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A review by sashasdorogaya
Never Say Never by Justine Manzano
Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own and not influenced by this review copy.
The story begins when Brynn finds her mom cheating on her dad and is internally conflicted about whether she should tell her dad or not. When she does, she’s tired of all the drama, all while helping her friend Nina get through a breakup. Soon after she finds out that her other friend, Val, is Aphrodite the goddess of love and beauty. Throughout this, Val tries to set Brynn up with different guys because according to Val, Brynn needs to “find and believe in love”. But this doesn’t distract her from Val’s boyfriend, Adam.
This is a story that has great potential in so many ways as we get to see Brynn develop as a character, an intervention of Greek gods and goddesses in teenage romance and family struggles. The characters weren’t as mature as I expected them to be in terms of dealing with their problems but still interesting.
However, the entire Val/Aphrodite concept was rushed and random in my opinion. Val could’ve been given a role of matchmaker instead of an outright goddess. Everyone just accepted she was an ancient goddess and it was very downplayed considering she could do so much more than set Brynn up on dates.
The story begins when Brynn finds her mom cheating on her dad and is internally conflicted about whether she should tell her dad or not. When she does, she’s tired of all the drama, all while helping her friend Nina get through a breakup. Soon after she finds out that her other friend, Val, is Aphrodite the goddess of love and beauty. Throughout this, Val tries to set Brynn up with different guys because according to Val, Brynn needs to “find and believe in love”. But this doesn’t distract her from Val’s boyfriend, Adam.
This is a story that has great potential in so many ways as we get to see Brynn develop as a character, an intervention of Greek gods and goddesses in teenage romance and family struggles. The characters weren’t as mature as I expected them to be in terms of dealing with their problems but still interesting.
However, the entire Val/Aphrodite concept was rushed and random in my opinion. Val could’ve been given a role of matchmaker instead of an outright goddess. Everyone just accepted she was an ancient goddess and it was very downplayed considering she could do so much more than set Brynn up on dates.