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A review by misslisa11
This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Book 51 of 2024: This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan
Rating: ⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. But none of her best laid plans can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes up in a fire of betrayal and disillusion. But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She’s too busy keeping a roof over her daughters’ heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn’t want but can’t seem to resist. She’s lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?
Thank you so much to @netgalley for this ARC! I loved Kennedy Ryans’s Before I Let Go so much, but unfortunately this book was a miss for me and I seem to be among the very small few that did not like this. Soledad and Judah in and of themselves were solid characters and I really appreciate the autism awareness and visibility in this book. All of the kids were all great characters as well, but especially Adam and Aaron. My problem with this book is that it took FOREVER for the plot to go anywhere, and the final destination was disappointing. I felt like the novel was full of incredibly slow moments that never really built up to anything exciting—plot-wise, character development-wise, and romance-wise. The dialogue wasn’t anything to write home about and after a while I just got really tired of Judah and Soledad pining for each other but not doing anything about it. There were a lot of side plots going on that didn’t have much to do with their relationship and for me that really detracted from their chemistry. Also Inez the moody teenager seemed to get over her reservations about her mother’s new boyfriend very quickly without any explanation and that bothered me. Overall this just wasn’t for me.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. But none of her best laid plans can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes up in a fire of betrayal and disillusion. But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She’s too busy keeping a roof over her daughters’ heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn’t want but can’t seem to resist. She’s lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?
Thank you so much to @netgalley for this ARC! I loved Kennedy Ryans’s Before I Let Go so much, but unfortunately this book was a miss for me and I seem to be among the very small few that did not like this. Soledad and Judah in and of themselves were solid characters and I really appreciate the autism awareness and visibility in this book. All of the kids were all great characters as well, but especially Adam and Aaron. My problem with this book is that it took FOREVER for the plot to go anywhere, and the final destination was disappointing. I felt like the novel was full of incredibly slow moments that never really built up to anything exciting—plot-wise, character development-wise, and romance-wise. The dialogue wasn’t anything to write home about and after a while I just got really tired of Judah and Soledad pining for each other but not doing anything about it. There were a lot of side plots going on that didn’t have much to do with their relationship and for me that really detracted from their chemistry. Also Inez the moody teenager seemed to get over her reservations about her mother’s new boyfriend very quickly without any explanation and that bothered me. Overall this just wasn’t for me.