When Miranda Cheever is ten, she's escorted home from her best friend's birthday partner by said friend's older brother, Nigel, who goes by his title, Turner. Having been called ugly at the party, Miranda's feeling a bit down, and Turner cheers her up, and suggests that she just needs to grow into herself--and maybe that she should start a journal, so that when she's grown she can look back on it all and laugh. So she does. Nine years later, Miranda's debut season is being sponsored by the friend's (whose name is Olivia) mother, and Turner is a recent widower following the death of his wife, who was by all accounts a terrible person. Turner is in no mood to marry again, or really have a relationship of any variety, and although Miranda has been in love with him since she was ten, she does try to keep a friendly distance between them. For the most part, she succeeds.
This is a book that could have benefited greatly from being longer. Quinn's books follow somewhat for a formula: the characters tend to hook up by the 50% mark, and then the rest of the book is spent with the big conflict that might keep them apart. There's obviously a building tension between Miranda and Turner in the first half of the book, where they cautiously dance around each other and try to keep distance even though Miranda desperately wants Turner and he finds himself attracted to her, as well. But honestly, I would have loved to see this strung out for a bit longer. I know that's not the way that Quinn's books go, but I really would have liked to see that formula shifted a bit here in order to accommodate the slower build of the relationship rather than the insta-love that's typically prevalent in her books. (Though she manages to do even that well, for the most part.)
Other than that, this was a very enjoyable book. Quinn does banter in a fabulous manner, as she always does, and after the characters get together, there are consequences. And while normally I think that most of Quinn's plots could be resolved by shaking the characters violently while screaming, "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER," in this particular instance I found the conflict reasonable. Turner wants to do right by Miranda but he also completely does not feel ready for a new relationship, let alone a marriage. And I totally understand his desire to just avoid the problem on both Miranda and Turner's sides, because that's probably exactly what I would want to do.
Aside from the length, the other issue I had with this was the end and how Turner comes to finally acknowledge his feelings for Miranda. It was very overdone, and Quinn is such an experienced writer that I know she could have done better than this. I think going this particular route was a real cop-out for her, and it was a somewhat disappointing way to see the book end. Still, I'm glad I finally picked up this series, which I somehow missed until this point.
3.5 stars out of 5.
As I've mentioned a few times already, I'm doing a reading challenge for the Unapologetic Romance Readers in 2017 (info here). One of the categories for it is a "Friends to lovers" romance. After perusing some lists, I shifted around my planned books to fit this one in. (I like to only use an author once for a challenge, and it meant shifting out another Quinn book due out this year, but I swapped that with a Courtney Milan title, so.) This does fit the "friends to lovers" trope, I suppose, but it's short, so it still moves relatively fast.
When Miranda Cheever is ten, she's escorted home from her best friend's birthday partner by said friend's older brother, Nigel, who goes by his title, Turner. Having been called ugly at the party, Miranda's feeling a bit down, and Turner cheers her up, and suggests that she just needs to grow into herself--and maybe that she should start a journal, so that when she's grown she can look back on it all and laugh. So she does. Nine years later, Miranda's debut season is being sponsored by the friend's (whose name is Olivia) mother, and Turner is a recent widower following the death of his wife, who was by all accounts a terrible person. Turner is in no mood to marry again, or really have a relationship of any variety, and although Miranda has been in love with him since she was ten, she does try to keep a friendly distance between them. For the most part, she succeeds.
This is a book that could have benefited greatly from being longer. Quinn's books follow somewhat for a formula: the characters tend to hook up by the 50% mark, and then the rest of the book is spent with the big conflict that might keep them apart. There's obviously a building tension between Miranda and Turner in the first half of the book, where they cautiously dance around each other and try to keep distance even though Miranda desperately wants Turner and he finds himself attracted to her, as well. But honestly, I would have loved to see this strung out for a bit longer. I know that's not the way that Quinn's books go, but I really would have liked to see that formula shifted a bit here in order to accommodate the slower build of the relationship rather than the insta-love that's typically prevalent in her books. (Though she manages to do even that well, for the most part.)
Other than that, this was a very enjoyable book. Quinn does banter in a fabulous manner, as she always does, and after the characters get together, there are consequences. And while normally I think that most of Quinn's plots could be resolved by shaking the characters violently while screaming, "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER," in this particular instance I found the conflict reasonable. Turner wants to do right by Miranda but he also completely does not feel ready for a new relationship, let alone a marriage. And I totally understand his desire to just avoid the problem on both Miranda and Turner's sides, because that's probably exactly what I would want to do.
Aside from the length, the other issue I had with this was the end and how Turner comes to finally acknowledge his feelings for Miranda. It was very overdone, and Quinn is such an experienced writer that I know she could have done better than this. I think going this particular route was a real cop-out for her, and it was a somewhat disappointing way to see the book end. Still, I'm glad I finally picked up this series, which I somehow missed until this point.
3.5 stars out of 5.
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is Julia Quinn pre-Bridgertons and it was good. We have Turner who’s emotionally constipated and Miranda, the girl next door who’s loved him since she was 11 and he was 19. He was was kind to her and a completely different man from the bitter one he became after his marriage which didn’t end well but of course Miranda heals him...but not without him being a selfish idiot along the way.
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hm, I'm not sure how I feel about this book. Throughout, the main male kind of scared me, but overall, it was well-written and I did enjoy the ending.