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A review by books_ergo_sum
Remember Love by Mary Balogh
emotional
slow-paced
2.0
Did not expect to be ranting about this book—but here I am.
I was ready to love the dense description and the Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell-esque introduction to the entire family, the Ravenswood estate, and almost every person in the surrounding country. And you know I love a second chance romance with an on-page first chance timeline.
But every new part of this story added something to the “I’m bothered” pile.
That first timeline was A) too long to B) provide so little. It was 40% of the book yet the MCs only had two (short and un-swoony) conversations during it? I needed that first timeline to contain on-page falling in love and some justification for why they hadn’t gotten over each other. And it did neither.
Then I hated the description of our hero during the off-page six years, for the way that it nonsensically undermined his character arc. Why did we turn the guy who, on-page (in both timelines), was pathologically avoidant and borderline cowardly into a brave and decisive leader off-page? And why did we take an MMC who, on-page, was giving demisexual vibes and turn him into someone who had slept with tons women, never the same one twice off-page? Especially given the particular plot of this book?? (And don’t get me started on the Pretty Woman-ish thing about kissing because I hated it)
Now, I’ve read my share of “I’m incapable of love” sad boi heroes. But this made no sense! He was so transparently loving—I did not buy this conflict. One bit. With lines like: “… spoken straight to his heart. The heart he did not possess.” I was dying.
And then, where was the love story in the second chance timeline? They barely interacted!
But my biggest issue was how we set up seemingly intractable problems that destroyed this family for years… only to too-easily solve them with unprompted internal monologues and annoyingly unearned new-to-the-character self-awareness. That was how every single conflict was resolved in this book. Infuriating.
I was ready to love the dense description and the Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell-esque introduction to the entire family, the Ravenswood estate, and almost every person in the surrounding country. And you know I love a second chance romance with an on-page first chance timeline.
But every new part of this story added something to the “I’m bothered” pile.
That first timeline was A) too long to B) provide so little. It was 40% of the book yet the MCs only had two (short and un-swoony) conversations during it? I needed that first timeline to contain on-page falling in love and some justification for why they hadn’t gotten over each other. And it did neither.
Then I hated the description of our hero during the off-page six years, for the way that it nonsensically undermined his character arc. Why did we turn the guy who, on-page (in both timelines), was pathologically avoidant and borderline cowardly into a brave and decisive leader off-page? And why did we take an MMC who, on-page, was giving demisexual vibes and turn him into someone who had slept with tons women, never the same one twice off-page? Especially given the particular plot of this book?? (And don’t get me started on the Pretty Woman-ish thing about kissing because I hated it)
Now, I’ve read my share of “I’m incapable of love” sad boi heroes. But this made no sense! He was so transparently loving—I did not buy this conflict. One bit. With lines like: “… spoken straight to his heart. The heart he did not possess.” I was dying.
And then, where was the love story in the second chance timeline? They barely interacted!
But my biggest issue was how we set up seemingly intractable problems that destroyed this family for years… only to too-easily solve them with unprompted internal monologues and annoyingly unearned new-to-the-character self-awareness. That was how every single conflict was resolved in this book. Infuriating.