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A review by ruxandra_grr
And They Lived Happily Ever After by Therese Beharrie
3.0
I really liked some of this, but some things felt a bit... thin?
For instance, I liked the protagonists, I thought they were nicely drawn and the communication between them felt completely refreshing. They're both observing, aware people, so their interactions were quite nice, they *read* each other really well.
Another thing I really liked was the friendship between Gaia and her best friend, Seth. There's a paragraph that gave me JOY to read:
But that sounded stupid and quickly put his own jealousy into perspective. Human beings didn't have a finite amount of any feeling. Simply because she shared something special with Seth didn't mean what she and Jacob had wasn't special.
PREACH! I love reading romances, but I'm not a person who believes in the One anymore. That way laid a lot of suffering for me. I do believe that love is abundant and shouldn't be caged and that paragraph really reflected that.
At the same time, the dream sequences didn't do that much for me? It felt like they were there for a drop of magic, but didn't add that much to the story, except for some bit of conflict/ obstacle.
So the main issue I have with the book, reflected in multiple issues, is that I kept waiting for it to start, it felt a bit like an endless tease. Sure, the two characters advanced in their affections toward one another, but it feels like some side plots, had they been in the spotlight, would have enriched the whole thing. The friendship with Seth is put on hold for a long while. And then there is another plot that I kept waiting for it to get kickstarted.
The sexy times also felt like a tease, but those are my expectations and my problem.
Another thing I liked was how Gaia's anxiety was rendered. And how being alone and feeling lonely and abandoned can turn into a vicious cycle. I relate to that. I just wish this book hadn't postponed all of the developments until late in the game.
For instance, I liked the protagonists, I thought they were nicely drawn and the communication between them felt completely refreshing. They're both observing, aware people, so their interactions were quite nice, they *read* each other really well.
Another thing I really liked was the friendship between Gaia and her best friend, Seth. There's a paragraph that gave me JOY to read:
But that sounded stupid and quickly put his own jealousy into perspective. Human beings didn't have a finite amount of any feeling. Simply because she shared something special with Seth didn't mean what she and Jacob had wasn't special.
PREACH! I love reading romances, but I'm not a person who believes in the One anymore. That way laid a lot of suffering for me. I do believe that love is abundant and shouldn't be caged and that paragraph really reflected that.
At the same time, the dream sequences didn't do that much for me? It felt like they were there for a drop of magic, but didn't add that much to the story, except for some bit of conflict/ obstacle.
So the main issue I have with the book, reflected in multiple issues, is that I kept waiting for it to start, it felt a bit like an endless tease. Sure, the two characters advanced in their affections toward one another, but it feels like some side plots, had they been in the spotlight, would have enriched the whole thing. The friendship with Seth is put on hold for a long while. And then there is another plot that I kept waiting for it to get kickstarted.
Spoiler
The whole sister thing was the ultimate tease. We find about it early and it would have been *so* interesting if Gaia had had some healing on her abandonment issues through the relationship with her sister, in the actual book, and that would have helped her relationship with Jacob. Instead, she finds out almost at the 90% mark, there is no catharsis there in the plot, we don't get to see them together. But that's because of the sequel. That bothered me a lot. The book about Gaia ended with a teaser about her sister, and that was a disappointment, like, for this book to feel richer, I needed something to happen between them in this particular book. Instead it's just a tease.The sexy times also felt like a tease, but those are my expectations and my problem.
Another thing I liked was how Gaia's anxiety was rendered. And how being alone and feeling lonely and abandoned can turn into a vicious cycle. I relate to that. I just wish this book hadn't postponed all of the developments until late in the game.