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lezreadalot's review
3.0
One way or another, she’d come back down from the zenith.
She chose to leap.
2.5 stars. I knew going into this that it wouldn't be the typical romance book, and that it wouldn't necessarily have the typical HEA, but I'm still sort of dissatisfied. I liked some of this, and I feel apathetic about the rest of it. Romance is my favourite genre, but once I gleaned the overall premise of this novel, I thought that maybe it would still give me some kind of catharsis or meaningful message. And I think that that's probably what it was meant to do, but it didn't achieve it for me.
We're following the story of two couples, about 150 years apart. In 1862, Claudia moves in with Lizzie's family on her farm after a series of tragic incidents, and the two girls become very close. In 2014, Sage and Alex have a chance meeting that quickly turns into a deep friendship, and then more. The book is all about soulmate love, about how these two couples are made for each other but it nevertheless might not be the correct time or place for each other, to have the relationship that they would ideally want. There's also an aspect of reincarnation, though it's never explicitly stated. One of the reasons this didn't work for me is the writing style. Miscommunication is one of my least favourite things to read, so I really do appreciate just how well everyone communicated with each other in this book, how they were always honest and how misunderstandings never last too long. But there was still an aspect of unreality? Even amidst all their trauma and problems and the issues that they had to work out, everyone was so freaking well-adjusted, and it didn't make for very realistic writing. I don't think the dialogue was bad exactly, but it was the type of dialogue where you can never forget that you're reading a book, because the characters just don't pass as real actual people. They were caricatures and themes in flesh. Apart from some obvious things, the characters in the past didn't speak much differently to the characters in modern-day and that was really distracting.
I think the less I say about the spiritual stuff the better, so I'll just mention that it didn't work for me or have the impact that it was probably meant to have. I do wish it had maybe been more explicitly paranormal, with the soulmates stuff and the possible reincarnation stuff. I really did enjoy all of the characters, and I wanted a better story for them. While my expectations were set, and again, I knew I wasn't getting a traditional HEA, I felt pretty disappointed by the way we left things off in both timelines. Lizzie realising
Spoiler
her bisexuality and finding love with Jack was great, but the fact that it all happened in the last quarter didn't leave enough room for me to actually care about him. And I hate the fact that we just never heard or saw from Claudia ever again.But then again, I might, because I listened to the audiobook as read by Natalia Williams, and I adoooored her performance. It definitely wasn't the most polished and I heard a few mistakes here and there, but it's one of those cases where the quality of the narrator's voice just makes up for anything else. I loved her voice and she did such a good job of conveying all the emotion in this. This is a pretty dialogue heavy book, and she really made it work and really brought the scenes alive. I read a few chapters of this via the ebook, and definitely enjoyed them less than her narration. So honestly, I might read the second book solely because I know Williams narrates the audiobook. And the writing wasn't all bad. While this isn't really explicit, all of the love scenes were really sensual and heartfelt in a way that really did it for me. And I liked all of the characters at their core. So I guess I'll see if I'm moved to finish the series. It ends really abruptly, so you're definitely incentivised to continue.
Content warnings:
Spoiler
recollection of child sexual abuse, murder, a lot of religion-based homophobiasharkattak13's review
1.0
Well, my biggest critic is that this is not really lesbian fiction. A good majority of the book is about the “lesbians” ending up with men and the moral of the story being just wait and you will find that right man and all those lesbian feelings will go away.
sgjohnson2001's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
stephnm26's review
3.0
Definitely 3.5! Claudia and Lizzy were just great! The two different timelines blurred a bit for me, so I would have to go back to confirm Sage and Alex or not. It was a great read and looking forward to the next!
I want to thank the author for the ebook and this review was left voluntarily while all thoughts/opinions are fully my own(:
I want to thank the author for the ebook and this review was left voluntarily while all thoughts/opinions are fully my own(:
penandpages's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Rape, Homophobia, and Hate crime
mari98's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I did not absolutely hate this book, nor was I absolutely enchanted with the book! And that's a good thing, I guess.
The premise was sweet and I could see the author trying to bring this sapphic romance to life, and I would say it's a great love story, however I found myself skimming through paragraphs at one point and losing track of what I've read. As much as I loved the characters, nothing tugged at my heartstrings and I was left a little underwhelmed, because it seriously is a good love story.
I understand why the author wanted to connect the stories in this book but I wish more focus was on Sage and Alex while Lizzy and Claud's story would make a great prequel. The narratives, albeit in two different timelines seemed to blend for me and I had to consciously recall which timeline the chapter was from.
All in all, a good effort :) I wish this author success in everything she does from here onwards!
The premise was sweet and I could see the author trying to bring this sapphic romance to life, and I would say it's a great love story, however I found myself skimming through paragraphs at one point and losing track of what I've read. As much as I loved the characters, nothing tugged at my heartstrings and I was left a little underwhelmed, because it seriously is a good love story.
I understand why the author wanted to connect the stories in this book but I wish more focus was on Sage and Alex while Lizzy and Claud's story would make a great prequel. The narratives, albeit in two different timelines seemed to blend for me and I had to consciously recall which timeline the chapter was from.
All in all, a good effort :) I wish this author success in everything she does from here onwards!
auntieyorgareads's review
slow-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? It's complicated
2.75
I received an advance review copy of this eBook for free from the author and BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily as a courtesy.
I would like to preface this review by saying that as a debut novel, this was a good attempt and I think the author has great potential in the future. I will be checking out the sequel to this book once it is released and look forward to a more contemporary tale.
The premise and potential storyline of this novel are what drew me to reading it. I am a fan of parallel stories that vacillate between the past and present, but I found it very difficult to get into this story. I read the first 25% of the book with high hopes, genuinely interested in and loving the characters. Then, it just all seemed to become very redundant. I do want to note that technically the writing was excellent and I could see the care and effort the author put into writing it.
This work of literary fiction leaned much more into the romance genre than I realized, and it relied very heavily on dialogue to convey the story to the reader. Unfortunately, I found the dialogue to be lacking somehow, and it was extremely repetitive much of the time. This stilted the character development for me. I found myself able to get into the present story between Sage and Alex much easier than I could the one in the past between Lizzey and Claudia. Sage's character is one with whom I strongly identified in so many ways, and I enjoyed many parts of her third-person narrative.
I truly loved the storyline and the idea of eternal soulmates. I wanted to love this book, but all in all, it was an average read. I feel that others may like it more than I, and would encourage anyone to check it out if you like a sweet tale of lesbian romance!
I would like to preface this review by saying that as a debut novel, this was a good attempt and I think the author has great potential in the future. I will be checking out the sequel to this book once it is released and look forward to a more contemporary tale.
The premise and potential storyline of this novel are what drew me to reading it. I am a fan of parallel stories that vacillate between the past and present, but I found it very difficult to get into this story. I read the first 25% of the book with high hopes, genuinely interested in and loving the characters. Then, it just all seemed to become very redundant. I do want to note that technically the writing was excellent and I could see the care and effort the author put into writing it.
This work of literary fiction leaned much more into the romance genre than I realized, and it relied very heavily on dialogue to convey the story to the reader. Unfortunately, I found the dialogue to be lacking somehow, and it was extremely repetitive much of the time. This stilted the character development for me. I found myself able to get into the present story between Sage and Alex much easier than I could the one in the past between Lizzey and Claudia. Sage's character is one with whom I strongly identified in so many ways, and I enjoyed many parts of her third-person narrative.
I truly loved the storyline and the idea of eternal soulmates. I wanted to love this book, but all in all, it was an average read. I feel that others may like it more than I, and would encourage anyone to check it out if you like a sweet tale of lesbian romance!
ana_lu_iza_alves's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
This book took a serious tool on my heart. It was passionate, sweet, thought provoking and so much more I didn’t know I needed.
I can’t wait to read whatever else Angie puts out.
Her writing really made me fall head over hells with her characters and long for their happy ending.
I can’t wait to read whatever else Angie puts out.
Her writing really made me fall head over hells with her characters and long for their happy ending.
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I received this book from the author via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book follows two different couples in 2 different times. Lizzie and Claudia in 1862 and Sage and Alex in 2014. Each short chapter alternates between the 2 different timelines, which I found jarring at times as it didn't let me immerse myself too fully into either of the stories, although this got easier as the book progressed.
I loved Lizzie and Claudia's story, it was so beautiful and tragic.Though didn't get a happy ever after together (in this life), it was realistic for the time, and they both had good lives.
While Sage and Alex's story was sweet, I found it hard to route for them and I just couldn't warm to Alex, she was too frustrating at times. Still a enjoyable read.
Will be looking out for more by the author.
This book follows two different couples in 2 different times. Lizzie and Claudia in 1862 and Sage and Alex in 2014. Each short chapter alternates between the 2 different timelines, which I found jarring at times as it didn't let me immerse myself too fully into either of the stories, although this got easier as the book progressed.
I loved Lizzie and Claudia's story, it was so beautiful and tragic.
While Sage and Alex's story was sweet, I found it hard to route for them and I just couldn't warm to Alex, she was too frustrating at times. Still a enjoyable read.
Will be looking out for more by the author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
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