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A review by shaysshelf
Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North
3.0
Overall, I did enjoy this book, but as I was writing my review I found I had more criticisms than I thought. But I want to reiterate, regardless of the criticisms, I did enjoy the book.
I really liked the premise, story line and nature of each of the characters. And marriage in crisis has become one of my all time favourite tropes, so I was incredibly excited for Rules for Second Chances. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me and the main reason is because I wasn't convinced of Liz and Tobin's love for one another.
Typically I have found that in marriage in crisis books, one of my favourite parts is that its very obvious that the main characters love each other - they got married in the first place, so hopefully there is some lingering love there - but they're simply going through a difficult time, feeling stuck/lack of self identity or struggling to communicate effectively after their relationship has grown and changed. However, Rules for Second Chances didn't convince me that the love between Liz and Tobin was worth saving, nor was I convinced they should have been married in the first place?
Tobin's character felt under developed, and I think that could have been resolved if the book was dual POV.
I did like Liz's character and her determination to be seen, heard as a woman and finally accepting that she is likely on the spectrum. However, I definitely found myself getting frustrated with her at times for how strongly she pushed Tobin away. Then once she finally realized that she didn't want to push him away, Tobin finally stood up for himself and chose to walk away from her.
This book had a lot of self discovery which I greatly appreciated, however I wanted more from Tobin and Liz's relationship development. It felt like everything came together. The characters were deciding if they could handle giving their relationship another try and suddenly it was the last chapter of the book and they both grand gestured and lived happily ever after.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.
I really liked the premise, story line and nature of each of the characters. And marriage in crisis has become one of my all time favourite tropes, so I was incredibly excited for Rules for Second Chances. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me and the main reason is because I wasn't convinced of Liz and Tobin's love for one another.
Typically I have found that in marriage in crisis books, one of my favourite parts is that its very obvious that the main characters love each other - they got married in the first place, so hopefully there is some lingering love there - but they're simply going through a difficult time, feeling stuck/lack of self identity or struggling to communicate effectively after their relationship has grown and changed. However, Rules for Second Chances didn't convince me that the love between Liz and Tobin was worth saving, nor was I convinced they should have been married in the first place?
Tobin's character felt under developed, and I think that could have been resolved if the book was dual POV.
I did like Liz's character and her determination to be seen, heard as a woman and finally accepting that she is likely on the spectrum. However, I definitely found myself getting frustrated with her at times for how strongly she pushed Tobin away. Then once she finally realized that she didn't want to push him away, Tobin finally stood up for himself and chose to walk away from her.
This book had a lot of self discovery which I greatly appreciated, however I wanted more from Tobin and Liz's relationship development. It felt like everything came together. The characters were deciding if they could handle giving their relationship another try and suddenly it was the last chapter of the book and they both grand gestured and lived happily ever after.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.