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A review by kara_bee
All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
This read was disappointing on many levels, mainly that 1) it was my first read of 2025 and left me feeling massively underwhelmed/unexcited about reading more, and 2) I LOVE the other Mariana Zapata book I’ve previously read (The Wall of Winnipeg and Me) yet this one felt like it fell so short of her normal writing quality. I don’t know how it got through editing like this, honestly.
Things I did like about the book:
•teenaged characters actually acted like teenagers
•Zapata’s depiction of the fallout of dealing with narcissistic/self-centered adults and parental figures was handled well and in a realistic manner (the scenes whereOra confronted Mrs. Jones in the diner and later told Kaden to leave her alone once and for all were very satisfying for me, as someone who has had to deal with similar personalities before ).
Things I did not like about the book:
•non-teenaged characters also acted like teenagers; namely, Ora was incredibly immature and WAY overly emotional, to the point of being worrisome. She’d get teary-eyed and gushy about absolutely everything. No one could even pay her a nice, normal compliment without her crying out that it was “the nicest thing anyone ever said” to her and hugging them while snotting on their shirt collar. I get that she’s supposed to be this cutesy, bubbly, sunshine-y person, but… she’s also a 33 year old woman. Take it down a notch or ten. If I knew anyone like this in real life, especially at that age, I’d seriously worry about their mental health.
•The repetition and inconsistencies in the writing. We are told so many times about how 1) Kaden was a bad boyfriend/life partner/whatever they were, 2) Mrs. Jones is the Antichrist, 3) Ora has to pee, 4) Rhodes is grumpy, 5) Ora doesn’t know anything about the outdoors despite wanting to go hiking all the time and working at an outdoors supply store, 6) Ora somehow thinks Rhodes barely tolerates her even after he starts calling her “angel” (the only GOOD nickname he calls her, btw - we’ll get to that)… the list goes on and on. I felt like we were being beaten over the head with certain pieces of information and it felt almost insulting. There was a lot, and I mean a LOT, of telling rather than showing. As for inconsistencies, they were fairly minor - little things like her telling Rhodes at their first meeting that she’d only ever gotten one traffic ticket in her lifetime (in an attempt to convince him she wasn’t a criminal, which, to be fair, he did think she was breaking into his garage at the time) then musing a few chapters later about how she’d never gotten a traffic ticket despite the fact that she usually drove above the speed limit (a random piece of information that we didn’t need to know, and also, is apparently untrue, assuming she was telling Rhodes the truth earlier in the book - and why would she lie to him about having only gotten one ticket if she’d never actually gotten any??). But there was alsothe matter of her swearing she’d never do a certain hike by herself again after getting injured on her first attempt, only for her to… do the same hike by herself again later in the book. Then run into Rhodes’ arms after she finished it and cry to him about how she was so scared the whole time (then WHY did you DO IT????). Just… ugh. Make it make sense.
•The nicknames, oh my god. Yikes. Rhodes calling her “angel” was fine, and I even thought it was cute (at first) that she just thought he’d misremembered her name and corrected him, but the whole ditzy “I didn’t know you were calling me an affectionate nickname this whole time!!!” thing got old real fast. And then he started calling her *shudders* Buddy…. now THAT was the most cringeworthy thing I’ve read in a while.And his explanation for it is totally lame. She reminds him of Buddy the Elf??? I mean, yeah, given her immaturity, I can kind of see it, but then why is he attracted to her?????? Maybe I’m blowing this out of proportion but it just gave me the ick. I’d love never to see the word “buddy” again in my life.
•all spoilers (and lots of capslock) ahead:THE THIRD ACT ARGUMENT OVER SOMETHING TOTALLY STUPID AND LAME. UGH. PLEASE LET THIS TROPE DIE. I was so mad about this. Rhodes and Amos find out the ex that Ora had alluded to is actually big country music star Kaden Jones. And instead of processing that information normally, they…. both get super pissed off and stop talking to her for like 24 hours??? WHAT??? “Oh you lied to us” NO SHE DIDN’T! YOU NEVER ASKED HER WHO HER EX WAS!! SHE’S ONLY KNOWN YOU FOR SIX MONTHS!!! IT WAS A TRAUMATIC BREAK UP SITUATION FOR HER!!!!! SHE DOESN’T OWE YOU THAT INFORMATION!!!!!! I literally set the book down, turned to my husband next to me in bed, and asked him if he’d be pissed if, six months into our relationship, I had revealed that my ex was actually Harry Styles. He shrugged and said “I’d be curious how that happened, but I wouldn’t be mad about it” and I said EXACTLY!!! THERE’S NOTHING TO BE MAD ABOUT!!!!!! AAAAAAAAUGHHHH. Needless to say, I hated that part.
•way, way too many mentions of pee, diarrhea, and farts. Like what the hell. Do people actually find that funny?
I could keep going, but this review is long enough. If you’re new to Mariana Zapata, do yourself a favor and skip this one. Read The Wall of Winnipeg and Me - it’s actually good and has great character development. Nothing at all like this one.
Things I did like about the book:
•teenaged characters actually acted like teenagers
•Zapata’s depiction of the fallout of dealing with narcissistic/self-centered adults and parental figures was handled well and in a realistic manner (the scenes where
Things I did not like about the book:
•non-teenaged characters also acted like teenagers; namely, Ora was incredibly immature and WAY overly emotional, to the point of being worrisome. She’d get teary-eyed and gushy about absolutely everything. No one could even pay her a nice, normal compliment without her crying out that it was “the nicest thing anyone ever said” to her and hugging them while snotting on their shirt collar. I get that she’s supposed to be this cutesy, bubbly, sunshine-y person, but… she’s also a 33 year old woman. Take it down a notch or ten. If I knew anyone like this in real life, especially at that age, I’d seriously worry about their mental health.
•The repetition and inconsistencies in the writing. We are told so many times about how 1) Kaden was a bad boyfriend/life partner/whatever they were, 2) Mrs. Jones is the Antichrist, 3) Ora has to pee, 4) Rhodes is grumpy, 5) Ora doesn’t know anything about the outdoors despite wanting to go hiking all the time and working at an outdoors supply store, 6) Ora somehow thinks Rhodes barely tolerates her even after he starts calling her “angel” (the only GOOD nickname he calls her, btw - we’ll get to that)… the list goes on and on. I felt like we were being beaten over the head with certain pieces of information and it felt almost insulting. There was a lot, and I mean a LOT, of telling rather than showing. As for inconsistencies, they were fairly minor - little things like her telling Rhodes at their first meeting that she’d only ever gotten one traffic ticket in her lifetime (in an attempt to convince him she wasn’t a criminal, which, to be fair, he did think she was breaking into his garage at the time) then musing a few chapters later about how she’d never gotten a traffic ticket despite the fact that she usually drove above the speed limit (a random piece of information that we didn’t need to know, and also, is apparently untrue, assuming she was telling Rhodes the truth earlier in the book - and why would she lie to him about having only gotten one ticket if she’d never actually gotten any??). But there was also
•The nicknames, oh my god. Yikes. Rhodes calling her “angel” was fine, and I even thought it was cute (at first) that she just thought he’d misremembered her name and corrected him, but the whole ditzy “I didn’t know you were calling me an affectionate nickname this whole time!!!” thing got old real fast. And then he started calling her *shudders* Buddy…. now THAT was the most cringeworthy thing I’ve read in a while.
•all spoilers (and lots of capslock) ahead:
•way, way too many mentions of pee, diarrhea, and farts. Like what the hell. Do people actually find that funny?
I could keep going, but this review is long enough. If you’re new to Mariana Zapata, do yourself a favor and skip this one. Read The Wall of Winnipeg and Me - it’s actually good and has great character development. Nothing at all like this one.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Mental illness, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail