Reviews

The Tie That Binds by Catharina Maura

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bleb21's review

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challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

alexis_michelle's review

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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

2.0

This book was definitely my least favorite one the author has wrote. To me, the relationship was just very toxic, and I don’t feel like they actually love each other. I wasn’t a big fan of Daniel’s excuses for why he ended the relationship the way he did. He definitely needed to do some more groveling. Alyssa made me mad because it was like she didn’t have a spine when it came to him, despite the fact that he continuously hurt her and made her feel bad about herself. Maybe if I read Daniel’s book, I’ll change my mind, but I really don’t want to read it right now.

travelingdolphin's review

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dark emotional medium-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? Yes

2.5

fanireads's review against another edition

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emotional tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

theothatsme's review

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I give this book a 2 specifically because of the MmC he is one of the most frustrating MmC I have ever read.

I get that he was feeling insecure and didn’t want to spend the rest of his life wondering if she ever had real feelings for him but for a man who asked her for commmunication he is a very shitty communicator. Like even without having to talk about it this girl has fought all she could to show you that she loves you and wants you and your response is to not just push her away but to actually hurt her by being cold and distant? 🙄
Yeah I can’t justify his actions and I am pretty pissed the ending is her saying yes, she should have thrown that ring right in his face and found someone else who can treat her better.

ynette's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

heyitsife's review

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2.0

Rating: 1.5
In the most respectful way possible, what in the actual fuck was that?! I’ve read Catharina’s other books and this book felt like her evil twin wrote it in order to sabotage her writing career. I want to give it 1 star but unfortunately I read the entire book which isn’t saying much because I was stuck on a plane for 5 hours with nothing else to do. There was very little to like about Alyssa and absolutely nothing to like about Daniel. He emotionally abused her the entire relationship and didn’t even seem to be cognizant of it, even at his big age. I am rooting for this couple’s downfall. Terrible and dumb. Disgusted and disappointed

joey031265's review

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Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.75

It was a fairly entertaining book for the first half but it lost that appeal quickly in the second. Daniel acted very confusingly and his justification came too late for the characters. Plus his explanation made no sense at all. Alyssa needed to stand on business the second half but she just acted pathetic. Finished the book not liking the characters or their stories despite what I felt in the beginning.
The ruining of them made it hard to ignore the many typos, confusing decisions, and half baked writing.

lilwanderingpages's review

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tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

2.0 i-love-you-but-don’t-want-u ⭐’s

Everything was going so well, I was liking this book until we got to around 60% and I started to get really angry and annoyed at the characters even though I was understanding their reasons and all. Even I couldn’t overlook things ~~(and, for Cora Reilly fans, I loved Lucca for a whole while)~~, this book goes more and more downhill.

Resuming this angry note on it: I’m really happy this wasn’t my first contact with the author, I read “Forever After All” and fell in love with her, that’s why I’ve been reading everything in the order she recommended on her site. What I liked most in the books I’ve read so far was her character development and all that, you can feel she really thought about them while writing + even though I don’t really like feeling angry, she’s always able to make me feel so much, some bad feelings but mostly good. Well, none of this was the case here, I’ll get more into some parts to explain my point better but I don’t have it in me to re-live everything.

I liked their goals and the ending but the way there was so badly executed. I don’t know if it was the author’s intention or not but it completely cut all my excitement, ruining even the things I’d be fully enjoying.

I read this in a day so I considered it very fast-paced with really flawed characters and no development of them whatsoever. It had SO MUCH potential, the story and the characters had such space to be good and it was all ruined. Guess the book was so plot-driven that ir forgot we should love the characters or something. You’d never think he’s 32 and she’s 22 considering how fucking fickle he is, seriously, he’s so immature for someone that’s 10 years older than her and claims to have lived a lot. Alyssa begged him to at least communicate and he can’t even do it AT ALL. I got all giddy at so many moments but the good things were overshadowed by all of these plenty of irritating ones. By the end of the book I was enraged.

Weirdly enough for me (since I always have a clear view of who I liked/loved/disliked) there’s no one in particular that comes to my mind by the end of it. Before 60% I’d say Alyssa was my fav character. Throughout the book she handed things very well, was a super girl boss in every way, took all the ‘right’ choices and gave the best advices. By the end she continued being always completely honest with everyone (which it’s her best part) but with the heartbreak she was making decisions I couldn’t see her doing no matter what.

She was beggin for a man that was making it clear in every way possible he didn’t want her

, it pissed me off through the whole end bc that just wasn’t the character we were following until 60% or so, if it was, I wouldn't have like her at all. I don't even have strenght to talk more about this book.

I do have to say I'll just pretend this potential story didn't go to waste and that I never even seen this book, moving on to the next according to her recommended order. I've already read Forever After All and the whole Stolen Moments trilogy. This one wasn't for me but I'll move on to the next, by the end of the week I'll give my review on "Until You" (the first in the standalone series "Off-Limits").

Content Warnings

jazz12's review

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emotional funny hopeful relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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