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A review by 05olivia15
Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to like this book more than I did (I am in fact THE target demographic for this book!). Unfortunately, I just could not get past this author's writing style, which was really annoying because there were so many things I liked about the premise of this story!!!
Protagonist #1: Opal, ADHD-having former party-girl turned neurotic-sober person who makes weird art, works a dead end job, and recently won the fucking lottery.
Protagonist #2: Pepper, autistic flower farmer in the picturesque valleys of Asheville NC, tall, beefy, emotionally constipated, recently had her farm bought out from under her by Opal with the aforementioned lottery winnings.
Enemies to lovers! Lesbian! The side characters that make up Pepper's friend group are great too! There are like 5 explicit sex scenes which is wild because usually lesbian books have way fewer than the ones with gay men! Equality!
THE PROBLEM FOR ME is with the actual writing of this book. This author is the ultimate example of "telling" but not "showing."
Here's just one example of this that made me want to throw my book across the room:
<i> Pg. 281: A conversation between Pepper and her friend Diksha about the fact that Pepper refuses to be honest with herself about her feelings for Opal </i>
"I know that every time we've talked or texted over the past few weeks, you've always found a reason to bring her up and go on and on."
"Out of annoyance, primarily," I say with a haughty sniff.
"Right. Talking about how beautiful her art is that you creep on definitely screams that you are annoyed by her and not desperately head over heels."
WHY couldn't we just HAVE THESE CONVERSATIONS TAKE PLACE IN THE NOVEL instead of hearing characters talk ABOUT these conversations??? Including the text messages or phone calls between Pepper and her friends about Opal would have given us an organic way to learn about the characters and hear what their voices actually sound like. But instead, we are just told that these conversations happened... at some point. That is so frustrating!!! This is a romance book, let me actually read the horrible pining and don't just tell me about it! The book is absolutely packed with examples like this, which just makes it annoying to read.
It was like the author was so caught up in the really solid and cute premise of the novel that she forgot to make any of the characters feel like real people. Everything feels like a trope. And I know that romance novels are by nature "tropey," but there is also a lot of room to breathe some LIFE into this concept. I've been to farmers markets. I've met the crunchy granola lesbians that run the ethically sourced honey operations and sell hand foraged chanterelles. I've also met the ADHD-laden art goblins making clay earrings that look like vaginas and crochet sweaters for dogs. These are real people too, not just tropes, and so they should feel like real people to read about.
Protagonist #1: Opal, ADHD-having former party-girl turned neurotic-sober person who makes weird art, works a dead end job, and recently won the fucking lottery.
Protagonist #2: Pepper, autistic flower farmer in the picturesque valleys of Asheville NC, tall, beefy, emotionally constipated, recently had her farm bought out from under her by Opal with the aforementioned lottery winnings.
Enemies to lovers! Lesbian! The side characters that make up Pepper's friend group are great too! There are like 5 explicit sex scenes which is wild because usually lesbian books have way fewer than the ones with gay men! Equality!
THE PROBLEM FOR ME is with the actual writing of this book. This author is the ultimate example of "telling" but not "showing."
Here's just one example of this that made me want to throw my book across the room:
<i> Pg. 281: A conversation between Pepper and her friend Diksha about the fact that Pepper refuses to be honest with herself about her feelings for Opal </i>
"I know that every time we've talked or texted over the past few weeks, you've always found a reason to bring her up and go on and on."
"Out of annoyance, primarily," I say with a haughty sniff.
"Right. Talking about how beautiful her art is that you creep on definitely screams that you are annoyed by her and not desperately head over heels."
WHY couldn't we just HAVE THESE CONVERSATIONS TAKE PLACE IN THE NOVEL instead of hearing characters talk ABOUT these conversations??? Including the text messages or phone calls between Pepper and her friends about Opal would have given us an organic way to learn about the characters and hear what their voices actually sound like. But instead, we are just told that these conversations happened... at some point. That is so frustrating!!! This is a romance book, let me actually read the horrible pining and don't just tell me about it! The book is absolutely packed with examples like this, which just makes it annoying to read.
It was like the author was so caught up in the really solid and cute premise of the novel that she forgot to make any of the characters feel like real people. Everything feels like a trope. And I know that romance novels are by nature "tropey," but there is also a lot of room to breathe some LIFE into this concept. I've been to farmers markets. I've met the crunchy granola lesbians that run the ethically sourced honey operations and sell hand foraged chanterelles. I've also met the ADHD-laden art goblins making clay earrings that look like vaginas and crochet sweaters for dogs. These are real people too, not just tropes, and so they should feel like real people to read about.