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A review by luhsoona
Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
2.0
I’m not going to lie, I actually really enjoyed this book and I might bump this up later but there are some things that annoy me.
The super positive is I highly recommend the audiobook for this series. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much in print, as the banter and characters were good and came alive over audio. Despite the fact they were immature, the narration made me believe in them a little more.
There were just some little things that accumulated and bothered me. I also love the other Winston brothers and hope their books are better, the family dynamic is so good in this book and I REALLY enjoyed that.
I had an issue with the deception at the beginning of the book, and I didn’t understand a lot about Jessica throughout the book.
One, I don’t mind Penny’s heroines being quirky, and the heroine is okay for the most part. However the conflict between the hero and heroine drove me crazy, I feel like they didn’t actually reach a TRUE compromise. Like, he just threw everything in for her, which I think they sort of convinced me at the end and then the heroine makes an acknowledgement that he’s giving “so much up” and I’m like well, now that doubt is in my brain.
Another thing is the wanderlust thing I absolutely do not get, and I think that’s why I found a lot of the motivations a bit ridiculous. I didn’t understand why Jessica couldn’t comprehend love in that scenario or be fine with a family (not even necessarily with children, or like just traveling later?? Split the time up???), but this was a personal thing and I get how others felt this way. Despite that, I was able to enjoy the book anyway. It’s just that the conflict seemed so childish, life changes so quickly anyway, it just felt so dragged out.
There are some other comments here and there, and look, I live in Texas and know the attitude of the South but there’s little crumbs here and there that are downright insensitive.
However, what REALLY took a star off for me is how condescending Jessica was. Just an example, but she makes a comment about how 50% of the population is below a certain IQ or something and I scoffed. This is probably why I won’t read Penny Reid’s other series, because there’s a hint of “I’m not like other girls” and “I’m superior because I am smart” sprinkled through this book. I don’t think most people care or caught it, but there were enough little comments to not care about this character’s opinion on her own intelligence in comparison to those around her.
I’m planning on reading the rest of the series because it’s on audible plus and I want to read it before my trial runs out, because I did still devour this book, and I’d probably recommend it to some people but...yeah, a lot of things put me off.
The super positive is I highly recommend the audiobook for this series. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much in print, as the banter and characters were good and came alive over audio. Despite the fact they were immature, the narration made me believe in them a little more.
There were just some little things that accumulated and bothered me. I also love the other Winston brothers and hope their books are better, the family dynamic is so good in this book and I REALLY enjoyed that.
I had an issue with the deception at the beginning of the book, and I didn’t understand a lot about Jessica throughout the book.
One, I don’t mind Penny’s heroines being quirky, and the heroine is okay for the most part. However the conflict between the hero and heroine drove me crazy, I feel like they didn’t actually reach a TRUE compromise. Like, he just threw everything in for her, which I think they sort of convinced me at the end and then the heroine makes an acknowledgement that he’s giving “so much up” and I’m like well, now that doubt is in my brain.
Another thing is the wanderlust thing I absolutely do not get, and I think that’s why I found a lot of the motivations a bit ridiculous. I didn’t understand why Jessica couldn’t comprehend love in that scenario or be fine with a family (not even necessarily with children, or like just traveling later?? Split the time up???), but this was a personal thing and I get how others felt this way. Despite that, I was able to enjoy the book anyway. It’s just that the conflict seemed so childish, life changes so quickly anyway, it just felt so dragged out.
There are some other comments here and there, and look, I live in Texas and know the attitude of the South but there’s little crumbs here and there that are downright insensitive.
However, what REALLY took a star off for me is how condescending Jessica was. Just an example, but she makes a comment about how 50% of the population is below a certain IQ or something and I scoffed. This is probably why I won’t read Penny Reid’s other series, because there’s a hint of “I’m not like other girls” and “I’m superior because I am smart” sprinkled through this book. I don’t think most people care or caught it, but there were enough little comments to not care about this character’s opinion on her own intelligence in comparison to those around her.
I’m planning on reading the rest of the series because it’s on audible plus and I want to read it before my trial runs out, because I did still devour this book, and I’d probably recommend it to some people but...yeah, a lot of things put me off.