Reviews

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen

jamiebh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

In this second installment in the Hart and Mercy series we return to Eternity and Tanria to see how our marshalls and friends are faring. This story centers around Twyla and Frank, middle aged Marshalls who are partners, neighbors and life long friends. Their story takes us on a journey through friendship and love and is as adorable as TUOHAM. 

 

A contemporary romance about two middle aged people who have experienced love, family and loss and helped each other through all phases of life. I absolutely loved this, the romance was beautiful and realistic and really highlighted the fact that adults can still experience romance and new love after their families have grown and left. 

 

Also, dragons, and not the normal dragons we are used to seeing in fantasy stories. We’re talking adorable pink dragons who spit glitter at you. Yeah, I loved it. Also the return of utterly adorable talking immortal animal mail couriers. 

 

I loved this story and really hope Bannen plans to continue these installments because if I'm being honest, I need more Tanria in my life. 

sagestenhaug's review

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

Thank you netgalley and Orbit for providing me an earc in exchange for an honest review. 

I was so excited for the Undermining of Twyla and Frank especially after reading the first installment to the series. This story was pitched as a friends to lovers with a hint of dragons, all things that I adore. For some reason this book just did not hit for me as much as the first book unfortunately.

We were first introduced to Twyla and Frank in the first book, and I really was excited to see their story. Unlike the first book, this story was not dual pov and only focused on Twyla’s story, which I found somewhat difficult to connect to. I really enjoyed Twyla and I thought she was very sweet and I adored her friendship with Frank. A lot of her growth centered around finding herself as an individual outside of her family which I was completely rooting for. Her family really frustrated me and with her character arc, while I was rooting for her, I just did not find myself completely invested. 

As for her relationship with Frank, I loved their friendship, I just did not love the buildup to their relationship. I am so happy for them, again I just was not fully invested in them. 

As for the plot, I am not sure why that was the direction it went in, but that was an extremely dissatisfying ending. I wanted to roll my eyes the entire end. If the plot was better I think I would have enjoyed the book more, but I was so disappointed by the whole reveal I just deflated a little bit. 

Overall I really enjoyed Twyla and Frank’s friendship and I thought they were so cute. I wish I was more invested, but I just was not and I was really disappointed with the direction of the plot in this book. If there is a book three I will still happily read it, I love this world and really enjoy these characters. I wish I connected with this story more, because I do enjoy her writing. 

bookgroundmel's review against another edition

funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

Super sweet quarky romance with much older characters (50+). It's a refreshing romance with friendships develop into something more and how Twyla navigates her life as a grandma/mother and being herself. The world itself is fun and different and we see characters from her other book and get a quick check in with Hart and Mercy. Looking for a fun light romance this will do the trick! Plus it has magical flying creatures! 

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for the opportunity to read this e-arc! This is my honest opinion of the book! 

mistressviolet's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

 

Wowza! This book was so good. The first book in this series was great, but this one was even better! It blew me away—straight to Tanria, glitter spit and all. I was captivated right from the start. It was lighthearted and fun. There were laugh-out-loud moments. The romance was down to earth and believable. And I stayed completely immersed in this book throughout—the kind of deep immersion where you lose track of time and forget you're reading. 

So much of this book clicked for me. The character development was fantastic. And the main character was so incredibly relatable. I loved the rawness, honesty, and insightfulness of Bannen's portrayal of what it means to be a middle aged woman. I found it surprisingly self-validating. There was also a lot of good commentary on gender inequality. 

This was the most satisfying book I've read in a long time. I want to just hug it so hard and keep it forever. 

alyssasaurus's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

I read this Advance Reader Copy courtesy of NetGalley. 

I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately my expectations may have been too high. Hart and Mercy was magical and made me feel all the things, but that same magic didn’t translate well to its sequel. 

The biggest missed opportunity was the fact that in Twyla and Frank we only see Twyla’s perspective. Frank’s consistent stoic support And not much else made him basically a secondary character in Twyla’s story. However, if the story switched to his perspective ever, the plot would have had to change, because the reasons Twyla and Frank are not already a couple are frustrating—and not in a fun way. If we knew what Frank was thinking, we would have been even more annoyed that these two just needed to actually talk to each other. 

Frank does not grow in the book. He is a foil for Twyla’s change, and that is a shame. 

Some things I enjoyed:
The dragons
The Twyla and Frank banter
Twyla learning to love herself and ask for what she wants
The reappearance of Hart and Mercy
The new nimikilin, a hedgehog who loves grape soda named Hermia
Duckers being Duckers

Overall, there were things to enjoy in this book, but with the predictable plot and narrow vision of the characters, it fell flat. 

mel_towns's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

mah_jayjay's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

abookishtype's review

adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

It’s rare (so rare that I can’t think of another example) that I read a sequel that I loved more than the first book in a series, but that’s the case with The Undermining of Twyla and Frank, Megan Bannen’s sequel to The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. Bookish friends, I read this book in a single afternoon and am kind of thinking about diving back in for another turn...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. 

flowersfavouritefiction's review

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

embbooks's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-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

4.5