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A review by mrsbooknerd
Make Me: Complete Novel by Beth Kery
2.0
Don't get me wrong, I love erotic romances but I don't just want long passages - pardon you - of sex. I love erotic romances that have well-developed characters who have a completely immersive relationship. Erotic romances don't always have the most complex plots, but if you fall in love with the leading couple, you don't need that element.
I do not feel that 'Make Me' was well enough developed in either plot or characterisation. I felt that both Jacob and Harper were a little too flat to really support, and with a simple plot there was very little substance in a book that was over 500 pages long.
I couldn't warm to Jacob at all throughout the novel. His character was secretive and he hid himself from many of the other characters, but the reader should have been his confidante. There was never any depth to his thoughts, and we didn't see any real emotion unless it was lust. He was controlling, arrogant and distant, what is there to fantasise about there?
Harper was much warmer and I felt that I knew her better, but she wasn't alive to me. I wanted to know more of the details; Did Harper play with her hair while she worked? Did Jacob listen to embarrassing 90s boybands while he worked out? What were the tiny details that make characters come alive to the reader? As a reader, I'd rather have pages dedicated to these elements than just sex.
Something that also annoyed me was that Harper was constantly discombobulated, confused or consternated. She was always frowning at Jacob or trying to understand his mood swings. I didn't feel her affection for him at all, at least, not outside of her physical attraction. There was just too much romp and not enough romance and relationship development. Jacob was cold and distant at the start, and he was still the same at the end. They lacked intimacy.
Contrastingly, I loved the telling of their past. This element had the detail, the development and the level of intimacy. It was a much better read, and I wonder why that skill wasn't translated into the adult story.
There wasn't any discernible plots beyond the relationship. I thought that Harper's career would become more of an obstacle, but it was dealt with fairly early on. I thought that Regina might cause more of an issue, but she was also dispatched from the main plot. There were a number of would-be subplots, but they all fizzled out without igniting.
In summary, this was too long a novel to support the low level of emotion and the simplistic plot. If it had been shorter, then I feel like it may have gotten away with it a bit more. There was too much concentration on lust and not enough on romance and characterisation.
I do not feel that 'Make Me' was well enough developed in either plot or characterisation. I felt that both Jacob and Harper were a little too flat to really support, and with a simple plot there was very little substance in a book that was over 500 pages long.
I couldn't warm to Jacob at all throughout the novel. His character was secretive and he hid himself from many of the other characters, but the reader should have been his confidante. There was never any depth to his thoughts, and we didn't see any real emotion unless it was lust. He was controlling, arrogant and distant, what is there to fantasise about there?
Harper was much warmer and I felt that I knew her better, but she wasn't alive to me. I wanted to know more of the details; Did Harper play with her hair while she worked? Did Jacob listen to embarrassing 90s boybands while he worked out? What were the tiny details that make characters come alive to the reader? As a reader, I'd rather have pages dedicated to these elements than just sex.
Something that also annoyed me was that Harper was constantly discombobulated, confused or consternated. She was always frowning at Jacob or trying to understand his mood swings. I didn't feel her affection for him at all, at least, not outside of her physical attraction. There was just too much romp and not enough romance and relationship development. Jacob was cold and distant at the start, and he was still the same at the end. They lacked intimacy.
Contrastingly, I loved the telling of their past. This element had the detail, the development and the level of intimacy. It was a much better read, and I wonder why that skill wasn't translated into the adult story.
There wasn't any discernible plots beyond the relationship. I thought that Harper's career would become more of an obstacle, but it was dealt with fairly early on. I thought that Regina might cause more of an issue, but she was also dispatched from the main plot. There were a number of would-be subplots, but they all fizzled out without igniting.
In summary, this was too long a novel to support the low level of emotion and the simplistic plot. If it had been shorter, then I feel like it may have gotten away with it a bit more. There was too much concentration on lust and not enough on romance and characterisation.