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angieondisability's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
suze_1624's review
3.0
I liked this story well enough but I didnt really connect with the characters for some reason. It was well structured and flowed nicely along.
The story premise of neighbours meeting through the 'shared' care of ones nephew was OK. And over 4 years, there has been contact, though minimal, between Nate and Dreo. I thought Nate was too good to be true - he was almost like a benevolent god bestowing good fortune on all he passed. As well as perhaps being naive to the workings of an 'Italian family'. I cant think of much to say about Dreo, which says a lot about how I didnt connect in with this story!
So for me, a bit too rose tinted glasses and insta love/capitulation.
The story premise of neighbours meeting through the 'shared' care of ones nephew was OK. And over 4 years, there has been contact, though minimal, between Nate and Dreo. I thought Nate was too good to be true - he was almost like a benevolent god bestowing good fortune on all he passed. As well as perhaps being naive to the workings of an 'Italian family'. I cant think of much to say about Dreo, which says a lot about how I didnt connect in with this story!
So for me, a bit too rose tinted glasses and insta love/capitulation.
tiggers_hate_acorns's review
4.0
A nice story, with nice characters and a nice ending. Just a few grains off being syrupy sweet and yet another Jory doppelganger. Pleased I got this on Overdrive and didn't have to pay for it - not one of my favourites.
3.5 stars that just scrapes to 4 for GR
3.5 stars that just scrapes to 4 for GR
iamcupid_'s review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
i'm not sure what i was expecting but it wasn't that. like, the cover screamed classic novel so i was surprised to see that this was published only in 2012. Actually, the main reason I started this is because the cover reminded me of Heart of Stone by Johannes. Another fave of mine. Covers like this just never disappoints.
From the start, I was interested already. Although Sean and Nate didn't end up together, I do wonder what if, you know? Because it kinda seemed like it would be a nice love story, a former student 14 years ago and a 13 year age gap. But then Dreo came on... Sean didn't stand a chance. Esoecially when Dreo speaks in Italian---mamma mia! But what really touched me is everything else about this story, the fact that so many characters here were gay? Nate and Michael's relationship? Nate himself? I was smiling so much while reading!
Anyway, this was really an enjoyable read. The writing is very simple but it didn't matter because I wasn't really looking for a book like that, although I sure am hoping the other books of this author does have one that has poetic writing. Can't wait to explore more of her works!<3
From the start, I was interested already. Although Sean and Nate didn't end up together, I do wonder what if, you know? Because it kinda seemed like it would be a nice love story, a former student 14 years ago and a 13 year age gap. But then Dreo came on... Sean didn't stand a chance. Esoecially when Dreo speaks in Italian---mamma mia! But what really touched me is everything else about this story, the fact that so many characters here were gay? Nate and Michael's relationship? Nate himself? I was smiling so much while reading!
Anyway, this was really an enjoyable read. The writing is very simple but it didn't matter because I wasn't really looking for a book like that, although I sure am hoping the other books of this author does have one that has poetic writing. Can't wait to explore more of her works!<3
etyoung64's review
2.0
Originally posted this in reaction to an review I read in which she gave the book two and a half stars. The clever review in question was written as a letter to the book's MC Nate (huge kudos, and salute to you sir/madam, to the writer of the review for such a genius and novel approach).
Nate is a gorgeous guy who everybody likes and can do no wrong in anyone's eyes, the very definition of the Marty Sue (Mary Sue when talking about females) archetype. These types of characters are cringeworthy at best; at worst, they are bland and predictable. We know exactly where their mindsets are at all times. These are the types of characters that when we encounter them they piss us off so much that they make us want to pitch the book across the room or our electronic reading device of choice---thought of flinging my 12-inch iPad Pro across the room in disgust but I wasn't about to destroy a $1500+ piece of equipment over my hatred of a book. With this type of MC there's no surprise or suspense in any of their reactions or actions because we already know what they are going to say and do in any situation. This is hinged upon whether the reader is able to recognize the MC character as one we've seen before. Judging by the number of 5-4 star reviews this thing has gotten, I'm assuming not. But read enough fan fiction (like I have) and you can spot those characters a mile away. Heck, read enough books and you can pretty much do the same thing. In the god's-honest-truth, they can't be missed. And they are so damn likable. And everyone fucking lovesthem...they walk on water! Nate is god to everyone! Really?! No one in real-life is that godly. Granted, this is fiction----but, come on! I want a damn character that I can relate to. Not a pencil-drawn stick figure! Sorry if I'm sounding angry here, but I am, dammit! I wasted 78% if my life on this garbage! Allow me to be pissed off! Where's the fault in this guy except that he's totally fucking clueless---and gorgeous, let's not forget that. The author of the book won't yet you forget it because it's drilled into your head by the other characters every other line, or every time they make their appearances in the book. *Sigh* After a while, it get's tiresome and down-right boring as all hell. If I'm going to spend a few hours reading a story, the last thing I want is boring. If within the first quarter of a film I'm watching doesn't grab my attention to make me want to continue, I'm turning it off and doing something else. Life is too short to spend with mediocrity. I won't in a video game, movie and tv show. I refuse to do that with a book. Let's be honest: who's got the time to waste? I don't. I hope others don't as well.
So, when the review of a book is better than the book, then you know damn well the writing was bad enough that the reader picked up on some serious issues with it. To be fair, I really tried to give this book a fair shake, and at 78% into the ebook version of it, that evidence is clear. I think giving the book two and a half stars was way too generous. I won't give it more than two but I didn't have the heart to give it one star which it flat out deserves. From the blurb, I liked the premise and had high expectations for it. But the writer's poor execution of the premise killed it for me to the point where I'm fairly sure that unless I'm forced to for whatever reason, I won't be searching out anything else by this writer. The beginning parts I liked, hence the two stars, and reading further along, I came across other parts I liked, namely the interaction between the MC and his neighbor's kid, Michael who he looks after. Michael was one of the other characters I liked including Nate's ex-wife, Melanie and Dreo. The other characters in the book I could take or leave because there were too many for one thing and they added nothing to the overall story and romance between Nate and Dreo. Some may consider that a nit-pick but I don't. As an aspiring writer, if you're going to introduce a character into a story, he or she better have a good reason for being there. So, to me, the other characters in this book may not even be there, the writer wasted her time, and mine by having them in the first place. They serve the story as "walk-ons" no more no less to further pound the idea into the reader's head that Nate is a god among men and they should be blessed to have him in their lives. Well, F-U, Inconsiderate-Writer! (Oh, the crash you heard was me hurling my iPad Pro against the wall in complete anger and disgust). Certainly, the one character I wanted to knock into orbit around the sun, or otherwise kick the crap out of, was the MC, the narrator, Nate---he was supposed to act as a window into his world, a world that is so bland and lifeless like him and everyone around him the reader can't really grow to care about him. All the characters were all one-dimensional paper cutouts. My iPhone has more personality than the characters in this book have. I said my piece about the story. Now, because maybe I'm the only one who cares about technical things, I want to talk about----you guessed it----the writing. There's some glaring issues I found that I feel I have to point out. Being a writer, I care about these things. I'm also a reader and that part of me, cares about these things too. So should you, fellow readers.
Putting the above issues I already mentioned aside, I want to get into the writing. Books that are self-published or published online, already seem to have a stigma attached to them.
Having said that, I've read some good self-published books and some really NOT so good. The good ones are the ones where the writer took the time to go over his or her manuscript with a fine-toothed comb, to polish it up until it gleams like a gemstone, before it's sent off to the publisher. I wouldn't even think about publishing anything, even an email, until I've read it over once, twice, three times in most cases. There are those instances when some mistakes managed to escape my eyes, but luckily not many. If I saw something I've written on one of my blogs and if there's a small spelling error or grammar foible, I take the time to correct it, even if it's an older post and has since lost it's freshness date. Call me a perfectionist or anal-retentive, but as a writer I feel I can do nothing short than make sure that what I'm letting go into the world is my best work. To be blunt, judging by the number of mistakes I found in both style, grammar and composition in this book, made me feel that the author didn't take the time to review and change her work. You could have the most interesting story in the world but it won't mean anything and be further harmed if it's poorly written.
Things like: too many repetitive words. The author uses "gorgeous" in almost every description of a character in this book. Come on, now! Are we really supposed to believe this crap? Tell us the truth and maybe, just maybe, we the readers will believe you the writer. When the world is described in only one palette it becomes dim and lifeless. Why bother to describe it all. The real world is not black and white or monochrome. It's filled with depth, light and shadow. Even darkness has multiple shades if one cares enough to look. The characters in this book are fake so the world around them is fake. I don't like that. In a work of fiction, I want to read about characters that leap off the page larger-than-life in a colorful world that feels 'lived in' and believable. And the the characters are varied and live as they live in this world the writer created, and not dead and dull drones. I don't want to see a world painted with broad strokes but with every hue the author can dream up. Even if it's a work of contemporary fiction where the setting seems familiar to me, make me feel like this world, this place is one worth visiting again and again. I didn't get that with this book. The writer didn't do her job by creating a believable world with believable characters. Heck, she set this story in Chicago of all places but the way she treated it, it may as well have been somewhere else. The author left out so many opportunities to describe it, to make it come alive for us, for those who've never been to Chicago before. In her hands, her vision of Chicago didn't feel like a place I wanted to visit but one that felt lifeless and dull. Chicago felt ordinary (Chicago is far from ordinary given it's amazing larger-than-life history!) So, that's what I expected but that's not what I got from this writer. This story could have taken place anywhere including my fair city of Philadelphia, and I still wouldn't care. Tragic. But I've made a note of it as something not to do in my own work. Example: My first unfinished novel is set in Chicago too but I feel I didn't describe certain settings and places within the city enough in order to make it come alive. I have a very vague and general picture in my mind, but I feel that's not enough. I don't feel I'm being fair to the denizens of my vision of Chicago but giving them a "lived-in" world to begin with. So, a visit to the city is in order for me so I could right that wrong before I go any further. Overall, I found not a shred of truth in this world nor her characters and it caused me to not give a crap about the story she had to tell me. Strike one.
Strike two: when I do a face-palm over every spelling or grammar mistake I run across in a book I'm currently reading, or if I go for the highlight feature on my ebook reader to jot down some error that makes me feel like I'm going to have a stroke, or reach for my red ballpoint pen, if I'm reading a paperback, to correct said mistake, it throws me out of the story so fast that it makes me angry, frustrated and rage-quit the book at that moment. I see the author as lazy and uncaring to give me, the reader her best possible work. I feel cheated and pissed off. Good job!
Strike three, you're out...and I'm gone: Maybe this is a minor thing but it's one of the my worstpet-peeves ever. I love foreign languages. Always have. I've studied French up to French III in high school and at present I'm trying to learn Japanese. I'm also near fluent German. But I won't alienate the reader by inclusion of any foreign language phrases in anything I write. Know why? Because it's arrogant on the part of the writer ("See how clever I am! I know this!") To me, it rings hollow with pretentiousness. But if you do it, make sure it's translated or better yet---don't do it all. There were some lines of dialogue that were in Italian but writer gave me no hint of the meaning at what was said. If I have research it while I'm reading, it throws me out of the story and annoying to boot. In those instances, I felt I was watching a foreign film but the editor in post forgot to put in the English subtitles. As we say in Philadelphia: "Dude, that's rude!" However, to cut the author a bit of slack...she does fill in the reader what is being said in the foreign language 'in text' (Italian in this case...I knew some of it because of my French but it still pissed me off enough that I had to look it up and that I wondered why didn't the author do that in the first place. This book got another ding from me) As small as that may seem to others, this one thing made me put the final nail in the books' coven. I've taken plenty of literature courses to know, or screened foreign films enough to know that there are times when you can get the jist of what is being said within a story's context or subtext, either in a story or in a film, gained through the body language of the actor or clever descriptive writing on the part of the author. But without adequate information provided on the part of the director or the author, it's next to impossible to gain any understanding at all. I think I'm a pretty smart reader, in that with enough information given in the text, I can figure out the meaning of what the author intended to say. But there's got to be a give and take. If the author wants me to understand in his or her story, you got to meet me half way and show me (don't tell me) what it is I'm supposed to know and feel in a particular scene. Keeping the reader at arms-length of the writer is not sexy. It's just lazy, shitty writing.
I only have about two and half hours roughly left to read and with all the books I have on my want-to-read stack, I don't have time for drivel....this book is drivel, and poorly written drivel at that. I agreed with pretty much everything in the OP's review, and seeing as this is my first experience with this writer, I'm not too confident that I won't find more of the same in her other books. As an aspiring writer who also reads as a form of "studying the craft", and wanting to read a good to great story to boot, the only positive I can give this book was that it gave me a lesson of what I should NOT EVER do in my own writing. The writer could have had the best of intentions at heart with her story, but she lost me forever with a technical mess of a book, and it made me not give a care about her story....not good.
She should have referred to Strunk and White's book Elements of Style during the time she was self-editing so she could fix things before handing it off to the publisher. I'm not a professional editor by any means but a writer as well, and when I find myself doing face-palms and reaching for my highlighter feature on my ipad pro, the book is in trouble with me---BIG TIME! I'm not a grammar nazi but ---- geez, please show some respect for the art of writing!
I love reading MM stories and BL/yaoi manga and light novels and love it when I run across a good to great sex scene---the sex in this book was just m'eh, not hot, just m'eh because since the characters had no depth to them, it resulted in a flat sex scene and I stopped being invested in them or their story. I stopped caring nearly 3/4s of the way into the book and with other books I kept thinking about, including my OWN work, time's money to me----see ya!
I was reading this one for one of my challenges but it's getting shelved now as not finished. I really hate doing that since I already invested a lot of time reading it so far, and it makes me feel bad not to try and finish it out. So bit ago I said to myself: "One more chapter....just one more. After that, say F-this and do something else" But I can't even do that much. What's the point. I just picked up a great book that I just started reading last night, and feels way more worth my time than this one does. I'm not sure why this one has been getting 5-star reviews; guess those readers have low standards, or to be blunt: can't tell a good book from a bad one.
I'm not arrogant enough to believe the book I'm editing right now is going to be the second coming of Gone With The Wind, but I'm going to work hard on it to give it every I got. If I miss the goal I've set, I'll raise the bar higher on the next one I write, then the next one and then the next. I don't think the writer of Acrobat had that approach. She has a formula that is working for her. Great. Fantastic. More power to her. But in my opinion, she's selling her readers short by delivering a bland story, with bland characters and a predictable, pre-fabricated situation that no one will give a shit about or worse, believe in. It's a shame too. The cover art was fantastic. Too bad the book didn't live up to that expectation.
Nate is a gorgeous guy who everybody likes and can do no wrong in anyone's eyes, the very definition of the Marty Sue (Mary Sue when talking about females) archetype. These types of characters are cringeworthy at best; at worst, they are bland and predictable. We know exactly where their mindsets are at all times. These are the types of characters that when we encounter them they piss us off so much that they make us want to pitch the book across the room or our electronic reading device of choice---thought of flinging my 12-inch iPad Pro across the room in disgust but I wasn't about to destroy a $1500+ piece of equipment over my hatred of a book. With this type of MC there's no surprise or suspense in any of their reactions or actions because we already know what they are going to say and do in any situation. This is hinged upon whether the reader is able to recognize the MC character as one we've seen before. Judging by the number of 5-4 star reviews this thing has gotten, I'm assuming not. But read enough fan fiction (like I have) and you can spot those characters a mile away. Heck, read enough books and you can pretty much do the same thing. In the god's-honest-truth, they can't be missed. And they are so damn likable. And everyone fucking lovesthem...they walk on water! Nate is god to everyone! Really?! No one in real-life is that godly. Granted, this is fiction----but, come on! I want a damn character that I can relate to. Not a pencil-drawn stick figure! Sorry if I'm sounding angry here, but I am, dammit! I wasted 78% if my life on this garbage! Allow me to be pissed off! Where's the fault in this guy except that he's totally fucking clueless---and gorgeous, let's not forget that. The author of the book won't yet you forget it because it's drilled into your head by the other characters every other line, or every time they make their appearances in the book. *Sigh* After a while, it get's tiresome and down-right boring as all hell. If I'm going to spend a few hours reading a story, the last thing I want is boring. If within the first quarter of a film I'm watching doesn't grab my attention to make me want to continue, I'm turning it off and doing something else. Life is too short to spend with mediocrity. I won't in a video game, movie and tv show. I refuse to do that with a book. Let's be honest: who's got the time to waste? I don't. I hope others don't as well.
So, when the review of a book is better than the book, then you know damn well the writing was bad enough that the reader picked up on some serious issues with it. To be fair, I really tried to give this book a fair shake, and at 78% into the ebook version of it, that evidence is clear. I think giving the book two and a half stars was way too generous. I won't give it more than two but I didn't have the heart to give it one star which it flat out deserves. From the blurb, I liked the premise and had high expectations for it. But the writer's poor execution of the premise killed it for me to the point where I'm fairly sure that unless I'm forced to for whatever reason, I won't be searching out anything else by this writer. The beginning parts I liked, hence the two stars, and reading further along, I came across other parts I liked, namely the interaction between the MC and his neighbor's kid, Michael who he looks after. Michael was one of the other characters I liked including Nate's ex-wife, Melanie and Dreo. The other characters in the book I could take or leave because there were too many for one thing and they added nothing to the overall story and romance between Nate and Dreo. Some may consider that a nit-pick but I don't. As an aspiring writer, if you're going to introduce a character into a story, he or she better have a good reason for being there. So, to me, the other characters in this book may not even be there, the writer wasted her time, and mine by having them in the first place. They serve the story as "walk-ons" no more no less to further pound the idea into the reader's head that Nate is a god among men and they should be blessed to have him in their lives. Well, F-U, Inconsiderate-Writer! (Oh, the crash you heard was me hurling my iPad Pro against the wall in complete anger and disgust). Certainly, the one character I wanted to knock into orbit around the sun, or otherwise kick the crap out of, was the MC, the narrator, Nate---he was supposed to act as a window into his world, a world that is so bland and lifeless like him and everyone around him the reader can't really grow to care about him. All the characters were all one-dimensional paper cutouts. My iPhone has more personality than the characters in this book have. I said my piece about the story. Now, because maybe I'm the only one who cares about technical things, I want to talk about----you guessed it----the writing. There's some glaring issues I found that I feel I have to point out. Being a writer, I care about these things. I'm also a reader and that part of me, cares about these things too. So should you, fellow readers.
Putting the above issues I already mentioned aside, I want to get into the writing. Books that are self-published or published online, already seem to have a stigma attached to them.
Having said that, I've read some good self-published books and some really NOT so good. The good ones are the ones where the writer took the time to go over his or her manuscript with a fine-toothed comb, to polish it up until it gleams like a gemstone, before it's sent off to the publisher. I wouldn't even think about publishing anything, even an email, until I've read it over once, twice, three times in most cases. There are those instances when some mistakes managed to escape my eyes, but luckily not many. If I saw something I've written on one of my blogs and if there's a small spelling error or grammar foible, I take the time to correct it, even if it's an older post and has since lost it's freshness date. Call me a perfectionist or anal-retentive, but as a writer I feel I can do nothing short than make sure that what I'm letting go into the world is my best work. To be blunt, judging by the number of mistakes I found in both style, grammar and composition in this book, made me feel that the author didn't take the time to review and change her work. You could have the most interesting story in the world but it won't mean anything and be further harmed if it's poorly written.
Things like: too many repetitive words. The author uses "gorgeous" in almost every description of a character in this book. Come on, now! Are we really supposed to believe this crap? Tell us the truth and maybe, just maybe, we the readers will believe you the writer. When the world is described in only one palette it becomes dim and lifeless. Why bother to describe it all. The real world is not black and white or monochrome. It's filled with depth, light and shadow. Even darkness has multiple shades if one cares enough to look. The characters in this book are fake so the world around them is fake. I don't like that. In a work of fiction, I want to read about characters that leap off the page larger-than-life in a colorful world that feels 'lived in' and believable. And the the characters are varied and live as they live in this world the writer created, and not dead and dull drones. I don't want to see a world painted with broad strokes but with every hue the author can dream up. Even if it's a work of contemporary fiction where the setting seems familiar to me, make me feel like this world, this place is one worth visiting again and again. I didn't get that with this book. The writer didn't do her job by creating a believable world with believable characters. Heck, she set this story in Chicago of all places but the way she treated it, it may as well have been somewhere else. The author left out so many opportunities to describe it, to make it come alive for us, for those who've never been to Chicago before. In her hands, her vision of Chicago didn't feel like a place I wanted to visit but one that felt lifeless and dull. Chicago felt ordinary (Chicago is far from ordinary given it's amazing larger-than-life history!) So, that's what I expected but that's not what I got from this writer. This story could have taken place anywhere including my fair city of Philadelphia, and I still wouldn't care. Tragic. But I've made a note of it as something not to do in my own work. Example: My first unfinished novel is set in Chicago too but I feel I didn't describe certain settings and places within the city enough in order to make it come alive. I have a very vague and general picture in my mind, but I feel that's not enough. I don't feel I'm being fair to the denizens of my vision of Chicago but giving them a "lived-in" world to begin with. So, a visit to the city is in order for me so I could right that wrong before I go any further. Overall, I found not a shred of truth in this world nor her characters and it caused me to not give a crap about the story she had to tell me. Strike one.
Strike two: when I do a face-palm over every spelling or grammar mistake I run across in a book I'm currently reading, or if I go for the highlight feature on my ebook reader to jot down some error that makes me feel like I'm going to have a stroke, or reach for my red ballpoint pen, if I'm reading a paperback, to correct said mistake, it throws me out of the story so fast that it makes me angry, frustrated and rage-quit the book at that moment. I see the author as lazy and uncaring to give me, the reader her best possible work. I feel cheated and pissed off. Good job!
Strike three, you're out...and I'm gone: Maybe this is a minor thing but it's one of the my worstpet-peeves ever. I love foreign languages. Always have. I've studied French up to French III in high school and at present I'm trying to learn Japanese. I'm also near fluent German. But I won't alienate the reader by inclusion of any foreign language phrases in anything I write. Know why? Because it's arrogant on the part of the writer ("See how clever I am! I know this!") To me, it rings hollow with pretentiousness. But if you do it, make sure it's translated or better yet---don't do it all. There were some lines of dialogue that were in Italian but writer gave me no hint of the meaning at what was said. If I have research it while I'm reading, it throws me out of the story and annoying to boot. In those instances, I felt I was watching a foreign film but the editor in post forgot to put in the English subtitles. As we say in Philadelphia: "Dude, that's rude!" However, to cut the author a bit of slack...she does fill in the reader what is being said in the foreign language 'in text' (Italian in this case...I knew some of it because of my French but it still pissed me off enough that I had to look it up and that I wondered why didn't the author do that in the first place. This book got another ding from me) As small as that may seem to others, this one thing made me put the final nail in the books' coven. I've taken plenty of literature courses to know, or screened foreign films enough to know that there are times when you can get the jist of what is being said within a story's context or subtext, either in a story or in a film, gained through the body language of the actor or clever descriptive writing on the part of the author. But without adequate information provided on the part of the director or the author, it's next to impossible to gain any understanding at all. I think I'm a pretty smart reader, in that with enough information given in the text, I can figure out the meaning of what the author intended to say. But there's got to be a give and take. If the author wants me to understand in his or her story, you got to meet me half way and show me (don't tell me) what it is I'm supposed to know and feel in a particular scene. Keeping the reader at arms-length of the writer is not sexy. It's just lazy, shitty writing.
I only have about two and half hours roughly left to read and with all the books I have on my want-to-read stack, I don't have time for drivel....this book is drivel, and poorly written drivel at that. I agreed with pretty much everything in the OP's review, and seeing as this is my first experience with this writer, I'm not too confident that I won't find more of the same in her other books. As an aspiring writer who also reads as a form of "studying the craft", and wanting to read a good to great story to boot, the only positive I can give this book was that it gave me a lesson of what I should NOT EVER do in my own writing. The writer could have had the best of intentions at heart with her story, but she lost me forever with a technical mess of a book, and it made me not give a care about her story....not good.
She should have referred to Strunk and White's book Elements of Style during the time she was self-editing so she could fix things before handing it off to the publisher. I'm not a professional editor by any means but a writer as well, and when I find myself doing face-palms and reaching for my highlighter feature on my ipad pro, the book is in trouble with me---BIG TIME! I'm not a grammar nazi but ---- geez, please show some respect for the art of writing!
I love reading MM stories and BL/yaoi manga and light novels and love it when I run across a good to great sex scene---the sex in this book was just m'eh, not hot, just m'eh because since the characters had no depth to them, it resulted in a flat sex scene and I stopped being invested in them or their story. I stopped caring nearly 3/4s of the way into the book and with other books I kept thinking about, including my OWN work, time's money to me----see ya!
I was reading this one for one of my challenges but it's getting shelved now as not finished. I really hate doing that since I already invested a lot of time reading it so far, and it makes me feel bad not to try and finish it out. So bit ago I said to myself: "One more chapter....just one more. After that, say F-this and do something else" But I can't even do that much. What's the point. I just picked up a great book that I just started reading last night, and feels way more worth my time than this one does. I'm not sure why this one has been getting 5-star reviews; guess those readers have low standards, or to be blunt: can't tell a good book from a bad one.
I'm not arrogant enough to believe the book I'm editing right now is going to be the second coming of Gone With The Wind, but I'm going to work hard on it to give it every I got. If I miss the goal I've set, I'll raise the bar higher on the next one I write, then the next one and then the next. I don't think the writer of Acrobat had that approach. She has a formula that is working for her. Great. Fantastic. More power to her. But in my opinion, she's selling her readers short by delivering a bland story, with bland characters and a predictable, pre-fabricated situation that no one will give a shit about or worse, believe in. It's a shame too. The cover art was fantastic. Too bad the book didn't live up to that expectation.
gatun's review
4.0
Ended too quickly
I really enjoyed the book. Right up to the very sudden ending. I would love to read more about Nate and Dreo's families. Also for Dreo and Sal was out really out.
I really enjoyed the book. Right up to the very sudden ending. I would love to read more about Nate and Dreo's families. Also for Dreo and Sal was out really out.
vkelt's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
venti's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
was very cute