victoriaadarling 's review for:

On Loverose Lane by Samantha Young
3.5
emotional funny sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
This one has got me with some mixed feelings tbh. The original On Dublin Street series is one of my favorites in the genre, and I was really excited to return to the world. I genuinely go back and re-read them for the love of the story and characters and writing. I feel like this book spent a good amount of time reacquainting the reader with all the other characters from the original series, which made it almost feel like 2 separate stories/vibes. I honestly feel like a lot of the character development between Beth and Callan was super rushed or glossed over and not fully explored or flushed out, and I think a large part of it was due to the nostalgia focus of original characters. Part of why the original stories stand the test of time (imo) is that we spent so much time developing the characters. There was a lot of telling rather than showing so to speak in this new book, and it just made the overall story feel a bit flat. I’ve been a fan of the author for years, and she will continue to be an auto-buy for me, but I would almost rather we get less releases per year with more realized stories, then have multiple releases a year that feel a bit meh.
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