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A review by gerireads
More Than Enough by Jay McLean
2.0
Like I said in my pre-review I loved this series and its characters but for some reason, I just didn't feel this one.
I have to admit I was nervous about starting this because of the hype surrounding the identity of the heroine. The whole secrecy felt like a gimmick to me and I hate gimmick. I'd rather be told straight up. No BS whatsoever. My personal opinion (even though it's worth shit, I'm still going to give it anyway) is it should have been revealed earlier. That would give people time to deal with whatever issues they have with it not being Heidi or what. But whatever. Since I'm not the author and that ship has sailed, the point is moot but I digress.
There were parts that I really enjoyed while others left me scratching my head. In the end, the issues I had overshadowed my enjoyment. I wish I loved it more, I really do.
I enjoyed the cameos very much. And this is the book where I realized how amazing Jake is in his normalcy. That boy is a rock. He's probably McLean's most underrated hero and I'd love nothing more than revisit his book one of these days.
Another I enjoyed was Cam and Lucy. Obviously. It's no secret that their book is my favorite and still is. These two are still hilarious and provided a much needed lightheartedness to Dylan and Riley's story. I also enjoyed the pranks and Mal and Eric and Sydney. I enjoyed the humor and the friendship these guys have.
But beyond that, this book just didn't do anything for me. My lukewarm enjoyment for this book has nothing to do with the choice of heroine. I liked that it wasn't Heidi. Sorry Heidi fans but she never registered on my radar. I found her to be self-absorbed. And as much as I love second-chance love stories, I also believe that our first love isn't always our forever love. I wanted someone different for Dylan.
My issue was there was no build-up to Riley at all.She was Dylan's neighbor so Dylan knows her. Aside from that, we didn't get a lot of who she was to Dylan before the events in this book. Instead, we were given her sob story and the reason why she was this broken character. IMO, I think you can make the character sympathetic without giving her a very tragic background. I wanted to know her as Riley, the girl next door. Not just Riley, the broken alcoholic whose boyfriend got killed.
The first half of the book was slow and consisted mostly of Dylan sleeping in Riley's bed or staring at Riley while Riley drinks herself to a stupor.Don't worry, Dylan thinks Riley is still stinking cute. The second half is where the action was.
My second issue were the inconsistencies. So many character and narrative inconsistencies it's not even funny.Riley's mom, for instance. Oh my gosh, I'm sorry but is she for real? She knew her daughter was an alcoholic. She enabled her alcoholism and then suddenly, she became this wise earth mother who cares about Riley and Dylan. Umm, what? Did I miss the part where she had a personality transplant because I didn't get that.
I was so confused. And the wholealcoholism thing was, again, inconsistent. Her being an alcoholic was hardly an issue to Dylan and her mom in the first quarter of the book. But in the second part of the book, it was suddenly an issue and suddenly, she calls herself a recovering alcoholic. I missed the part where she admitted she had a problem and got herself a much needed help. But I guess, Dylan and twu wuv cured her of that. I dunno.
The same thing happened with Dylan's PTSD. One session with a psychology student and he's suddenly healed. Okay. Maybe I should start taking on clients now since I have a master's degree in psychology.
Look, I get that this is fiction but this was set in a contemporary world. If you consider the tragedies these characters went through as real and true, then why not make the solution to these problems also real and true. Some things you can get away with but making light of such a serious condition just didn't sit well with me.
And lastly, I'm just over the overly tragic character back stories that everyone in this series seems to have. Except maybe Jake. Like I said, with every book, the characters has to have the sobbest, brokenest, most tragic life ever to be considered interesting. Riley lost her boyfriend in a freak accident. She felt guilty because she was there. She survived; he didn't. Not only that, she had to lose it, destroy other people's businesses along the way, gets house arrest, and become an alcoholic. Same with Dylan. Not only did he get shot at, he had to watch his best friend take his life, etc. It's like a freaking competition. I'm over it.
For what it's worth, this series still remains as one of my faves. I will always be grateful for Jay McLean for giving us these characters. Sorry, I just couldn't love this one as much as the others.
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
I have to admit I was nervous about starting this because of the hype surrounding the identity of the heroine. The whole secrecy felt like a gimmick to me and I hate gimmick. I'd rather be told straight up. No BS whatsoever. My personal opinion (even though it's worth shit, I'm still going to give it anyway) is it should have been revealed earlier. That would give people time to deal with whatever issues they have with it not being Heidi or what. But whatever. Since I'm not the author and that ship has sailed, the point is moot but I digress.
There were parts that I really enjoyed while others left me scratching my head. In the end, the issues I had overshadowed my enjoyment. I wish I loved it more, I really do.
I enjoyed the cameos very much. And this is the book where I realized how amazing Jake is in his normalcy. That boy is a rock. He's probably McLean's most underrated hero and I'd love nothing more than revisit his book one of these days.
Another I enjoyed was Cam and Lucy. Obviously. It's no secret that their book is my favorite and still is. These two are still hilarious and provided a much needed lightheartedness to Dylan and Riley's story. I also enjoyed the pranks and Mal and Eric and Sydney. I enjoyed the humor and the friendship these guys have.
But beyond that, this book just didn't do anything for me. My lukewarm enjoyment for this book has nothing to do with the choice of heroine. I liked that it wasn't Heidi. Sorry Heidi fans but she never registered on my radar. I found her to be self-absorbed. And as much as I love second-chance love stories, I also believe that our first love isn't always our forever love. I wanted someone different for Dylan.
My issue was there was no build-up to Riley at all.
The first half of the book was slow and consisted mostly of Dylan sleeping in Riley's bed or staring at Riley while Riley drinks herself to a stupor.
My second issue were the inconsistencies. So many character and narrative inconsistencies it's not even funny.
I was so confused. And the whole
The same thing happened with Dylan's PTSD. One session with a psychology student and he's suddenly healed. Okay. Maybe I should start taking on clients now since I have a master's degree in psychology.
Look, I get that this is fiction but this was set in a contemporary world. If you consider the tragedies these characters went through as real and true, then why not make the solution to these problems also real and true. Some things you can get away with but making light of such a serious condition just didn't sit well with me.
And lastly, I'm just over the overly tragic character back stories that everyone in this series seems to have. Except maybe Jake. Like I said, with every book, the characters has to have the sobbest, brokenest, most tragic life ever to be considered interesting.
For what it's worth, this series still remains as one of my faves. I will always be grateful for Jay McLean for giving us these characters. Sorry, I just couldn't love this one as much as the others.
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.