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A review by erinnaissance
Make or Break by Catherine Bennetto
5.0
What made this book so great? This is the first fictional book that I have read that features Cape Town specifically and South Africa in a broader sense. I enjoyed learning about a place that sounds fascinating especially through the funny lens of a shark-phobic, snake- phobic kindred spirit. The South African setting strongly contributed to my enjoyment.
Jess, the heroine, was clever and humorous. The other characters were three dimensional and I fell in love with several of the supporting characters, especially Diego, Lucy and (gasp) even Flora. Jess, rather than her romantic life really takes center stage in this book.
I listened to this as an audiobook which is a different experience than reading an ebook. Sometimes an audiobook improves the experience, and sometimes it ruins it. In this case, I enjoyed the narrator’s storytelling and preferred listening over reading . I kept getting snagged by the British pronunciations of words that differ from my American versions, most noticeably “Zay brah” (vs “Zee Bra.”)
The book felt like it was two parts; not only in the setting between (largely) South Africa in the first part and London in the second part but also in the focus. The first part centers mostly around her love life while her relationship with her family takes center stage in the second.
Readers who want full frontal focus on love story will possibly be disappointed and the sex that occurs is not steamy detailed rather alluded to. I’ve become accustomed to the love story on center stage in recent romance reads, but I adapted here. The author did such a good job of addressing the complicated matters of the heart. I received a valuable reminder to pondering how the way we behave affects who is in our lives.
Although I think I would have appreciated a bit more tightening in editing, (and by that I mean letting go of some sentences that added bulk without enough story enhancement, particularly the descriptions of the people at the bar where Jimmy worked,) I found Catherine Bennetts’s tale to be entertaining, thoughtful, thought-provoking and damn funny!
Last, I have gotten into the bad habit of reading the ending before I’m very far along in a book. Even though I know most books that I read are going to have a “happily ever after” sort of ending, my threshold for tension is eased if I can be assured of HEA early with my own eyes. Based on the title, I thought it was possible that the author might surprise me regarding what happens to Jess. I resisted the urge to skip ahead and I’m really glad I did.
While the plot seemed fairly eccentric, the author resisted going over the top with aspects of Jess’ life. For example, I liked how she wrote the relationship between Jess and her boss. Similarly, I liked the relationships created between Priya and Laurel as well as Ian and Diego. The author seems to have a gift for one on one relationship building.
Jess, the heroine, was clever and humorous. The other characters were three dimensional and I fell in love with several of the supporting characters, especially Diego, Lucy and (gasp) even Flora. Jess, rather than her romantic life really takes center stage in this book.
I listened to this as an audiobook which is a different experience than reading an ebook. Sometimes an audiobook improves the experience, and sometimes it ruins it. In this case, I enjoyed the narrator’s storytelling and preferred listening over reading . I kept getting snagged by the British pronunciations of words that differ from my American versions, most noticeably “Zay brah” (vs “Zee Bra.”)
The book felt like it was two parts; not only in the setting between (largely) South Africa in the first part and London in the second part but also in the focus. The first part centers mostly around her love life while her relationship with her family takes center stage in the second.
Readers who want full frontal focus on love story will possibly be disappointed and the sex that occurs is not steamy detailed rather alluded to. I’ve become accustomed to the love story on center stage in recent romance reads, but I adapted here. The author did such a good job of addressing the complicated matters of the heart. I received a valuable reminder to pondering how the way we behave affects who is in our lives.
Although I think I would have appreciated a bit more tightening in editing, (and by that I mean letting go of some sentences that added bulk without enough story enhancement, particularly the descriptions of the people at the bar where Jimmy worked,) I found Catherine Bennetts’s tale to be entertaining, thoughtful, thought-provoking and damn funny!
Last, I have gotten into the bad habit of reading the ending before I’m very far along in a book. Even though I know most books that I read are going to have a “happily ever after” sort of ending, my threshold for tension is eased if I can be assured of HEA early with my own eyes. Based on the title, I thought it was possible that the author might surprise me regarding what happens to Jess. I resisted the urge to skip ahead and I’m really glad I did.
While the plot seemed fairly eccentric, the author resisted going over the top with aspects of Jess’ life. For example, I liked how she wrote the relationship between Jess and her boss. Similarly, I liked the relationships created between Priya and Laurel as well as Ian and Diego. The author seems to have a gift for one on one relationship building.