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A review by aerwen
Bending the Rules by Mariah Dietz
2.0
I'm a fan of angsty, forbidden romances, but this book was all over the place and not in a good way.
I'll start with the actual writing. It was not great. Lots of typos and grammatical errors. The dialogue wasn't clear and I often had to re-read scenes and paragraphs to understand who said what. I found their responses to be extremely vague and it was difficult at times to understand what the character meant.
Another gripe with the writing was the extra long info dumps detailing the aquarium work and conservation or pages about Jeff (her sister's ex). He has no influence on the story and wasn't even a fleshed-out character, but a blip in the memory of Rae. A lot of these passages and lengthy empty conversations and joking could have been removed or paraphrased. They became tedious and I found myself not caring. *yawn*
Moving on to the characters and the story.
This book was so messy and the plot was non-existent. We all know the end goal is Lincoln and Rae, but there was no path set for it. It just "was". There was no build-up or watching both characters fall for each other. At the start, Rae had already been infatuated with Lincoln for 3 years. Then suddenly Lincoln is consumed with Rae. But why? What is it about Rae that everyone loves so damned much? He has so little dialogue that we still know nothing about him and his feelings. This book suffers from it girl syndrome so badly that there is not much relationship-building and a clear plot. Everyone magically loves the FMC for reasons that are never spelled out.
Raegan-she became annoying and so immature. I liked her at first, she seemed likable and level-headed. Then she would go on a tantrum about shit out of nowhere. I never understood what type of personality she actually had. It would say she was loud and extroverted, but I never got that vibe from her. Her inner monologue complained about parties and loudly spelled out her insecurities. She never actually wanted to be at a party and oftentimes had trouble speaking her mind, yet everyone around her kept telling us she was extroverted and strong-headed. Nope. She was just incredibly busy and enjoyed her quiet, peaceful time out on the water away from people and conflict. Her immaturity really showed and it's what turned me off from her. It felt like she was actually 14/15. She brushed off the stalker thing by repeatedly saying, "Nahhh. It's just a prank. A joke. This isn't actually happening. Someone is trying to pull one over on me. haha." She was just overall a naive, hotheaded, and kind of selfish character.
Now, about Lincoln. Please. I like the broody male as much as the next person, but he was torturous. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and actually use your words. I think half of this book was Lincoln staring holes through Rae. That's all he did was stare with a "mask" on. He had the personality of a cardboard box. I didn't feel much for him and don't care if he gets his HEA.
Overall, this book didn't do it for me and it could have been so much better with proper editing and direction.
I'll start with the actual writing. It was not great. Lots of typos and grammatical errors. The dialogue wasn't clear and I often had to re-read scenes and paragraphs to understand who said what. I found their responses to be extremely vague and it was difficult at times to understand what the character meant.
Another gripe with the writing was the extra long info dumps detailing the aquarium work and conservation or pages about Jeff (her sister's ex). He has no influence on the story and wasn't even a fleshed-out character, but a blip in the memory of Rae. A lot of these passages and lengthy empty conversations and joking could have been removed or paraphrased. They became tedious and I found myself not caring. *yawn*
Moving on to the characters and the story.
This book was so messy and the plot was non-existent. We all know the end goal is Lincoln and Rae, but there was no path set for it. It just "was". There was no build-up or watching both characters fall for each other. At the start, Rae had already been infatuated with Lincoln for 3 years. Then suddenly Lincoln is consumed with Rae. But why? What is it about Rae that everyone loves so damned much? He has so little dialogue that we still know nothing about him and his feelings. This book suffers from it girl syndrome so badly that there is not much relationship-building and a clear plot. Everyone magically loves the FMC for reasons that are never spelled out.
Raegan-she became annoying and so immature. I liked her at first, she seemed likable and level-headed. Then she would go on a tantrum about shit out of nowhere. I never understood what type of personality she actually had. It would say she was loud and extroverted, but I never got that vibe from her. Her inner monologue complained about parties and loudly spelled out her insecurities. She never actually wanted to be at a party and oftentimes had trouble speaking her mind, yet everyone around her kept telling us she was extroverted and strong-headed. Nope. She was just incredibly busy and enjoyed her quiet, peaceful time out on the water away from people and conflict. Her immaturity really showed and it's what turned me off from her. It felt like she was actually 14/15. She brushed off the stalker thing by repeatedly saying, "Nahhh. It's just a prank. A joke. This isn't actually happening. Someone is trying to pull one over on me. haha." She was just overall a naive, hotheaded, and kind of selfish character.
Now, about Lincoln. Please. I like the broody male as much as the next person, but he was torturous. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and actually use your words. I think half of this book was Lincoln staring holes through Rae. That's all he did was stare with a "mask" on. He had the personality of a cardboard box. I didn't feel much for him and don't care if he gets his HEA.
Overall, this book didn't do it for me and it could have been so much better with proper editing and direction.