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dramadork11's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sauvegypsy's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
3.5
Overly derivative.
rhoopes's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kthrine's review against another edition
3.0
This book would swing from entertaining to tedious back and forth so many times I almost gave up.
Evie was mostly great. Richard was fucking dumb when it came to Evie. They both said the dumbest shit to one another and couldn’t have an open conversation for the life of them even though they kept priding themselves on their honest friendship.
Evie was mostly great. Richard was fucking dumb when it came to Evie. They both said the dumbest shit to one another and couldn’t have an open conversation for the life of them even though they kept priding themselves on their honest friendship.
anafernande's review against another edition
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
lux_klara's review against another edition
3.0
EDIT: I changed the rating to 3,25 stars.
At the time I was in a slump so anything that I slightly liked was ranked higher than it should be,because I wanted to like it. Ore than I actually did and wanted to be generous. I didn't want to be the one rating 3 stars a well written book if I could recognize that it was well written, not if the only problem was a lack of compatibility between me and the book itself.
But from that time, I read much more satisfying books and I remember other books I liked much more, that I had rated as much. And to put it simply, this book just wasn't, even remotely, a 4 stars for me. As it can be seen from my change of rating.
ADDITIONAL POINTS:
The writing style didn't really engage me or capture my interest.
I do think the book is still well written, it just doesn't do it for me.
Another problem was that I didn't connect with the characters, even tough they weren't unlikable or badly written,. In fact, they are far from it. Despite the lack of connection with them I actually think their story arc is well thought and one of the strongest point of the book (as it' s pointed out in my original review):
ORIGINAL REVIEWS AND OPINIONS I STILL STAND BY:
I think the highlight of this book is actually the heroine and her development. Mostly, how we see the way she learned to fight her prejudices. Not that she was ever cruel. If anything she was naturally kind.
But it's obvious that she grew up with people making it clear to her what was proper and what was right, the best way to behave and, especially, what her opinion about the world should be. She grew up with clear expectations about the behavior she should have and how she should fit in the *ton*. So, sometimes at the beginning of the book you can see her saying something she didn't realize could be callouse/unkind both because she didn't understand how people in different circumstances lived and their true conditions and also because that's why she was taught to believe and behave. But the moment she see a different reality, she tried to intervened. She didn't shy away from it, and it's clear she was simply ignorant in the way every lady in her situation would be. And it was nice seeing her trying to find a balance between what she was taught to be proper and what she believed right, even tough in the end she clearly needed to decide which was more important of the two. And I appreciated her tenacity and last attempt to fight for her love.
Richard on the other hand was a well written character as well. I appreciated the way he fought for his daughter and the other children and how he fought for what he believed. I also understood his reticence to trust Eve (despite loving her) because of the way she was so bound and constricted by society's standard and sense of suitable behavior, when that same society shun his daughter and berated him for protecting her.
That said, I feel like they should have been more open with one another and explain themselves. Lots of the problems in their relationship came from lack of real open communication. Richard in particular was easy to condemn Eve in his heart, while at the same time ignored that same condemnation to maintain a relationship that, despite being very important, he didn't allow it to be truly open for those same condemnation. I would have much prefer if, instead of condemning her would have tried to explain why Eve's behavior made him reluctant to let her near his daughter.
At the same time, I also believe they both needed to grow up before facing some hard truths, open up to one another and actually change their behavior. It was just a bit frustrating understanding so clearly their problems and having to wait for them to resolve them.
But the thing that really kind of annoys me is how, in this book and every other of the series (except the 2nd one out of 4), the heroines are the ones that try to win the hero's heart. It feels like the hero has a much more passive role in their love story, whereas the heroines have a much more active one, working for their relationship. This of course until the end where the hero mess up their relationship and has to actively make up for his action and behavior. I would kind of enjoy it if it was more balanced (altough book 4 in this aspect is a bit better) and maybe, if once or twice, the one to mess up in the end is the heroine. However, as I said this opinion is based without reading the 2nd book (I know, I know, I should have read the books in order
At the time I was in a slump so anything that I slightly liked was ranked higher than it should be,because I wanted to like it. Ore than I actually did and wanted to be generous. I didn't want to be the one rating 3 stars a well written book if I could recognize that it was well written, not if the only problem was a lack of compatibility between me and the book itself.
But from that time, I read much more satisfying books and I remember other books I liked much more, that I had rated as much. And to put it simply, this book just wasn't, even remotely, a 4 stars for me. As it can be seen from my change of rating.
ADDITIONAL POINTS:
The writing style didn't really engage me or capture my interest.
I do think the book is still well written, it just doesn't do it for me.
Another problem was that I didn't connect with the characters, even tough they weren't unlikable or badly written,. In fact, they are far from it. Despite the lack of connection with them I actually think their story arc is well thought and one of the strongest point of the book (as it' s pointed out in my original review):
ORIGINAL REVIEWS AND OPINIONS I STILL STAND BY:
I think the highlight of this book is actually the heroine and her development. Mostly, how we see the way she learned to fight her prejudices. Not that she was ever cruel. If anything she was naturally kind.
But it's obvious that she grew up with people making it clear to her what was proper and what was right, the best way to behave and, especially, what her opinion about the world should be. She grew up with clear expectations about the behavior she should have and how she should fit in the *ton*. So, sometimes at the beginning of the book you can see her saying something she didn't realize could be callouse/unkind both because she didn't understand how people in different circumstances lived and their true conditions and also because that's why she was taught to believe and behave. But the moment she see a different reality, she tried to intervened. She didn't shy away from it, and it's clear she was simply ignorant in the way every lady in her situation would be. And it was nice seeing her trying to find a balance between what she was taught to be proper and what she believed right, even tough in the end she clearly needed to decide which was more important of the two. And I appreciated her tenacity and last attempt to fight for her love.
Richard on the other hand was a well written character as well. I appreciated the way he fought for his daughter and the other children and how he fought for what he believed. I also understood his reticence to trust Eve (despite loving her) because of the way she was so bound and constricted by society's standard and sense of suitable behavior, when that same society shun his daughter and berated him for protecting her.
That said, I feel like they should have been more open with one another and explain themselves. Lots of the problems in their relationship came from lack of real open communication. Richard in particular was easy to condemn Eve in his heart, while at the same time ignored that same condemnation to maintain a relationship that, despite being very important, he didn't allow it to be truly open for those same condemnation. I would have much prefer if, instead of condemning her would have tried to explain why Eve's behavior made him reluctant to let her near his daughter.
At the same time, I also believe they both needed to grow up before facing some hard truths, open up to one another and actually change their behavior. It was just a bit frustrating understanding so clearly their problems and having to wait for them to resolve them.
But the thing that really kind of annoys me is how, in this book and every other of the series (except the 2nd one out of 4), the heroines are the ones that try to win the hero's heart. It feels like the hero has a much more passive role in their love story, whereas the heroines have a much more active one, working for their relationship. This of course until the end where the hero mess up their relationship and has to actively make up for his action and behavior. I would kind of enjoy it if it was more balanced (altough book 4 in this aspect is a bit better) and maybe, if once or twice, the one to mess up in the end is the heroine. However, as I said this opinion is based without reading the 2nd book (I know, I know, I should have read the books in order
jcmbank's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
dandelia's review against another edition
3.0
What is with all the men in this series disliking women