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dreamspell_library 's review for:
Twice Upon A Time
by Aya Ling
Wow what a disappointment. I knew from reviews going in I was not going to like this one, but I am determined to see Edward's happily ever after. I just don't understand how the author who gave us the perfection that is Edward and their relationship from the swoon-worthy first book turned around and gave us this... absolute mess.
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spoilers below
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the good:
-Edward! I adore him. I love his loyalty, his selflessness, his passion.. everytime he pulls Kat close I get butterflies!
-Their relationship, seeing Edward and Kat together again. I just about died when she finally (finally!) remembered everything and didn't hold back anymore. Though I think waiting until the second half of the book was a bit much.
the bad:
-I hated the body switching change vs the soul swap from the first book. The soul swap is just a much cleaner story. Ugh, I almost didn't want to continue when the real stepsister was discovered.
-The continuity errors. Are we just ignoring that Kat was married, presumably at 17 (age in the first book) in a blink of an eye she's now 24 yet no one notices how different she looks in a matter of seconds? 17 to 24 is a huge difference! For no reason!
-Also, wasn't the prince around 20 in the first book? But now he's 22? The author either isn't clear in her writing or is having major continuity issues. Very disappointing
-The world. The first book made it seem very victorian-era with carriages, balls, modesty, early marriages, peerage, etc. But now they have cameras, trains, and restaurants? I honestly didn't mind the cameras and trains, since that's still within normal victorian/historical romances, but the restaurant scene was so out of place! Just like with most of the story that scene did nothing to move forward the plot, it was just filler. This whole book was filler.
-The whole premise of Kat losing her memories just for the reader to read basically the same story from the first book was incredibly frustrating. I wanted to see more of Kat and Edward's romance, see the characters evolve and progress, not move backwards or learn about Kat having a serious boyfriend or read through the same exact issues as the first book. It felt like the author wanted to story to stretch into 3 books but only had enough original content for 1 or maybe 2.
Side note: Why is the authoring going out of her way to make the most ridiculous and bizarre story elements when a few simply changes- like NOT having a 7 YEAR gap, NOT having a boyfriend, NOT LOSING HER MEMORY, would eliminate the need for other bizarre choices.
For example, if she never lost her memory she would've looked for a way to return instead of needing to introduce a random baby goblin to steal magic to bring her back. If it wasn't 7 years, the character could've not had a boyfriend to contend with- which was only thrown in there for extra angst and was completly unnecessary. So many scenes were just unnecessary, did nothing to forward the plot or expand the universe, time had to jump every couple of chapters because there was no other way to move the story along, and the readers are left with a boring repeat of the first book.
Ugh. I'm so mad because I am determined to read Edwards HEA, so I'm going to move to the third book, but I will probably end up skimming through chapters again because I just don't really want to read about the angst of having a Kat/Katriona doppleganger. Hopefully I am delightfully surprised and the next book will resolve in a way that recovers this series for me.
.
spoilers below
.
.
.
the good:
-Edward! I adore him. I love his loyalty, his selflessness, his passion.. everytime he pulls Kat close I get butterflies!
-Their relationship, seeing Edward and Kat together again. I just about died when she finally (finally!) remembered everything and didn't hold back anymore. Though I think waiting until the second half of the book was a bit much.
the bad:
-I hated the body switching change vs the soul swap from the first book. The soul swap is just a much cleaner story. Ugh, I almost didn't want to continue when the real stepsister was discovered.
-The continuity errors. Are we just ignoring that Kat was married, presumably at 17 (age in the first book) in a blink of an eye she's now 24 yet no one notices how different she looks in a matter of seconds? 17 to 24 is a huge difference! For no reason!
-Also, wasn't the prince around 20 in the first book? But now he's 22? The author either isn't clear in her writing or is having major continuity issues. Very disappointing
-The world. The first book made it seem very victorian-era with carriages, balls, modesty, early marriages, peerage, etc. But now they have cameras, trains, and restaurants? I honestly didn't mind the cameras and trains, since that's still within normal victorian/historical romances, but the restaurant scene was so out of place! Just like with most of the story that scene did nothing to move forward the plot, it was just filler. This whole book was filler.
-The whole premise of Kat losing her memories just for the reader to read basically the same story from the first book was incredibly frustrating. I wanted to see more of Kat and Edward's romance, see the characters evolve and progress, not move backwards or learn about Kat having a serious boyfriend or read through the same exact issues as the first book. It felt like the author wanted to story to stretch into 3 books but only had enough original content for 1 or maybe 2.
Side note: Why is the authoring going out of her way to make the most ridiculous and bizarre story elements when a few simply changes- like NOT having a 7 YEAR gap, NOT having a boyfriend, NOT LOSING HER MEMORY, would eliminate the need for other bizarre choices.
For example, if she never lost her memory she would've looked for a way to return instead of needing to introduce a random baby goblin to steal magic to bring her back. If it wasn't 7 years, the character could've not had a boyfriend to contend with- which was only thrown in there for extra angst and was completly unnecessary. So many scenes were just unnecessary, did nothing to forward the plot or expand the universe, time had to jump every couple of chapters because there was no other way to move the story along, and the readers are left with a boring repeat of the first book.
Ugh. I'm so mad because I am determined to read Edwards HEA, so I'm going to move to the third book, but I will probably end up skimming through chapters again because I just don't really want to read about the angst of having a Kat/Katriona doppleganger. Hopefully I am delightfully surprised and the next book will resolve in a way that recovers this series for me.