Review by alainajreads - Hamartia

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alainajreads 's review for:

Hamartia by Scarlett Drake

2.5

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Disclaimer that I read this for my book club and probably would’ve DNFed it otherwise. I didn’t hate it but my main frustration is that the cheating trope is not for me, and Raphael (the MC/narrator) emotionally cheats on his fiancée Camille for 2 years before proceeding to physically cheat, and infidelity plots in romance aren’t my thing. In fact, I found Raphael didn’t have many redeeming qualities, and most of the book is from his POV. I wish we had gotten more of Jaehyun’s POV, and also that there was more connection between the two MCs beyond just sexual chemistry. There were some sweet moments between them and the sex scenes were hot, however.
I found the third act conflict (

the pregnancy subplot

— beyond just the typical third act breakup) to be unnecessary and frustrating. I also would’ve liked more discussions about music in a romance starring two musicians. At around 450 pages, the book was longer than it needed to be and didn’t justify its length.

TLDR: men will cheat on their fiancée and not communicate instead of simply seeking therapy

Content Warnings