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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
[4.5 Stars] This... this is what made me believe in soulmates
RE-READ [4.5 Stars] I still am so in love with this book. Dani reminds me so much of myself (idek why). It's just.... it's beautiful, and sad, and hopeful, and inspiring
RE-READ [4.5 Stars] I still am so in love with this book. Dani reminds me so much of myself (idek why). It's just.... it's beautiful, and sad, and hopeful, and inspiring
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
(noelia please do not read)
gonna be a long review bc this book pissed me off so bad i can't even
gonna be a long review bc this book pissed me off so bad i can't even
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
it turned out pretty enjoyable but the male lead was overly cliche, in the way that i had problems seeing flaws that actually made him a complex character. Dani was very interesting to read and find her struggling with grief and ptsd to be very interesting and well done. The ending was a bit of a let down in the way that it just seemed to be the “happily ever after* but of the disney princess movies sort, which i felt didn’t fit after how complex and complicated the road for our leads were. overall enjoyable and got me invested enough to be awake now at 5:45am because i stayed up to read it through the night
Maybe 2.5 stars. It was overall entertaining and I did finish it.
This book really bothered me. Besides the repetition (how many times did we read about them getting take out?) that really needed to be edited out, there were several problems.
One, I have no problem with the age gap or storyline. It was an interesting story hook. But… I didn’t understand the love story. I get why SHE loved him. I have NO IDEA why he loved her. He’s this hot almost 30 yo guy who we know almost nothing about. Never once do they discuss his past/present romantic relationships, and we know there can’t be NOTHING. Other girls in the school say he’s hot, so it’s not like she’s just unique in her attraction to him. There’s no background given on why this guy, who presumably is smart and has options, decides to fall in love with a traumatized high school student.
They connect on books. Ok. Except her “discussions” with him about the books is about what you’d expect from a young, immature, traumatized girl. Her comments on 1984 are “I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it” and he somehow falls for her? It would have been more believable for me if she DID actually have some insightful comments or prolonged discussion with him about the books, but she doesn’t. If anything, this reinforced my growing discomfort with their romance.
I was shocked when she was so forward with him and he reciprocated. Again, it didn’t make sense. I almost wondered if maybe it’d be revealed it was all in her head and it was her trauma providing her an escapism fantasy (which would actually have been quite clever because that’s what he was giving her with the books too). No… this guy fell in love with her in less than 2 months somehow, someway.
When he takes her virginity there’s another red flag moment for me when he sees the blood and declares it “hot.” I cringed. That made it seem like the guy was a creep who had a kink for virginity, not like a man who loved a woman.
And two, Ansel. Poor sweet, perfect Ansel. Again, towards the end of the book I began to wonder if the book was going to end up being more clever than I expected. She wanders the globe with Ansel for over 6 months and makes comments about how safe she feels with him and how he’s her knight in shining armor. I was like, wow, maybe she’ll realize that her relationship with the counselor (wow, I can’t even remember his name) was based on trauma and that Ansel is the one person who has been there for her without question. The dude was selfless and sacrificial towards her and never, ever demands anything from her. It was unrealistic how perfect he was. And somehow they never even kiss ONCE while they share a bed for 6 months? I call BS on that.
But nope. Ansel gets nothing. He gets tossed under the bus. I can’t put into words how much I hate that. You can’t make a perfect character like Ansel, who even has nicknames for the FMC, and then give us nothing with him. So unsatisfying.
I do not recommend.
This book really bothered me. Besides the repetition (how many times did we read about them getting take out?) that really needed to be edited out, there were several problems.
One, I have no problem with the age gap or storyline. It was an interesting story hook. But… I didn’t understand the love story. I get why SHE loved him. I have NO IDEA why he loved her. He’s this hot almost 30 yo guy who we know almost nothing about. Never once do they discuss his past/present romantic relationships, and we know there can’t be NOTHING. Other girls in the school say he’s hot, so it’s not like she’s just unique in her attraction to him. There’s no background given on why this guy, who presumably is smart and has options, decides to fall in love with a traumatized high school student.
They connect on books. Ok. Except her “discussions” with him about the books is about what you’d expect from a young, immature, traumatized girl. Her comments on 1984 are “I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it” and he somehow falls for her? It would have been more believable for me if she DID actually have some insightful comments or prolonged discussion with him about the books, but she doesn’t. If anything, this reinforced my growing discomfort with their romance.
I was shocked when she was so forward with him and he reciprocated. Again, it didn’t make sense. I almost wondered if maybe it’d be revealed it was all in her head and it was her trauma providing her an escapism fantasy (which would actually have been quite clever because that’s what he was giving her with the books too). No… this guy fell in love with her in less than 2 months somehow, someway.
When he takes her virginity there’s another red flag moment for me when he sees the blood and declares it “hot.” I cringed. That made it seem like the guy was a creep who had a kink for virginity, not like a man who loved a woman.
And two, Ansel. Poor sweet, perfect Ansel. Again, towards the end of the book I began to wonder if the book was going to end up being more clever than I expected. She wanders the globe with Ansel for over 6 months and makes comments about how safe she feels with him and how he’s her knight in shining armor. I was like, wow, maybe she’ll realize that her relationship with the counselor (wow, I can’t even remember his name) was based on trauma and that Ansel is the one person who has been there for her without question. The dude was selfless and sacrificial towards her and never, ever demands anything from her. It was unrealistic how perfect he was. And somehow they never even kiss ONCE while they share a bed for 6 months? I call BS on that.
But nope. Ansel gets nothing. He gets tossed under the bus. I can’t put into words how much I hate that. You can’t make a perfect character like Ansel, who even has nicknames for the FMC, and then give us nothing with him. So unsatisfying.
I do not recommend.