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A review by khateeje
The Birds & the Bees by Milly Johnson
5.0
Before I finished reading this whole book, I wanted to rave about it.
This is such a wholesome, fulfilling, wonderful book, perfect for bringing me out of a book slump that lasted far too long.
I loved the main characters. Both of them were well rounded, individual personalities whose flaws I loved too and it was so easy to root for them. And the supporting cast was equally great.
This was the sort of book you could predict right from the start. You know what exactly is going on, especially in terms of who the villain is and what she seems to have done. But it wasn’t the kind of knowledge that put me off. Rather, I was sucked into the story.
It’s rather a long read (or so I felt), or at least very engrossing and full of depth. But the author knows what she’s doing every step of the way. The build up of the plot was very long and even at the half way mark, the developments were very few. But the story had such substance that it was worth it, even when it got slow (which I barely noticed). The narration was like a slow drawl; the upward graph of the plot was a long diagonal. But it work nonetheless. When we were finally approaching the climax and resolution, it was a sweet, well-deserved reward.
Even though the story had a typical hate-hate/ miscommunication/ misunderstanding arc, I didn’t find myself frustrated. The shifting POVs definitely helped with that. But also because these were the sort of characters who truly deserved what they were going to earn at the end. That was most rewarding as a reader.
Of course the villain didn’t get enough of what she deserved.
But I liked the underlying theme of goodness and forgiveness, nonetheless.
Also something that I picked up on was how much fun the author seemed to have with the writing, playing with the title of the book in numerous instances. As if the story had a little inside joke of its own.
The writing itself was so good. The descriptions worked in a way that the scenes seemed to be playing in my head the way a movie would be shot.
All in all, this was an intelligent, funny, warm, beautiful read (that I’m so grateful made me love reading again!).
This is such a wholesome, fulfilling, wonderful book, perfect for bringing me out of a book slump that lasted far too long.
I loved the main characters. Both of them were well rounded, individual personalities whose flaws I loved too and it was so easy to root for them. And the supporting cast was equally great.
This was the sort of book you could predict right from the start. You know what exactly is going on, especially in terms of who the villain is and what she seems to have done. But it wasn’t the kind of knowledge that put me off. Rather, I was sucked into the story.
It’s rather a long read (or so I felt), or at least very engrossing and full of depth. But the author knows what she’s doing every step of the way. The build up of the plot was very long and even at the half way mark, the developments were very few. But the story had such substance that it was worth it, even when it got slow (which I barely noticed). The narration was like a slow drawl; the upward graph of the plot was a long diagonal. But it work nonetheless. When we were finally approaching the climax and resolution, it was a sweet, well-deserved reward.
Even though the story had a typical hate-hate/ miscommunication/ misunderstanding arc, I didn’t find myself frustrated. The shifting POVs definitely helped with that. But also because these were the sort of characters who truly deserved what they were going to earn at the end. That was most rewarding as a reader.
Of course the villain didn’t get enough of what she deserved.
But I liked the underlying theme of goodness and forgiveness, nonetheless.
Also something that I picked up on was how much fun the author seemed to have with the writing, playing with the title of the book in numerous instances. As if the story had a little inside joke of its own.
The writing itself was so good. The descriptions worked in a way that the scenes seemed to be playing in my head the way a movie would be shot.
All in all, this was an intelligent, funny, warm, beautiful read (that I’m so grateful made me love reading again!).