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A review by smakinde
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
3.0
Is this a 5 star read?? No it’s not. Let me explain why.
The first 20-30% is a hot mess. It was rushed and there were so many things going on that I genuinely had to go over a chapter several times to make sure I didn’t miss something. It wasn’t flowing well and it was like the author was trying to lay out the plot all at once instead of letting it slowly build.
I chuckle every time I read Misery’s name, so I mainly just called her Missy in my head because it didn’t make me cringe as much.
Does this have alot of fantasy? No. It’s vampire and werewolves yes and besides the small power that Misery has, there isn’t anything crazy. That’s okay, but it feels like a stretch when they talk about the world building… like it’s not that detailed and it airs more on the mystery side than fantasy or romance.
I love a fated mates trope, but this was dragged on until about 90%. Lowe at that point still hasn’t acknowledged out loud that Misery is his mate, even though he has known from the first few pages. Misery doesn’t figure it out until like 80-85% and when she asks Lowe, he once again avoids it. It’s all because he wants her to “keep her freedom”, but it just got boring. It would have been better IMO if they would have had it sorted somewhere in the middle vs the very end.
When she finally finds her bestie and the connection is made, the story came together more, but again that’s all towards the very end.
Now onto the things I liked.
I know a lot of people didn’t like that Misery was the one pursuing Lowe more, but I liked it. I like that she took the rains AND I REALLY APPRECIATE that although the author hints to misery’s virginity, it’s not in a way that makes me want to throw up. It’s very subtle, but she didn’t paint her in the light of “oh I need a big bad wolf to show me all of the things I don’t know, because I’m so inexperienced.” I mean the girl hadn’t kissed anyone until Lowe and they were already “getting to know” each other’s bodies. Annnnnd when it comes to the spicy stuff, again the author talked about Lowe’s size, but it wasn’t in the way of “omg he’s just so big, what ever will I do” type of deal and that was refreshing in a wolf book especially.
I liked the twist at the end when it came to the main plot and how it lined up. I think for the first book in stepping into fantasy, a lot needs to change, but it’s not the worst book I’ve read. Solid 2.5-3 stars.
The first 20-30% is a hot mess. It was rushed and there were so many things going on that I genuinely had to go over a chapter several times to make sure I didn’t miss something. It wasn’t flowing well and it was like the author was trying to lay out the plot all at once instead of letting it slowly build.
I chuckle every time I read Misery’s name, so I mainly just called her Missy in my head because it didn’t make me cringe as much.
Does this have alot of fantasy? No. It’s vampire and werewolves yes and besides the small power that Misery has, there isn’t anything crazy. That’s okay, but it feels like a stretch when they talk about the world building… like it’s not that detailed and it airs more on the mystery side than fantasy or romance.
I love a fated mates trope, but this was dragged on until about 90%. Lowe at that point still hasn’t acknowledged out loud that Misery is his mate, even though he has known from the first few pages. Misery doesn’t figure it out until like 80-85% and when she asks Lowe, he once again avoids it. It’s all because he wants her to “keep her freedom”, but it just got boring. It would have been better IMO if they would have had it sorted somewhere in the middle vs the very end.
When she finally finds her bestie and the connection is made, the story came together more, but again that’s all towards the very end.
Now onto the things I liked.
I know a lot of people didn’t like that Misery was the one pursuing Lowe more, but I liked it. I like that she took the rains AND I REALLY APPRECIATE that although the author hints to misery’s virginity, it’s not in a way that makes me want to throw up. It’s very subtle, but she didn’t paint her in the light of “oh I need a big bad wolf to show me all of the things I don’t know, because I’m so inexperienced.” I mean the girl hadn’t kissed anyone until Lowe and they were already “getting to know” each other’s bodies. Annnnnd when it comes to the spicy stuff, again the author talked about Lowe’s size, but it wasn’t in the way of “omg he’s just so big, what ever will I do” type of deal and that was refreshing in a wolf book especially.
I liked the twist at the end when it came to the main plot and how it lined up. I think for the first book in stepping into fantasy, a lot needs to change, but it’s not the worst book I’ve read. Solid 2.5-3 stars.