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geminibookcrisis 's review for:
The Decoy Girlfriend
by Lillie Vale
thanks to netgalley for this arc
this book had a very unique premise, and started off promising. but i feel that it didn’t really make the most of its potential.
i wish we had more of Taft’s POV where he was focusing on his own life rather than just Freya and how much he likes her. even if he had been focusing on how she could fit into his dream life I would have been okay with that. but aside from the first couple times we read his POV, almost everything else is only about Freya, not really his family or friend problems. i found those very interesting and wanted to get to know him even better and appreciate his arc more, but we just didn’t really get that.
this was done a little better with Freya, but the further you get into the book the more her plot outside of Taft starts to suffer. her friends slowly disappear to the point where they’re only mentioned. her family isn’t really brought up anymore, and her writing process takes a back seat.
i felt this way about their moments as a couple too honestly! there were only a couple dates and sex scenes where we were actually in the moment, most everything else was brought up as a passing flashback. i feel like i didn't get to know them as a couple or watch them connect. it had the classic “too much inner monologue, not enough plot” problem that is my greatest enemy in romance novels. i felt like the author was continually telling me all these things that had happened hence why the character felt how they did, but i never got to actually see those things happening in the book.
2 stars maybe 2.5 because it was still enjoyable - i liked the plot, i liked the characters. i just didn’t feel invested for the reasons i mentioned already. and the ending was so abrupt - like literally the final chapter - which added to how unbalanced the book felt to me
this book had a very unique premise, and started off promising. but i feel that it didn’t really make the most of its potential.
i wish we had more of Taft’s POV where he was focusing on his own life rather than just Freya and how much he likes her. even if he had been focusing on how she could fit into his dream life I would have been okay with that. but aside from the first couple times we read his POV, almost everything else is only about Freya, not really his family or friend problems. i found those very interesting and wanted to get to know him even better and appreciate his arc more, but we just didn’t really get that.
this was done a little better with Freya, but the further you get into the book the more her plot outside of Taft starts to suffer. her friends slowly disappear to the point where they’re only mentioned. her family isn’t really brought up anymore, and her writing process takes a back seat.
i felt this way about their moments as a couple too honestly! there were only a couple dates and sex scenes where we were actually in the moment, most everything else was brought up as a passing flashback. i feel like i didn't get to know them as a couple or watch them connect. it had the classic “too much inner monologue, not enough plot” problem that is my greatest enemy in romance novels. i felt like the author was continually telling me all these things that had happened hence why the character felt how they did, but i never got to actually see those things happening in the book.
2 stars maybe 2.5 because it was still enjoyable - i liked the plot, i liked the characters. i just didn’t feel invested for the reasons i mentioned already. and the ending was so abrupt - like literally the final chapter - which added to how unbalanced the book felt to me