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mafer1's review against another edition
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
bingley's review against another edition
dark
emotional
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
(240220)
This was ROOOUGHH! This was NOT an easy read!! LMAO. There are books were it's smooth sailing even if the story is tense, but this was frustrating emotions and frustrating for me to read! Not smooth sailing! Almost like Elena's jagged edges spilled over and poked me while reading.
TLDR: rough emotions. Elena is prickly and FLAWED! And she KNOWS it!
This was ROOOUGHH! This was NOT an easy read!! LMAO. There are books were it's smooth sailing even if the story is tense, but this was frustrating emotions and frustrating for me to read! Not smooth sailing! Almost like Elena's jagged edges spilled over and poked me while reading.
TLDR: rough emotions. Elena is prickly and FLAWED! And she KNOWS it!
At 33%, there's an overload of internal monologues that reveal each character's backstory, but not enough of that reveal in dialogues to each other. So we readers get to know them, but they don't get to know each other. It makes for a frustrating pace bc I want THEM to know what I know about each other. Elena should've just said out loud what she was remembering, but I guess that would've negated her avoidant personality quirk.
ALSO: "Ice queen"? She's actually volatile and hot-tempered lol. She's not an ice queen at all! XD She's got such a spiky temper! She's not cold and calm, she's boiling water, scalding and biting. Like you'd expect "ice queen" to have a chilly, unfazed demeanor, but Elena reacts to SO MANY triggers! Lol opposite of ice queen. One upside is she's very aware of her trauma, traumatic responses, and triggers. She just has a hard time controlling and healing those responses.
Just bc she can be ruthless in court doesn't mean she's ice queen.
In fact she's not even ruthless.... one of her main hiccups is her desire to be law-abiding, she's actually not committed to ruthlessly doing anything to win. So... womp. And by 65% through, GRL! You can stop the denial about law vs Camorra, the same tired arguments!! Come up with some new ones if u have to! 1 step forward, 2 steps back, fr.
ALSO: "Ice queen"? She's actually volatile and hot-tempered lol. She's not an ice queen at all! XD She's got such a spiky temper! She's not cold and calm, she's boiling water, scalding and biting. Like you'd expect "ice queen" to have a chilly, unfazed demeanor, but Elena reacts to SO MANY triggers! Lol opposite of ice queen. One upside is she's very aware of her trauma, traumatic responses, and triggers. She just has a hard time controlling and healing those responses.
Just bc she can be ruthless in court doesn't mean she's ice queen.
In fact she's not even ruthless.... one of her main hiccups is her desire to be law-abiding, she's actually not committed to ruthlessly doing anything to win. So... womp. And by 65% through, GRL! You can stop the denial about law vs Camorra, the same tired arguments!! Come up with some new ones if u have to! 1 step forward, 2 steps back, fr.
Author actually does a good job at presenting diff sides to law and morality, esp through the lens of Elena's growth and reality checks. Though it does get tired by 77% through.
POV: first person, dual
SPICE: forced proximity, voyeurism ish, mostly s3xual tension/denial, 2-3 scenes?
DIALOGUE: why don't Elena/Dante just talk?? Most of their dialogue is insulting jabs to rile each other up, and 30% s3xual perusal. I'd like them to just be emotionally vulnerable and connect, and learn all the backstory that they monologued to the readers! TT (But it's true to her character that she isn't vulnerable, sigh)
SPICE: forced proximity, voyeurism ish, mostly s3xual tension/denial, 2-3 scenes?
DIALOGUE: why don't Elena/Dante just talk?? Most of their dialogue is insulting jabs to rile each other up, and 30% s3xual perusal. I'd like them to just be emotionally vulnerable and connect, and learn all the backstory that they monologued to the readers! TT (But it's true to her character that she isn't vulnerable, sigh)
prizzzaaaa's review against another edition
4.0
it was a beautiful book
and giana darling's books just consumed me.
i really hope she writes a book about their chidren.
and giana darling's books just consumed me.
i really hope she writes a book about their chidren.
mulang's review against another edition
4.0
why aren’t there more grumpy sunshine books where the fl is the grump and ml the sunshine???
bookboyfriendandhusbandmake3's review against another edition
1.0
I was really looking forward to this book, and unfortunately I was unable to finish.
This is considered a standalone, but I felt like I was missing information to understand the dynamics of the characters.
I understand that in the first chapters an author needs to lay the groundwork for their story. In this instance I felt it was very wordy and that carried on throughout to the point that not only did it not add to the story but also became confusing.
There was just a lot of jumping around in the character’s inner monologue from what happened in the past to what was happening in the present from one paragraph to the next. I took until I was about a quarter of the way through before I felt a connection between Elena and Dante.
It felt like things that didn’t matter were beyond over explained but things that actually mattered to move the story along had barely skimmed the surface.
This is considered a standalone, but I felt like I was missing information to understand the dynamics of the characters.
I understand that in the first chapters an author needs to lay the groundwork for their story. In this instance I felt it was very wordy and that carried on throughout to the point that not only did it not add to the story but also became confusing.
There was just a lot of jumping around in the character’s inner monologue from what happened in the past to what was happening in the present from one paragraph to the next. I took until I was about a quarter of the way through before I felt a connection between Elena and Dante.
It felt like things that didn’t matter were beyond over explained but things that actually mattered to move the story along had barely skimmed the surface.
sapphira_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
amroteabook's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kthrine's review against another edition
4.0
This is maybe the first book to give a medical diagnosis to “you’re the first to make me cum”. I’d never heard anorgsmia before and I’m somewhat confused as to how surgery to fix endometriosis would have enabled her to suddenly achieve orgasm but whatever, it’s at least better than just “magic dick”.
There is clearly a WHOLE fuck ton of history I knew nothing about before reading this book. It felt a bit like jumping into the deep end and hoping I’d swim, I still don’t feel like I have a complete grasp on all the complex relationship histories but I know the most important ones I suppose.
It’s an interesting story and I’m looking forward to the second to see how it all pans out.
There is clearly a WHOLE fuck ton of history I knew nothing about before reading this book. It felt a bit like jumping into the deep end and hoping I’d swim, I still don’t feel like I have a complete grasp on all the complex relationship histories but I know the most important ones I suppose.
It’s an interesting story and I’m looking forward to the second to see how it all pans out.