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A review by papercranestitches
Brick by Brick by Cate Ashwood
1.0
*** 1.5 Stars ***
*tosses another book on the "Not for Me" shelf*
I should have known this book wasn't going to be to my tastes when I saw the ridiculous name "Parley" (Parsley? Barley? The poor man's Harley?!) and the heavy religious overtones in the blurb. If only I had paid attention to the signs, I could have saved myself a fairly disappointing reading experience.
Right from the beginning, this book seemed... Unbalanced. I'm so used to books that start in the past and then fast forward to the present being weighted about 15% past/85% present - just enough details in the past to connect the readers to the character, engage our empathy for their inevitable separation, and then fast forward to the good, complicated emotional stuff. But the part of this story told about these MCs as high school students just went on, and on, and on. In fact, it took up exactly half the book. I know other readers may not take issue with this, but I found that it resulted in both halves of the story feeling underdeveloped.
Then there was the issue of the dialogue; it was incredibly stiff. I would have expected a certain formality and stiffness from the sheltered, uber religious MC, but getting it from both main characters (and even some secondary characters later in the story) drew me out of the story. I couldn't see myself or my peers in the characters' shoes, saying the characters' words, and so the dialogue ultimately rang false for me.
Although the characters had some really gushing, tender moments in the last 10% of this book which I appreciated, I never felt as if their high school personas TRULY connected in such a soul deep way that would have made both of them pine after each other for 16 years. Again, the relationship felt artificial or, at the very least, underdeveloped.
And now, if I'm being honest, I've had too much wine to continue my review coherently, so ima gonna leave it here... Just know that while I wouldn't classify this as a terrible book, and I realize that there are probably those readers out there that will 3 or 4 star this book, I can't recommend it to my friends - I know they have more discerning taste than that.
Oooh... That comment was a little more bitchy than constructive. I blame the wine.
*tosses another book on the "Not for Me" shelf*
I should have known this book wasn't going to be to my tastes when I saw the ridiculous name "Parley" (Parsley? Barley? The poor man's Harley?!) and the heavy religious overtones in the blurb. If only I had paid attention to the signs, I could have saved myself a fairly disappointing reading experience.
Right from the beginning, this book seemed... Unbalanced. I'm so used to books that start in the past and then fast forward to the present being weighted about 15% past/85% present - just enough details in the past to connect the readers to the character, engage our empathy for their inevitable separation, and then fast forward to the good, complicated emotional stuff. But the part of this story told about these MCs as high school students just went on, and on, and on. In fact, it took up exactly half the book. I know other readers may not take issue with this, but I found that it resulted in both halves of the story feeling underdeveloped.
Then there was the issue of the dialogue; it was incredibly stiff. I would have expected a certain formality and stiffness from the sheltered, uber religious MC, but getting it from both main characters (and even some secondary characters later in the story) drew me out of the story. I couldn't see myself or my peers in the characters' shoes, saying the characters' words, and so the dialogue ultimately rang false for me.
Although the characters had some really gushing, tender moments in the last 10% of this book which I appreciated, I never felt as if their high school personas TRULY connected in such a soul deep way that would have made both of them pine after each other for 16 years. Again, the relationship felt artificial or, at the very least, underdeveloped.
And now, if I'm being honest, I've had too much wine to continue my review coherently, so ima gonna leave it here... Just know that while I wouldn't classify this as a terrible book, and I realize that there are probably those readers out there that will 3 or 4 star this book, I can't recommend it to my friends - I know they have more discerning taste than that.
Oooh... That comment was a little more bitchy than constructive. I blame the wine.