Scan barcode
A review by _onemorechapter_
Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paige Toon
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
๐ญThis is the first book Iโve read by this author and it was okay-ish.
After a devastating breakup, it follows Wren during her summer on a farm in Indiana with her dad and step-family. Heartbroken, sheโs hoping to temporarily escape her problems and sort out her head. Luckily, she forges a friendship with her half-sister and befriends a couple of local (handsome) brothers - Anders and Jonas. Anders, the more handsome of the two, is giving mixed signals but Wren canโt help to fall for him. Yet, heโs hesitant and no one understands why.
The story is focused on the romance between Wren and Anders. I loved the focus on family and healing. My heart was especially invested in Jonas. A secret part of me was hoping he'd be the love interest ...
There wasnโt a shocking moment. Instead, the story is repetitive and predictable. A woman breaks up with her fiancรฉ, meets a man who lost his wife, and slowly they fall in love. I didnโt feel anything when they almost admitted their feelings for the first time. The conversations between Wren and Anders just didn't lend to a lot of chemistry, and so I didn't feel a sense of rooting for them.
I furrowed my brows when I learned what the plot twist was. And I found Jonas far more interesting than Anders. I can see the lessons in love, of different perspectives on life and difficult choices, but it was wrapped up in a story that wasn't super compelling for me unfortunately.
"Only Love Can Hurt Like This" is a very slowly-paced, super slow-burning romance without a lot of romance. Does that make any sense? This book was a slooowwwwwwwwwwww burn. Like literally, not even a kiss happened between the two MCs until 75ish pages before the end of the book. Literally. Like when I say SLOW BURNโฆ.. I mean SLOWWWW. During the first half, almost nothing happened, except for unnecessary small talk. The plot wasnโt moving forward in any way and the main characters were creating a connection at all. This book is a bit overdone in some places and a bit underdeveloped in others. One thing I noticed was my lack of strong emotions and/or shock factor while reading. The story unfolded in a way that failed to make me feel anything. The plot development was also predictable.
Also- the epilogue couldโve been cut in half. It did NOT need to be dragged out on so many pages.
Honestly, it wasn't a bad story. It was actually a story with a lot of topics that made you sit back and wonder what you would do in that situation.
On another note, I felt like the cover of this book could have been so different! I wouldn't have known the premise or the category of the book by the cover alone. Would have been so cute to see an image depicting Wren and Anders within farm life!
Overall, My heart was not wrenched, and my earth was not shattered. I think this is a fine book, and I will read others written by Paige Toon because they come so highly recommended, but this one was pretty basic. I think I just had high expectations for it and I wasn't blown away.
๐.๐ I wanted to really love this book, I'd been reading some of the early reviews and it sounded so promising but it just didn't click with me.
๐.๐.๐ I enjoyed the first interaction between Wren and Anders (Where Wren is drunk). It was hilarious !!
๐ธ๐ด๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: โญโญโญ
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: 4.01 (24250)
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐: Contemporary Romance
๐ธ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: Yes
๐ธ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐:
โMy mother has always told me to trust my instincts. But itโs hard to trust your instincts when theyโre breaking your heart.โ
โBut thereโs nothing wrong with knowing what you want in a partner and striving for it. Lifeโs too short. Youโve got to be honest with yourself about the sort of life you want, the sort of person youโd like to spend it with. As long as youโre kind to the people around you, which you are, you should be true to yourself.โ
โI've been trying so hard, for so long, not to fall in love with you. But it's impossible.โ
โI read something recently about the importance of doing things in life that bring you joy.โ
โI didnโt know it was possible to love so fully and hurt so deeply at exactly the same time.โ
โBecause it doesnโt matter what the rest of the world thinks, every child should be told that theyโre beautiful by their parents.โ
After a devastating breakup, it follows Wren during her summer on a farm in Indiana with her dad and step-family. Heartbroken, sheโs hoping to temporarily escape her problems and sort out her head. Luckily, she forges a friendship with her half-sister and befriends a couple of local (handsome) brothers - Anders and Jonas. Anders, the more handsome of the two, is giving mixed signals but Wren canโt help to fall for him. Yet, heโs hesitant and no one understands why.
The story is focused on the romance between Wren and Anders. I loved the focus on family and healing. My heart was especially invested in Jonas. A secret part of me was hoping he'd be the love interest ...
There wasnโt a shocking moment. Instead, the story is repetitive and predictable. A woman breaks up with her fiancรฉ, meets a man who lost his wife, and slowly they fall in love. I didnโt feel anything when they almost admitted their feelings for the first time. The conversations between Wren and Anders just didn't lend to a lot of chemistry, and so I didn't feel a sense of rooting for them.
I furrowed my brows when I learned what the plot twist was. And I found Jonas far more interesting than Anders. I can see the lessons in love, of different perspectives on life and difficult choices, but it was wrapped up in a story that wasn't super compelling for me unfortunately.
"Only Love Can Hurt Like This" is a very slowly-paced, super slow-burning romance without a lot of romance. Does that make any sense? This book was a slooowwwwwwwwwwww burn. Like literally, not even a kiss happened between the two MCs until 75ish pages before the end of the book. Literally. Like when I say SLOW BURNโฆ.. I mean SLOWWWW. During the first half, almost nothing happened, except for unnecessary small talk. The plot wasnโt moving forward in any way and the main characters were creating a connection at all. This book is a bit overdone in some places and a bit underdeveloped in others. One thing I noticed was my lack of strong emotions and/or shock factor while reading. The story unfolded in a way that failed to make me feel anything. The plot development was also predictable.
Also- the epilogue couldโve been cut in half. It did NOT need to be dragged out on so many pages.
Honestly, it wasn't a bad story. It was actually a story with a lot of topics that made you sit back and wonder what you would do in that situation.
On another note, I felt like the cover of this book could have been so different! I wouldn't have known the premise or the category of the book by the cover alone. Would have been so cute to see an image depicting Wren and Anders within farm life!
Overall, My heart was not wrenched, and my earth was not shattered. I think this is a fine book, and I will read others written by Paige Toon because they come so highly recommended, but this one was pretty basic. I think I just had high expectations for it and I wasn't blown away.
๐.๐ I wanted to really love this book, I'd been reading some of the early reviews and it sounded so promising but it just didn't click with me.
๐.๐.๐ I enjoyed the first interaction between Wren and Anders (Where Wren is drunk). It was hilarious !!
๐ธ๐ด๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: โญโญโญ
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐: 4.01 (24250)
๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐: Contemporary Romance
๐ธ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: Yes
๐ธ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐:
โMy mother has always told me to trust my instincts. But itโs hard to trust your instincts when theyโre breaking your heart.โ
โBut thereโs nothing wrong with knowing what you want in a partner and striving for it. Lifeโs too short. Youโve got to be honest with yourself about the sort of life you want, the sort of person youโd like to spend it with. As long as youโre kind to the people around you, which you are, you should be true to yourself.โ
โI've been trying so hard, for so long, not to fall in love with you. But it's impossible.โ
โI read something recently about the importance of doing things in life that bring you joy.โ
โI didnโt know it was possible to love so fully and hurt so deeply at exactly the same time.โ
โBecause it doesnโt matter what the rest of the world thinks, every child should be told that theyโre beautiful by their parents.โ