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A review by marie_thereadingotter
Hurts to Love You by Alisha Rai
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This review will have spoilers littered though and I don't feel like tagging all of them. I will tag spoilers for this book, just not the other two.
This is by far the most divisive book for me. I liked these characters, but I also didn't care about their romance. Neither character had enough page time in the last two books for me to care about them now. Aside form one scene in the first book where Eve tried to bribe Livvy into leaving town because she was worried she (Livvy) would hurt her (Eve) brother again, I don't know who she is as a person at all. And Gabe had less of an impact as I don't recall him being in the second book at all, and his role in book one was very limited.
With this book being focused on Nic and Livvy's wedding more than anything else, and them getting POVs, I don't feel like enough time was spent with Eve and Gabe becoming a couple.
This is also a preference thing, but it is a bit strange to me that it doesn't seem like there is any one else in this whole town who is the same age as these people. I get they all grew up together and were always close, more or less Eve is 5-12 year younger than everyone else. But do they not have any other friends?
The age gap wasn't that noticeable, but in the way that Eve doesn't really "act" like a 23 year old, and Gabe doesn't "act" like he's supposed to be nearly 35. He behaves too immaturely, and she acts like she's closer to 30.
The other books had something that was supposed to be "the conflict" of the story, but this book didn't feel like it had a conflict that actually affected whether Eve and Gabe could be together.
him being the illegitimate child of Livvy and Jackson's father, wouldn't affect Gabe being with Eve. It might make it less weird since Livvy is marrying Eve's brother. I'd think that would be the issue. That Nic and Livvy would have some kind of issue with it, at least in part because of the age gap. Gabe is 5 years older than Nic and Livvy, making him nearly 12 years older than Eve. But that doesn't seem to bother either of them, and if it did, we didn't get to see it because the books ends just as their relationship actually starts. And he doesn't seem to be bothered at all that she basically stalked and lied to him for months being a Ride-share driver. He just accepts it and moves on.
I did like Eve's character growth, with telling both her overprotective brother and abusive father off. Gabe didn't really have noticeable growth. His big issue was just being forced to keep the big secret of his parentage, and once that was out, he just seemed to kind of be the same guy.
The end of this book also felt rushed. The wedding happened, Eve and Gabe cleared the air, then there's an epilogue for a year passing. The relationship just felt rushed. I think that's the over all "issue" I have with this series. The books end right when the relationships start, and we're supposed to carry on and believe that they worked everything out off-page in a few weeks to the point where they want to get married.
I will read more books by this author, because I do like her writing, this book was just the weakest for me, because it didn't feel as focused as the other two books in the series did.
This is by far the most divisive book for me. I liked these characters, but I also didn't care about their romance. Neither character had enough page time in the last two books for me to care about them now. Aside form one scene in the first book where Eve tried to bribe Livvy into leaving town because she was worried she (Livvy) would hurt her (Eve) brother again, I don't know who she is as a person at all. And Gabe had less of an impact as I don't recall him being in the second book at all, and his role in book one was very limited.
With this book being focused on Nic and Livvy's wedding more than anything else, and them getting POVs, I don't feel like enough time was spent with Eve and Gabe becoming a couple.
This is also a preference thing, but it is a bit strange to me that it doesn't seem like there is any one else in this whole town who is the same age as these people. I get they all grew up together and were always close, more or less Eve is 5-12 year younger than everyone else. But do they not have any other friends?
The age gap wasn't that noticeable, but in the way that Eve doesn't really "act" like a 23 year old, and Gabe doesn't "act" like he's supposed to be nearly 35. He behaves too immaturely, and she acts like she's closer to 30.
The other books had something that was supposed to be "the conflict" of the story, but this book didn't feel like it had a conflict that actually affected whether Eve and Gabe could be together.
I did like Eve's character growth, with telling both her overprotective brother and abusive father off. Gabe didn't really have noticeable growth. His big issue was just being forced to keep the big secret of his parentage, and once that was out, he just seemed to kind of be the same guy.
The end of this book also felt rushed. The wedding happened, Eve and Gabe cleared the air, then there's an epilogue for a year passing. The relationship just felt rushed. I think that's the over all "issue" I have with this series. The books end right when the relationships start, and we're supposed to carry on and believe that they worked everything out off-page in a few weeks to the point where they want to get married.
I will read more books by this author, because I do like her writing, this book was just the weakest for me, because it didn't feel as focused as the other two books in the series did.