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A review by cicip
Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Before even beginning to listen to this book, I'd decided I wasn't going to be overly critical of it as I was just looking for a lighthearted story to listen to, almost casually. But there were so many irritating issues, too many to ignore.
This was a story relying on assumptions too ridiculous to be enjoyable. Some are downright unhealthy and potentially triggering (there's people changing each other for love (and not in the good, "becoming the best version of yourself" kind of way), and a character having panic attacks and its coping mechanism are pretty much ridiculed, then thrown out the window - for love) and others are just outlandish (another character is a virgin at 29 years old because she could never get past her high school crush, whom she barely even spoke to). And this is just ignoring the trope of the man rescuing the damsel in distress by splashing money at her favourite shop or one of her professional projects.
Yuck.
This is not "lighthearted", this is just silly.
This was a story relying on assumptions too ridiculous to be enjoyable. Some are downright unhealthy and potentially triggering (there's people changing each other for love (and not in the good, "becoming the best version of yourself" kind of way), and a character having panic attacks and its coping mechanism are pretty much ridiculed, then thrown out the window - for love) and others are just outlandish (another character is a virgin at 29 years old because she could never get past her high school crush, whom she barely even spoke to). And this is just ignoring the trope of the man rescuing the damsel in distress by splashing money at her favourite shop or one of her professional projects.
Yuck.
This is not "lighthearted", this is just silly.