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A review by corinneschapterchatter
Cruel Summer by Maisey Yates
4.75
I don’t give 5⭐️ often but ai do when a book takes a hold for whatever reason and this one did just that. Was it perfect? No, especially because I consumed the audiobook but when you plan on listening to a bit before bed and finish it the next day but instead stay up until 4:45am to finish it, it had an impact!
It was narrated by Nancy Peterson and I’ll be honest, if I was rating it on audio production alone it would have come in at 3⭐️ as it was recorded so painfully slow that I wouldn’t have stayed engaged had I not been able to speed it up. But alas I listened to it at 1.75X speed which gave a great pacing as well as altered the pitch a bit making it more engaging. Now she is a decent audio narrator, I just don’t think this match up was ideal. It almost felt like I was listening to a historical fiction book instead of a romance-women’s fiction with how the narration was approached. At the recorded speed and pitch it dragged down the narrative.
That being said… the prose?? Wow. Many time in books where women go on a self exploration and a relationship is in jeopardy I usually find myself rooting for things to go back to typical (except in the case of abuse or something like that). However as the book unfolded I was really able to embrace the journey that our FMC went on.
In reading other reviews folks pointed out what they wished the book would have tackled which I find weird especially because while sure there were many facets that could have been addressed that wouldn’t have muddied the point. However, while I believe this is a stand alone romance it did open up such an opportunity for a series that examines different points of view and even different facets to our FMC Samantha’s journey.
I don’t want to give anything away so I’m a bit stunted in saying more so I’ll leave it at this… if you’re looking for a romance that goes a bit deeper, especially for readers of a certain age, I highly recommend giving this a go. It has the introspection plus the classic romance vibes including a touch of spice. It came out on June 24th so it’s out now.
Now. Despite my challenges with the narration I do recommend the format as I think k it allowed me to sink into what the author was trying to convey rather than get caught up in the writing style or things of that nature. Just speed it up a bit!!
I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from Harlequin Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.
My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars
⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again
It was narrated by Nancy Peterson and I’ll be honest, if I was rating it on audio production alone it would have come in at 3⭐️ as it was recorded so painfully slow that I wouldn’t have stayed engaged had I not been able to speed it up. But alas I listened to it at 1.75X speed which gave a great pacing as well as altered the pitch a bit making it more engaging. Now she is a decent audio narrator, I just don’t think this match up was ideal. It almost felt like I was listening to a historical fiction book instead of a romance-women’s fiction with how the narration was approached. At the recorded speed and pitch it dragged down the narrative.
That being said… the prose?? Wow. Many time in books where women go on a self exploration and a relationship is in jeopardy I usually find myself rooting for things to go back to typical (except in the case of abuse or something like that). However as the book unfolded I was really able to embrace the journey that our FMC went on.
In reading other reviews folks pointed out what they wished the book would have tackled which I find weird especially because while sure there were many facets that could have been addressed that wouldn’t have muddied the point. However, while I believe this is a stand alone romance it did open up such an opportunity for a series that examines different points of view and even different facets to our FMC Samantha’s journey.
I don’t want to give anything away so I’m a bit stunted in saying more so I’ll leave it at this… if you’re looking for a romance that goes a bit deeper, especially for readers of a certain age, I highly recommend giving this a go. It has the introspection plus the classic romance vibes including a touch of spice. It came out on June 24th so it’s out now.
Now. Despite my challenges with the narration I do recommend the format as I think k it allowed me to sink into what the author was trying to convey rather than get caught up in the writing style or things of that nature. Just speed it up a bit!!
I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from Harlequin Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.
My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars
⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again