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kaylee_reads_quietly 's review for:
Mine
by Courtney Cole
This was a pretty good book, but not my favorite of Courtney Cole’s.
I’m a huge fan of the Beautifully Broken series, and this book definitely has a darker tone than that trilogy does. This is a good thing; standalone novels should feel unique from an author’s other series.
The characters in this book are developed nicely. I like that they each have their own mini conflicts in addition to the big one (the affair). The setting was particularly interesting to me—the hurricane adds a whole new layer of tension on top of this conflict.
I enjoyed the progression of this book. As we watch Tessa fight for the truth in the present, we simultaneously learn how Lindsay’s relationship with Ethan began and unfolded. Shifting between Tessa’s present-day point of view and Lindsay’s past point of view gives the story a nice flow.
What I have the most problem with is that, shortly after Tessa discovers the affair, she stops blaming Ethan and focuses only on Lindsay. It’s hard to say if this is because she didn’t have cell service and Ethan was unreachable in New York, or if she really was placing all of the blame on Lindsay. I can’t shake the feeling that Tessa let her love for Ethan (and her desire for a perfect life) cloud her judgement and give Ethan a pass. Ultimately, he’s the one who could have put a stop to it before it even started, but he kept messaging Linsday and meeting with her and so on and so on, so Ethan is just as much to blame here. I had trouble being on Tessa’s side at times because of this, and she doesn’t return the blame to Ethan until very late in the book.
Overall, I think the story is well-written, but I wanted more from Tessa. It was a nice book to read in the beginning of October, easing me into my spooky-season reading list.
I’m a huge fan of the Beautifully Broken series, and this book definitely has a darker tone than that trilogy does. This is a good thing; standalone novels should feel unique from an author’s other series.
The characters in this book are developed nicely. I like that they each have their own mini conflicts in addition to the big one (the affair). The setting was particularly interesting to me—the hurricane adds a whole new layer of tension on top of this conflict.
I enjoyed the progression of this book. As we watch Tessa fight for the truth in the present, we simultaneously learn how Lindsay’s relationship with Ethan began and unfolded. Shifting between Tessa’s present-day point of view and Lindsay’s past point of view gives the story a nice flow.
What I have the most problem with is that, shortly after Tessa discovers the affair, she stops blaming Ethan and focuses only on Lindsay. It’s hard to say if this is because she didn’t have cell service and Ethan was unreachable in New York, or if she really was placing all of the blame on Lindsay. I can’t shake the feeling that Tessa let her love for Ethan (and her desire for a perfect life) cloud her judgement and give Ethan a pass. Ultimately, he’s the one who could have put a stop to it before it even started, but he kept messaging Linsday and meeting with her and so on and so on, so Ethan is just as much to blame here. I had trouble being on Tessa’s side at times because of this, and she doesn’t return the blame to Ethan until very late in the book.
Overall, I think the story is well-written, but I wanted more from Tessa. It was a nice book to read in the beginning of October, easing me into my spooky-season reading list.