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A review by marfina
Snowflakes Over The Starfish Cafe by Jessica Redland
1.0
I feel much more comfortable with my Hallmark movies than having to read this again.
Unfortunately I think this missed the mark incredibly. I'm a pretty tough critic of romance novels and this one was impossible to get through.
The first character we are introduced to is Hollie. Her mother owns the Starfish Cafe in Northern England. She has a loving family and boyfriend who doesn't show her affection. Easy to tell from day one they won't last. After seeing several different years on the same Bonfire night, the POV switches to Jack who lives with his grandmother and had a tough childhood. His mother died giving birth to him and his sister has blamed him for their mother's death his whole life.
I was under the impression that the set up of this novel will be going through the years for this one bonfire night (which is how the book was set up). After skipping multiple years through Hollie's life and some of Jack's we are suddenly in the present where everything is SO SLOW. I'm talking snails pace. I had to read every single thought, flashback, action these two character do EVERY SINGLE DAY. This level of detail was so unnecessary and undoubtably the reason the novel was 400 pages long.
Also in the present both characters have lost pretty much every single person that did care about them. It makes the characters feel so in-authentic. How is it possible that these two people could literally have EVERYONE and I mean EVERY SINGLE PERSON that loved them die?? I love tragedy as trope in romance novels but in this book its just TOO much.
With such a weak start to his book, I really had to force my way through it. I couldn't find the willpower to care about the romance and not a single tear was shed from my eyes. Absolutely disappointing start to my holiday reads (which I usually incredibly look forward to).
This book might be the sole reason I am currently in a reading slump.
Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
∙
part of race against time challenge (aka read all 2021 releases before the year ends.)
Unfortunately I think this missed the mark incredibly. I'm a pretty tough critic of romance novels and this one was impossible to get through.
The first character we are introduced to is Hollie. Her mother owns the Starfish Cafe in Northern England. She has a loving family and boyfriend who doesn't show her affection. Easy to tell from day one they won't last. After seeing several different years on the same Bonfire night, the POV switches to Jack who lives with his grandmother and had a tough childhood. His mother died giving birth to him and his sister has blamed him for their mother's death his whole life.
I was under the impression that the set up of this novel will be going through the years for this one bonfire night (which is how the book was set up). After skipping multiple years through Hollie's life and some of Jack's we are suddenly in the present where everything is SO SLOW. I'm talking snails pace. I had to read every single thought, flashback, action these two character do EVERY SINGLE DAY. This level of detail was so unnecessary and undoubtably the reason the novel was 400 pages long.
Also in the present both characters have lost pretty much every single person that did care about them. It makes the characters feel so in-authentic. How is it possible that these two people could literally have EVERYONE and I mean EVERY SINGLE PERSON that loved them die?? I love tragedy as trope in romance novels but in this book its just TOO much.
With such a weak start to his book, I really had to force my way through it. I couldn't find the willpower to care about the romance and not a single tear was shed from my eyes. Absolutely disappointing start to my holiday reads (which I usually incredibly look forward to).
This book might be the sole reason I am currently in a reading slump.
Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
∙
part of race against time challenge (aka read all 2021 releases before the year ends.)