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claire_suisse 's review for:
Finley
by Ella Frank
2.5 stars rounded to 2
Maybe it's a case of "it's me not the book" but I never really managed to get in the story.
I could not connect to either of the two main characters.
I found Brantley really sweet, and I guess I could understand and somewhat relate to him... but he didn't talk much (whether to Daniel or to us readers). The parts that were written from his POV kept rehashing the same things mainly on how much Daniel had changed and how just a look at him would immediately arouse him ...
Daniel ... well Daniel was a mystery to me. So full of contradictions and strange behaviors although he was described as a brilliant, arrogant and self-assured attorney.
1- he keeps repeating that he has a plan with his heart out of the equation
2- that despite his immediate reaction to Brantley he wants to spend two full weeks at his place ... and then everything will be over ...
Well while I could sort of understand that this was his initial plan, it sounded totally silly for such a supposedly brilliant mind to pretend it was still his plan after a few days of him and Brantley together.
So all in all, the writing was good, their interactions were cute, but it felt like we were being served the usual ingredients to make a great story (from "so-called hate" to attachment to "so-called angst", the two OTT friends, and the understanding mother) but with no recipe to blend all of them together and absolutely no pace to the book (hence the rounding down)...
In short, nothing to keep me awake at night reading.
Maybe it's a case of "it's me not the book" but I never really managed to get in the story.
I could not connect to either of the two main characters.
I found Brantley really sweet, and I guess I could understand and somewhat relate to him... but he didn't talk much (whether to Daniel or to us readers). The parts that were written from his POV kept rehashing the same things mainly on how much Daniel had changed and how just a look at him would immediately arouse him ...
Daniel ... well Daniel was a mystery to me. So full of contradictions and strange behaviors although he was described as a brilliant, arrogant and self-assured attorney.
Spoiler
OK I get it that he hated that Brantley decided that Daniel's life was better off without him in it, but then he receives the shortest possible note, feels compelled to take his first vacation and head back, and yet we are supposed to understand him when1- he keeps repeating that he has a plan with his heart out of the equation
2- that despite his immediate reaction to Brantley he wants to spend two full weeks at his place ... and then everything will be over ...
Well while I could sort of understand that this was his initial plan, it sounded totally silly for such a supposedly brilliant mind to pretend it was still his plan after a few days of him and Brantley together.
So all in all, the writing was good, their interactions were cute, but it felt like we were being served the usual ingredients to make a great story (from "so-called hate" to attachment to "so-called angst", the two OTT friends, and the understanding mother) but with no recipe to blend all of them together and absolutely no pace to the book (hence the rounding down)...
In short, nothing to keep me awake at night reading.