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kurucow 's review for:
Fake Dates and Mooncakes
by Sher Lee
2.5 This was cute, but I didn't feel compelled to pick it back up after having to put it down, or even to keep reading when I did pick it up.
I really lost interest after the fake date. I don't know if that should have come later in the story, since it was the biggest, most engaging event, but nothing really held me after that.
I think this suffers from what a lot of romance books suffer from for me: all the plot of the story being focused around only one of the characters. It makes the world feel very flat and it doesn't let me get invested in the love interest. Some books do a bit better at making sure to make the love interest intriguing, but YA - romances in general - tend to make the story too overwhelmingly about the MC.
Don't get me wrong, Theo's a great person, but I was not at all compelled by him. He serves to help Dylan achieve his goals and not much outside of that. He's not very evolved. He has family issues, and they're pretty centric to the plot, but only really in ways that affect Dylan. (Not a huge spoiler, but bordering spoiler territory) Theo just came off as static and personality-less. I think he would have been more intriguing if he had his own goal, something he wanted that Dylan could have helped him with with full care and love, no getting frustrated and quiting, like Theo did for him so there is some balance to the relationship. Because as is, Theo is doing all the leg work in the relationship and is just this image of the ideal boyfriend, not his own person.
(This is why its importnat to give your central characters a want and a need... and the two things should typically be seperate... Theo technically has these, but again, he doesnt really have a goal. There'snothing he'sworking for like Dylan is working to do well in the competion or keep his family's business afloat). ... this is also a reason why I prefer romances told with multiple povs. It forces the author to really think about the other person and dive deep into their character.
But at least this focus on Dylan didn't make me completely dislike Dylan as these kinds of set ups tend to do.
I also read this via audiobook and that didn't really help. The delivery was very flat. I'd also give the audio performance a 2.5
I really lost interest after the fake date. I don't know if that should have come later in the story, since it was the biggest, most engaging event, but nothing really held me after that.
I think this suffers from what a lot of romance books suffer from for me: all the plot of the story being focused around only one of the characters. It makes the world feel very flat and it doesn't let me get invested in the love interest. Some books do a bit better at making sure to make the love interest intriguing, but YA - romances in general - tend to make the story too overwhelmingly about the MC.
Don't get me wrong, Theo's a great person, but I was not at all compelled by him. He serves to help Dylan achieve his goals and not much outside of that. He's not very evolved. He has family issues, and they're pretty centric to the plot, but only really in ways that affect Dylan. (Not a huge spoiler, but bordering spoiler territory)
Spoiler
There was a point where Theo's father put him in a very difficult position, but it was left to be Dylan's decision. I felt Theo should have chosen to fight what happened (to make the ultimatum more climatic) or we should have explored more inner conflict within him to choose between his father and Dylan, but, Dylan made the decision for him and he didn't contest.(This is why its importnat to give your central characters a want and a need... and the two things should typically be seperate... Theo technically has these, but again, he doesnt really have a goal. There'snothing he'sworking for like Dylan is working to do well in the competion or keep his family's business afloat). ... this is also a reason why I prefer romances told with multiple povs. It forces the author to really think about the other person and dive deep into their character.
But at least this focus on Dylan didn't make me completely dislike Dylan as these kinds of set ups tend to do.
I also read this via audiobook and that didn't really help. The delivery was very flat. I'd also give the audio performance a 2.5