A review by areadingkit
Dear Ava by Ilsa Madden-Mills

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was such a good book that I enjoyed so much!
Please go into this having read the TWs because it has quite strong prevalence of SA discussions which I thought were done so well despite being such a difficult topic to cover. 
Other than that, I really loved the romance which is kind of second chance romance but also enemies to lovers and it was so interesting to read about Knox and Ava though it was way too obvious from the get go that Knox was Ava’s secret admirer and I was sort of disappointed there wasn’t more of that anonymous pen pal trope. 
Their actual relationship was so heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time and I loved their dynamics and chemistry, though I do feel like some of their interactions felt a bit too scripted and almost unnatural at times. Like the banter didn’t feel that genuine at times and the pacing of their relationship was a little all over the place for me. 
The drama aspect I thought was very good and I loved how prevalent side characters ended up being to the story. But again, some of the writing was a bit weirdly paced and sometimes overly dramatic for the events happening. 
I loved loved loved the epilogues and ending of this one though, it was so sweet after sort of breaking my heart with a time jump and I adore that the characters ended up being so family oriented and the end was just so comforting and homey which I think is not often done well enough at the end of romance novels! 
Such a good read
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