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A review by kierscrivener
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
2.0
The characters shine brightly, but I am always frustrated with a lack of communication and when there is the typical long fight at the end that goes on unreasonably long and is concluded too swiftly. I need falling action. Full conversations, lived in experience. But the ride was fun and talked about class, insecurity, first times and Autism. Though i thoughtthe representation for Autism was better in the first. Here we have Khai stubbornly refusing to admit he has feelings or love people, which I can get in moderation. But the belief that you don't love someone despite all behaviour and literally proposing. I would have prefferred the idea of not loving well over the extreme of not loving at all. Or have him once express the idea out loud that he can't make her happy longterm (which adding Jade in earlier could have been a cool explanation) or that his love wouldn't be enough if he wasn't able to express it right. This was especially evident after reading it back to back with Take A Hint, Dani Brown. Where similarly she doesn't think she can do romance because of her hyperfocus and in the brilliant line 'when you answer what day it is by saying the day Sylvia Plath died, dear. Instead of our anniversary"
I don't have Autism, so I can't speak to ot firsthand and it could be that I can see my own insecurities more in the female characters.
But I did want more conversations bevause suprise, suprise he came around and said I love you. But they neger discuss the underlining issues. Despite it being constabt in her mind, she never has a class conversation with him and neither do we see him actually reveal he is wealthy. That could have been very interesting, same with Jade. She worries about it the whole book, and being a mom can be highly stigmatizing, and it would create unique challenges to be a stepdad when he's just adjusting to letting someone in. But nope, neither with the father plot. We see them start but with all the build up there is no conversation or falling action to work through or begin these.
That saying, I really loved the characters I individually and the dynamics especially between the brothers is amazing. Looking forward to following Quan.
In the end, I enjoyed my time reading, but have my critiques.
I don't have Autism, so I can't speak to ot firsthand and it could be that I can see my own insecurities more in the female characters.
But I did want more conversations bevause suprise, suprise he came around and said I love you. But they neger discuss the underlining issues. Despite it being constabt in her mind, she never has a class conversation with him and neither do we see him actually reveal he is wealthy. That could have been very interesting, same with Jade. She worries about it the whole book, and being a mom can be highly stigmatizing, and it would create unique challenges to be a stepdad when he's just adjusting to letting someone in. But nope, neither with the father plot. We see them start but with all the build up there is no conversation or falling action to work through or begin these.
That saying, I really loved the characters I individually and the dynamics especially between the brothers is amazing. Looking forward to following Quan.
In the end, I enjoyed my time reading, but have my critiques.