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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I would love to see this adapted into a show or movie.
This book is definitely worth the read! The part about the seahorses almost made me cry
2/5 stars!
SPOILERS!! DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW
Ok let's dive in. This book did something that I think other romance books absolutely fail at. It gave both Rooney and Jack their own lives outside of each other. Their jobs are really important to them but that is also the pit fall of this book. There is literally, Zero (0) romance. They kiss 3 times, described in a couple lines each. There is such minimal detail of meaningful touches, no passion, no sexiness, no romance even. It's literally a thought experiment of "is fate real" which is fun but not the book I signed up for.
What this book does well:
- a really fresh take on a leading lady (totally self possessed, self reliant and emotional mature, vulnerable, driven, funny, and has her own unique perspective which was a thread (ha) I was happy to follow
- A cool book about art! I really liked all the unique descriptions about art and references to other pieces. It felt very fresh and exciting.
- really unique scenes. Often in romance books the same scenes and tropes get used over and over again to the point that 30% of the book can be swapped or a different book and the plot doesn't change all that much. I am happy to report that each scene here was thoughtful and unique. Truly very memorable.
- Jack was fun and constantly supportive of Rooney while also being his own self possessed person outside of her.
- Jack's Gong Gong. So fucking cute. I love their dynamic.
What didn't really work for me:
- This is a romance book. Therefore, romance is required. Tension, yearning, passion, excitement, nervousness, satisfaction. Give me fuckin something! 3 kisses! girl! why!? They are adults let them have sex! Its ok! (which nicely brings me into my next critique)
- Jack and Rooney are in their 30's. They talk about their careers, relocating across coasts, being financially independent, truly adult grown up things. So WHO is this book for? Bc as someone in their 20's, it didn't feel like this book was for me. The character's ages swing the demographic as maybe late 20's early 30's, but its written like a book I would encounter in high school so 20's? But theres no sex or passion of any kind so?? Middle Grade?? Mid 20's?? It's just super confusing. Honestly make these characters like 20 and let them be more physical and it would fit in the romance genera perfectly.
- Jack. *sigh* Reader, I can't tell you what his hair color is. How tall or short, if he's bulky or lean. I truly have Zero idea what he looks like other than he has a scar on his lip. Again, if this is a romance book I need to be able to clearly picture him in my brain and unfortunately not only is his physical description lacking but
- Jack has little to no personality. This book has dual pov so both Jack and Rooney narrate from first person pov. While both narrators could benefit from talking about their feelings more, Jack literally doesn't even narrate his thought process a lot of the time. Someone else might as well be speaking bc his pov gives reader like no insignt into his inner working, thoughts, or feelings. he says what he feels, and what he feels can be summed up into 2 major points. 1) science. Space. NASA. 2) he doesn't believe in fate but believes in choices.
Outside of these I couldn't tell you a single thing about him.
- Give. Your. Main. Characters. Friends!!! Rooney has a single friend. Jack has none. Why? Let me know them from the perspective of someone who knows and loves them platonically! It does so much to round out a character and these characters DESPERATELY need it!
- NO ROMANCE! Im saying it agains bc that Is what I got the book for. Just call it fiction if you fon't want towrite romance.
Overall, 2/5 starts. Major room for improvement.
SPOILERS!! DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW
Ok let's dive in. This book did something that I think other romance books absolutely fail at. It gave both Rooney and Jack their own lives outside of each other. Their jobs are really important to them but that is also the pit fall of this book. There is literally, Zero (0) romance. They kiss 3 times, described in a couple lines each. There is such minimal detail of meaningful touches, no passion, no sexiness, no romance even. It's literally a thought experiment of "is fate real" which is fun but not the book I signed up for.
What this book does well:
- a really fresh take on a leading lady (totally self possessed, self reliant and emotional mature, vulnerable, driven, funny, and has her own unique perspective which was a thread (ha) I was happy to follow
- A cool book about art! I really liked all the unique descriptions about art and references to other pieces. It felt very fresh and exciting.
- really unique scenes. Often in romance books the same scenes and tropes get used over and over again to the point that 30% of the book can be swapped or a different book and the plot doesn't change all that much. I am happy to report that each scene here was thoughtful and unique. Truly very memorable.
- Jack was fun and constantly supportive of Rooney while also being his own self possessed person outside of her.
- Jack's Gong Gong. So fucking cute. I love their dynamic.
What didn't really work for me:
- This is a romance book. Therefore, romance is required. Tension, yearning, passion, excitement, nervousness, satisfaction. Give me fuckin something! 3 kisses! girl! why!? They are adults let them have sex! Its ok! (which nicely brings me into my next critique)
- Jack and Rooney are in their 30's. They talk about their careers, relocating across coasts, being financially independent, truly adult grown up things. So WHO is this book for? Bc as someone in their 20's, it didn't feel like this book was for me. The character's ages swing the demographic as maybe late 20's early 30's, but its written like a book I would encounter in high school so 20's? But theres no sex or passion of any kind so?? Middle Grade?? Mid 20's?? It's just super confusing. Honestly make these characters like 20 and let them be more physical and it would fit in the romance genera perfectly.
- Jack. *sigh* Reader, I can't tell you what his hair color is. How tall or short, if he's bulky or lean. I truly have Zero idea what he looks like other than he has a scar on his lip. Again, if this is a romance book I need to be able to clearly picture him in my brain and unfortunately not only is his physical description lacking but
- Jack has little to no personality. This book has dual pov so both Jack and Rooney narrate from first person pov. While both narrators could benefit from talking about their feelings more, Jack literally doesn't even narrate his thought process a lot of the time. Someone else might as well be speaking bc his pov gives reader like no insignt into his inner working, thoughts, or feelings. he says what he feels, and what he feels can be summed up into 2 major points. 1) science. Space. NASA. 2) he doesn't believe in fate but believes in choices.
Outside of these I couldn't tell you a single thing about him.
- Give. Your. Main. Characters. Friends!!! Rooney has a single friend. Jack has none. Why? Let me know them from the perspective of someone who knows and loves them platonically! It does so much to round out a character and these characters DESPERATELY need it!
- NO ROMANCE! Im saying it agains bc that Is what I got the book for. Just call it fiction if you fon't want towrite romance.
Overall, 2/5 starts. Major room for improvement.
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-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
it’s a lot of vanilla yapping about red string and fate. extremely cliche snoozy writing with no real tension, no real plot. it’s not bad, it’s actually rather terrible.
HATE that it’s supposed to represent Asian American culture but it plays onto one boring, overused idea (the red string) and clings onto the entire time like a stubborn scar.
Playing to the opposites attract trope, the characters have close to no personality. they were very literally quite boring people the way this author had portrayed them. all they cared about was work and/or the idea of fate. Like literally get a life.
the final resolution was lazy and overdone. It reads like a YA romance novel from 2015 and it makes you feel like you’ve wasted your time getting through the last 280 pages.
there were some better quotes here and there but I could count them with a single hand.
HATE that it’s supposed to represent Asian American culture but it plays onto one boring, overused idea (the red string) and clings onto the entire time like a stubborn scar.
Playing to the opposites attract trope, the characters have close to no personality. they were very literally quite boring people the way this author had portrayed them. all they cared about was work and/or the idea of fate. Like literally get a life.
the final resolution was lazy and overdone. It reads like a YA romance novel from 2015 and it makes you feel like you’ve wasted your time getting through the last 280 pages.
there were some better quotes here and there but I could count them with a single hand.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
medium-paced
This is such a heartwarming romance about Rooney and Jack as they discover if destiny and fate are real or do we have control of our happily ever after. I can't wait to read more by this author
lighthearted
slow-paced