Scan barcode
A review by imme_van_gorp
Addicted to Ellis D by S.E. Harmon
2.0
|| 2.0 stars ||
I honestly found this to be incredibly underwhelming. I just expected something different. I expected heated passion, emotional depth, an all-consuming love and an intense story, but I ended up getting none of that. Instead, this was a rather simple love story that I didn’t really have a lot of feelings towards.
I want to start out by saying I positively adored the premise of this book; I really like the hurt/comfort trope and I also enjoy the sex worker/client dynamic. Something felt off about it though, and I blame Luca for that. Ellis was fine, but Luca just didn’t do it for me. I got pretty annoyed with his wishy-washy attitude, and it also frustrated me that he kept holding Ellis off for no reason at all. Especially since he kept acting like they were in a relationship, anyway? So, he was just playing martyr without really making any of the sacrifices. It was silly. And it was disappointing, since he started out much better; he was absolutely obsessed with Ellis from the get-go, and I adored seeing the way he wanted more and more of him. But then, it seemed like a switch flipped and he just became... off. I didn’t like it. And I especially didn’t like how Ellis had to fight for their relationship, while Luca refused to do so. Like, sir, Ellis is the one who should have trust and commitment issues, YOU need to get a grip.
Also, I didn’t appreciate the way this book was written. It glossed over many conversations and situations, which meant it was all very much tell, not show. The writing also didn’t have much depth to it, and it felt very simple, stale and superficial. Especially considering the heavy content and themes of this book, I was hoping for more with regards to the emotional aspect. I actually ended up getting a little bored because of the lack of depth the further the book went. It also became super repetitive to me.
Lastly, I truly did not like the ending. I legitimately hated the fact that Ellis randomly got a lot of money from his horrid grandfather. It felt like such a cheap cop-out, especially considering all the horrors Ellis had to go through due to his lack of money and support previously. It just felt weird that when he was finally getting back on his feet ON HIS OWN, the author decided to make his happily ever after dependent on his horrible rich family. Not only was it unrealistic, but it also ruined the power that could be drawn from the story otherwise. It went from a story about an unfortunate guy finding a healthy and happy life by fighting for it himself, to a story about a guy who randomly got saved by money that fell out of the sky. Such a shame.
In any case, I didn’t hate this book because I actually enjoyed the beginning and I also thought there were a few cute moments. Nonetheless, I had quite a lot of complaints, and in general, I thought it was just a waste of potential.
RECOMMENDATION: If you want to read a story similar to this, I would recommend you check out [b:Home|43583390|Home (Camassia Cove, #1)|Cara Dee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547591762l/43583390._SY75_.jpg|50609949] by [a:Cara Dee|6936449|Cara Dee|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1618239463p2/6936449.jpg]. It has the same premise, but that one was actually really good and was pretty much exactly what I wanted this book to be.
I honestly found this to be incredibly underwhelming. I just expected something different. I expected heated passion, emotional depth, an all-consuming love and an intense story, but I ended up getting none of that. Instead, this was a rather simple love story that I didn’t really have a lot of feelings towards.
I want to start out by saying I positively adored the premise of this book; I really like the hurt/comfort trope and I also enjoy the sex worker/client dynamic. Something felt off about it though, and I blame Luca for that. Ellis was fine, but Luca just didn’t do it for me. I got pretty annoyed with his wishy-washy attitude, and it also frustrated me that he kept holding Ellis off for no reason at all. Especially since he kept acting like they were in a relationship, anyway? So, he was just playing martyr without really making any of the sacrifices. It was silly. And it was disappointing, since he started out much better; he was absolutely obsessed with Ellis from the get-go, and I adored seeing the way he wanted more and more of him. But then, it seemed like a switch flipped and he just became... off. I didn’t like it. And I especially didn’t like how Ellis had to fight for their relationship, while Luca refused to do so. Like, sir, Ellis is the one who should have trust and commitment issues, YOU need to get a grip.
Also, I didn’t appreciate the way this book was written. It glossed over many conversations and situations, which meant it was all very much tell, not show. The writing also didn’t have much depth to it, and it felt very simple, stale and superficial. Especially considering the heavy content and themes of this book, I was hoping for more with regards to the emotional aspect. I actually ended up getting a little bored because of the lack of depth the further the book went. It also became super repetitive to me.
Lastly, I truly did not like the ending. I legitimately hated the fact that Ellis randomly got a lot of money from his horrid grandfather. It felt like such a cheap cop-out, especially considering all the horrors Ellis had to go through due to his lack of money and support previously. It just felt weird that when he was finally getting back on his feet ON HIS OWN, the author decided to make his happily ever after dependent on his horrible rich family. Not only was it unrealistic, but it also ruined the power that could be drawn from the story otherwise. It went from a story about an unfortunate guy finding a healthy and happy life by fighting for it himself, to a story about a guy who randomly got saved by money that fell out of the sky. Such a shame.
In any case, I didn’t hate this book because I actually enjoyed the beginning and I also thought there were a few cute moments. Nonetheless, I had quite a lot of complaints, and in general, I thought it was just a waste of potential.
RECOMMENDATION: If you want to read a story similar to this, I would recommend you check out [b:Home|43583390|Home (Camassia Cove, #1)|Cara Dee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547591762l/43583390._SY75_.jpg|50609949] by [a:Cara Dee|6936449|Cara Dee|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1618239463p2/6936449.jpg]. It has the same premise, but that one was actually really good and was pretty much exactly what I wanted this book to be.