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A review by banrions
Gold by E.J. Noyes
3.0
This was a 3.5ish stars for me. Which apparently puts me slightly in the minority, considering all the reviews I’ve read absolutely loving this wholeheartedly. This is the second book I’ve read by E.J. Noyes (the first being Turbulence) and like that one, I enjoyed this but I didn’t love it. This comes down to more personal preference things than a poorly written or executed book.
I’m not a huge fan of first person narration anymore, but I can get behind it. However, when it comes to romance, I always would much rather get both POVs (or more, if it’s poly) and actually see both parties falling in love, and be able to get inside their heads, rather than stick with only one character. I really wanted to hear Cate’s pov!! I also thought that the romance was a bit too instalove for my tastes. Aspen was basically ALL IN after a three week vacation, and then with the time split after they get back together, it’s careening pretty quickly into Uhaul and possible marriage in what felt like sooo quickly that I just found myself telling characters to shut up and stop moving so fast and essentially, yelling at my audiobook. (Which, is not new for me, I yell out loud at characters all the damn time when I read books). I also think that I somehow totally missed that i might have been checked out while listening when that came up or something and missed it, but it threw me. I was also surprised that Danielle and her kids just sort of disappear in the second half of the book. Iirc, they said they were like Cate’s neighbors or something, so it surprised me that they never made another appearance or were even mentioned again after the vacation.
I did absolutely LOVE Abby Craden’s narration. The voice she gave Gemma, in particular made me adore her. I enjoyed this and I’ll check out more from this author, became I hear nothing but great things and maybe I’ll connect a bit more with another one.
I’m not a huge fan of first person narration anymore, but I can get behind it. However, when it comes to romance, I always would much rather get both POVs (or more, if it’s poly) and actually see both parties falling in love, and be able to get inside their heads, rather than stick with only one character. I really wanted to hear Cate’s pov!! I also thought that the romance was a bit too instalove for my tastes. Aspen was basically ALL IN after a three week vacation, and then with the time split after they get back together, it’s careening pretty quickly into Uhaul and possible marriage in what felt like sooo quickly that I just found myself telling characters to shut up and stop moving so fast and essentially, yelling at my audiobook. (Which, is not new for me, I yell out loud at characters all the damn time when I read books). I also think that I somehow totally missed that
Spoiler
Cate’s ex was abusive? I got that she didn’t really want Gemma, and was a manipulative, but later on when Aspen was talking about her thinking she’s might hit her or something, I was really confused and thrown off.I did absolutely LOVE Abby Craden’s narration. The voice she gave Gemma, in particular made me adore her. I enjoyed this and I’ll check out more from this author, became I hear nothing but great things and maybe I’ll connect a bit more with another one.