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A review by imtashamonet
Stuck in the Country with You by Zuri Day
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Disclaimer: I received a free advance review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. (Releases December 24, 2024)
Before I begin my review, I just want to say that giving 1 star pained me immensely because, as a writer myself, I know how vulnerable you have to be to share your writing with the world. I am, however, very honest in my reviews of the things I read. I do also want to make sure anyone who reads this review understands that this review is colored by my own personal tastes in narrative, plot, and character development.
When originally requesting to read the arc of Stuck in the Country with You by Zuri Day, I was hoping for a cute country romance novel that would take me a day or two to read. Unfortunately, it took me much longer than anticipated to read because I was consistently frustrated. The premise of a second chance romance many years after the first encounter was enticing, but the execution fell flat for me. A lot of the background, feelings and motives of characters, were force-fed to the reader rather than shown through actions. Additionally, Genesis's family drama being the reason why the romance didn't work the first time and why she was hesitant this time around to act on her attraction to Jaxson just did not feel much like a hindrance to me. I mean, it could have been a hindrance if the family drama was more on the page rather than things mentioned like afterthoughts or because the plot needed them in the moment. I just didn't buy it, the stakes did not feel high enough, and, therefore, I just did not care about it.
Another thing that made this a difficult read for me was the transition between scenes within chapters. They were sometimes hard to follow and could be days, weeks, or months in the future with no visual cue on the page that a switch was occurring and the previous scene often ended in a way that felt unfinished. Admittedly, the visual cue being missing on the page could be due to the fact that this is an arc and final formating has not been done. Still, a lot of scenes just felt unfinished and randomly ended before we were whisked to some other moment in time/place. While I don't think every scene has to end perfectly, if the scene feels unfinished to me, it is usually because something is missing to make the scene important to the overall story. And please don't get me wrong, I can tolerate some fluff in a romance novel, but that's not what was happening here.
Considering this is a romance novel, I will touch on the romance between Genesis and Jaxson. Honestly, I just didn't believe it. I'm not saying that these two characters could not possibly be together or love each other, but I was not invested in their romance. Genesis resisting the beginning due to Jaxson being the center of her immediate family drama could have been a very interesting dilemma, but we got no real connection to her family in the book. So upsetting/losing her family or losing a man she was attracted to, but could not stand just did not seem like a big deal to me. The problems standing in their way just did not feel like problems because we're not shown the actual stakes. Yes, they're told to us, but that's not what makes story compelling. We need to see it and that just wasn't done in this book.
Ultimately, I personally would not recommend this book. It seems like the version that was shared as an arc is a really early version that needs more rounds of edits before publication.
Before I begin my review, I just want to say that giving 1 star pained me immensely because, as a writer myself, I know how vulnerable you have to be to share your writing with the world. I am, however, very honest in my reviews of the things I read. I do also want to make sure anyone who reads this review understands that this review is colored by my own personal tastes in narrative, plot, and character development.
When originally requesting to read the arc of Stuck in the Country with You by Zuri Day, I was hoping for a cute country romance novel that would take me a day or two to read. Unfortunately, it took me much longer than anticipated to read because I was consistently frustrated. The premise of a second chance romance many years after the first encounter was enticing, but the execution fell flat for me. A lot of the background, feelings and motives of characters, were force-fed to the reader rather than shown through actions. Additionally, Genesis's family drama being the reason why the romance didn't work the first time and why she was hesitant this time around to act on her attraction to Jaxson just did not feel much like a hindrance to me. I mean, it could have been a hindrance if the family drama was more on the page rather than things mentioned like afterthoughts or because the plot needed them in the moment. I just didn't buy it, the stakes did not feel high enough, and, therefore, I just did not care about it.
Another thing that made this a difficult read for me was the transition between scenes within chapters. They were sometimes hard to follow and could be days, weeks, or months in the future with no visual cue on the page that a switch was occurring and the previous scene often ended in a way that felt unfinished. Admittedly, the visual cue being missing on the page could be due to the fact that this is an arc and final formating has not been done. Still, a lot of scenes just felt unfinished and randomly ended before we were whisked to some other moment in time/place. While I don't think every scene has to end perfectly, if the scene feels unfinished to me, it is usually because something is missing to make the scene important to the overall story. And please don't get me wrong, I can tolerate some fluff in a romance novel, but that's not what was happening here.
Considering this is a romance novel, I will touch on the romance between Genesis and Jaxson. Honestly, I just didn't believe it. I'm not saying that these two characters could not possibly be together or love each other, but I was not invested in their romance. Genesis resisting the beginning due to Jaxson being the center of her immediate family drama could have been a very interesting dilemma, but we got no real connection to her family in the book. So upsetting/losing her family or losing a man she was attracted to, but could not stand just did not seem like a big deal to me. The problems standing in their way just did not feel like problems because we're not shown the actual stakes. Yes, they're told to us, but that's not what makes story compelling. We need to see it and that just wasn't done in this book.
Ultimately, I personally would not recommend this book. It seems like the version that was shared as an arc is a really early version that needs more rounds of edits before publication.