You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
reader_fictions 's review for:
Evening Stars
by Susan Mallery
Evening Stars has been my least favorite of the Blackberry Island series. I still liked it for sure, thus the three star rating, but I wasn't as sucked in and emotional by the end of the book.
As per usual, this is a contemporary novel with more than one third person POV. In this case, it's just two: sisters Nina and Averil. The main thing that kept this book from working for me as well was Averil's POV. Right from the start she annoyed me, and I never really learned to like her. I don't hate her, and I don't think her arc is bad per se, but I never ended up finding her interesting. In Three Sisters, I loathed Deanna originally but by the end I had such affection for her; that's the sort of amazing transformation I expect, and it's not what I got.
As a whole, I didn't find the cast of characters quite as delightful in this one. In addition to Averil, their moms Bonnie and Bernie were deeply annoying. Bonnie's so selfish, and she had not changed enough by the resolution for me to have anything but distaste for her. Bernie's better, but so much is made of her ability to be a positive influence on the family, but it doesn't seem like she actually does anything??? I like that they're a happy lesbian couple, but that's about it.
As much as that sounds like I did not like this book, I DID enjoy Nina's POV, which accounted for roughly 2/3 of the book. Her character arc is excellent, and it deals with the way she's always had to care for her whole family her entire life. What I appreciate about Mallery's books is her deft hand with the way the relationships are complicated. Nina's kept her family somewhat stable, but, in so doing, she's also kept anyone from really moving on and growing up, including herself.
Her need for change is encapsulated in her two potential love interests: Kyle and Dylan, her ex-boyfriend. There's much more focus on the romance than in the last two books, though it still is not a romance novel. I liked the use of the two love interests, and I thought it was nice how much it didn't feel like a love triangle; even the use of the cliché moment where one guy sees her with the other doesn't end up playing out in that hackneyed dramatic way. I also really like that her choice for her future is made without romance as a consideration, and that she puts herself and her needs first.So glad it was Dylan because imo Kyle always felt reallllllly creepy to me. Kyle never worked for me as a character.
It's pretty good, but I don't feel like the cast as a whole was as well developed and nuanced as I've come to inspect from Mallery.
As per usual, this is a contemporary novel with more than one third person POV. In this case, it's just two: sisters Nina and Averil. The main thing that kept this book from working for me as well was Averil's POV. Right from the start she annoyed me, and I never really learned to like her. I don't hate her, and I don't think her arc is bad per se, but I never ended up finding her interesting. In Three Sisters, I loathed Deanna originally but by the end I had such affection for her; that's the sort of amazing transformation I expect, and it's not what I got.
As a whole, I didn't find the cast of characters quite as delightful in this one. In addition to Averil, their moms Bonnie and Bernie were deeply annoying. Bonnie's so selfish, and she had not changed enough by the resolution for me to have anything but distaste for her. Bernie's better, but so much is made of her ability to be a positive influence on the family, but it doesn't seem like she actually does anything??? I like that they're a happy lesbian couple, but that's about it.
As much as that sounds like I did not like this book, I DID enjoy Nina's POV, which accounted for roughly 2/3 of the book. Her character arc is excellent, and it deals with the way she's always had to care for her whole family her entire life. What I appreciate about Mallery's books is her deft hand with the way the relationships are complicated. Nina's kept her family somewhat stable, but, in so doing, she's also kept anyone from really moving on and growing up, including herself.
Her need for change is encapsulated in her two potential love interests: Kyle and Dylan, her ex-boyfriend. There's much more focus on the romance than in the last two books, though it still is not a romance novel. I liked the use of the two love interests, and I thought it was nice how much it didn't feel like a love triangle; even the use of the cliché moment where one guy sees her with the other doesn't end up playing out in that hackneyed dramatic way. I also really like that her choice for her future is made without romance as a consideration, and that she puts herself and her needs first.
It's pretty good, but I don't feel like the cast as a whole was as well developed and nuanced as I've come to inspect from Mallery.