Scan barcode
A review by vickycbooks
The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena
5.0
4.5 stars
This book managed to tick every single box on a romance list that I had no idea I even had. It was sweet and endearing yet spicy and a bit forbidden and wonderfully balanced with real life.
In short, this is one of my favorite romances ever.
I just–the new girl/bad boy trope has so much potential to flop given all the bad tries from the late 2000s, early 2010s. From aggressive to almost abusive love interests to just plain bad to trashy and cliche, there’s a lot of ways to go wrong.
Yet Bhathena did such an amazing job of getting it all right? It feels like it suits 2019 with its diverse characters (YESSS) and a romance that’s sweet and gentle yet balanced with life and forbidden-ness and so much more.
The romance was definitely my favorite part, and since it’s February, I was in the best mood to read this book and swoon over Susan and Malcom.
Ugh. Adorable.
The dual POVs were so awesome, and I loved reading both Sarah and Malcom’s side of the story and found them to be so well balanced.
And even more than that, they’re their own people. The whole ending solidifies that (though I promise you a happily ever after) and they have agency and weren’t just made to be the other person’s other half.
Susan has things going on with her mom & dad’s marriage, as well as art and potentially going to art school instead of engineering.
Malcom has a lot to handle and unpack with his dad and his relationship with his sister and friends.
It was all very well balanced, and that’s another highlight of this book. How well Bhathena juggled romance and real life problems for all the characters.
I took of the .5 star ultimately because . . . I wanted more. So much more. I wanted to devour 5 books of just Malcom and Susan.
And also because I feel like there could have been a little more exploration of Malcom and his father, but also we don’t want a 400 page contemporary so it’s still cool.
But yeah!!! I want so many more contemporary romances from Tanaz Bhathena and I also really really loved the Easter Eggs she left in the story about characters from A Girl Like That. (You don’t have to read A Girl Like That to read this, though.)
Basically, I had a really fantastic time reading and just got all the fluffy, happy, feel-good feels from this book. I was in the perfect mood for this and devoured the whole thing in less than a day.
I would definitely recommend The Beauty of the Moment if you like
- fresh takes on classic tropes
- adorable couples who have agency
- diverse casts and West Asian rep!
- a lighthearted read that will make you swoon
- artists! also gorgeous covers!
Overall, I had the most fantastic time reading, and this feels like one of the rare books that I’ll be rereading in a time of need. So yeah. Please read it, so you can gush with me about it after!
Thank you so much to Macmillan and The FFBC for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
This book managed to tick every single box on a romance list that I had no idea I even had. It was sweet and endearing yet spicy and a bit forbidden and wonderfully balanced with real life.
In short, this is one of my favorite romances ever.
I just–the new girl/bad boy trope has so much potential to flop given all the bad tries from the late 2000s, early 2010s. From aggressive to almost abusive love interests to just plain bad to trashy and cliche, there’s a lot of ways to go wrong.
Yet Bhathena did such an amazing job of getting it all right? It feels like it suits 2019 with its diverse characters (YESSS) and a romance that’s sweet and gentle yet balanced with life and forbidden-ness and so much more.
The romance was definitely my favorite part, and since it’s February, I was in the best mood to read this book and swoon over Susan and Malcom.
Ugh. Adorable.
The dual POVs were so awesome, and I loved reading both Sarah and Malcom’s side of the story and found them to be so well balanced.
And even more than that, they’re their own people. The whole ending solidifies that (though I promise you a happily ever after) and they have agency and weren’t just made to be the other person’s other half.
Susan has things going on with her mom & dad’s marriage, as well as art and potentially going to art school instead of engineering.
Malcom has a lot to handle and unpack with his dad and his relationship with his sister and friends.
It was all very well balanced, and that’s another highlight of this book. How well Bhathena juggled romance and real life problems for all the characters.
I took of the .5 star ultimately because . . . I wanted more. So much more. I wanted to devour 5 books of just Malcom and Susan.
And also because I feel like there could have been a little more exploration of Malcom and his father, but also we don’t want a 400 page contemporary so it’s still cool.
But yeah!!! I want so many more contemporary romances from Tanaz Bhathena and I also really really loved the Easter Eggs she left in the story about characters from A Girl Like That. (You don’t have to read A Girl Like That to read this, though.)
Basically, I had a really fantastic time reading and just got all the fluffy, happy, feel-good feels from this book. I was in the perfect mood for this and devoured the whole thing in less than a day.
I would definitely recommend The Beauty of the Moment if you like
- fresh takes on classic tropes
- adorable couples who have agency
- diverse casts and West Asian rep!
- a lighthearted read that will make you swoon
- artists! also gorgeous covers!
Overall, I had the most fantastic time reading, and this feels like one of the rare books that I’ll be rereading in a time of need. So yeah. Please read it, so you can gush with me about it after!
Thank you so much to Macmillan and The FFBC for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Blog | Instagram | Twitter