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gigireadswithkiki 's review for:
You Started It
by Jackie Khalilieh
DID NOT FINISH: 29%
DNF-ing at 29%
Jaime feels far too similar to Jackie Khalilieh’s main character in “Something More” in the way that neither of them had any non-male friends, to the point whether I question if all the characters Khalilieh writes will exhibit this trait.
The romance is vaguely interesting, but mostly boring in that everything feels far too pre-ordained. There feels to be no compelling reason why Axel and Jaime SHOULDN’T be together, especially with Ben IMMEDIATELY built up to be a cheating scumbag. The discovery of the start date of his and Olivia’s relationship should have been revealed further on, so that there had been more of a chance for him to feel like an actually viable option for Jaime to get back together with him. Instead, his betrayal is laid bare from the start, marking him as the far too obvious bad choice in this love triangle.
In tandem, Jaime’s dialogue in regards to Axel is far too obvious and pushes towards an easily predictable ending. From “I want to second guess why Axel wants to spend time with me instead of his fans…but then I don’t” to “I feel safe with him and hugging is nice…but i shrug off the feeling”, the author establishes an immediately connection far too quickly in the story in a way that feels insta-love, but makes a sad, party attempt to build angst.
All in all, not a great formula for a romance story; I was tempted to stick around to figure out the culmination of Jaime’s mother’s internalized anti-Arab character development, but I feel there are books that feature this trait more prominently and are better written in this regard.
Jaime feels far too similar to Jackie Khalilieh’s main character in “Something More” in the way that neither of them had any non-male friends, to the point whether I question if all the characters Khalilieh writes will exhibit this trait.
The romance is vaguely interesting, but mostly boring in that everything feels far too pre-ordained. There feels to be no compelling reason why Axel and Jaime SHOULDN’T be together, especially with Ben IMMEDIATELY built up to be a cheating scumbag. The discovery of the start date of his and Olivia’s relationship should have been revealed further on, so that there had been more of a chance for him to feel like an actually viable option for Jaime to get back together with him. Instead, his betrayal is laid bare from the start, marking him as the far too obvious bad choice in this love triangle.
In tandem, Jaime’s dialogue in regards to Axel is far too obvious and pushes towards an easily predictable ending. From “I want to second guess why Axel wants to spend time with me instead of his fans…but then I don’t” to “I feel safe with him and hugging is nice…but i shrug off the feeling”, the author establishes an immediately connection far too quickly in the story in a way that feels insta-love, but makes a sad, party attempt to build angst.
All in all, not a great formula for a romance story; I was tempted to stick around to figure out the culmination of Jaime’s mother’s internalized anti-Arab character development, but I feel there are books that feature this trait more prominently and are better written in this regard.