Basically me the entire time while I read this book:
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And to sum up my feelings for this hero:
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Okay to be honest I picked this up f2 Stars!
Basically me the entire time while I read this book:
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And to sum up my feelings for this hero:
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Okay to be honest I picked this up for the whole forbidden romance thing going on based on the blurb and call me guilty on that account. I knew I was headed for disaster when the book starts off with the hero having sex on a Sunday morning service in his church. Did I also mention he was totally banging his pastor's wife on that very holy morning? It doesn't get any sinner than that!
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There were just so many things going on in this book that didn't work for me and made absolute NO SENSE at all to why they happened. Actually I thought the first half was pretty okay but when bad things happened, it all just went downhill for me.
Main reason -> Sevin. First he seems very convinced that he loves Evangeline and they were willing to run away together so that he doesn't have to marry her sister, Elle. But the minute shit happens, it was almost like that proclamation of love never existed. Nope, he went on to marry Elle. Well okay, fine by me.
But what I can't believe was his attitude years after Elle died. He was PISSED at Evangeline leaving him during those years ago. LIKE HOW DARE HE!!! He acted like some damn martyr and as if he had the right to be mad at her. May I add he never even bothered about her when he was with Elle all those years?!
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And then there was Nancy. Who I could have done absolute without in this story. She served no purpose at all and I don't know what Sevin was thinking when he kept her around for so long even after reuniting with Evangeline. I wouldn't be half as convinced by his love at all!! But nope, Evangeline came back and SHE was the one who had to grovel his forgiveness no less.
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Sorry but this was not my cuppa at all. And thanks to Jennifer for enduring my rants while I read this one! ...more
Another case where I got caught by the blurb but the book just didn't work for me. I'm a sucker for spy romances so I thought I gave this a2 STARS! ★★
Another case where I got caught by the blurb but the book just didn't work for me. I'm a sucker for spy romances so I thought I gave this a shot. Main reason this one turned to be a bust was due to the overly descriptive prose that didn't add much to the plot itself and needed quite a fair bit of suspension of disbelief. Both MCs were also quite aloof at times. Also too many inner monologues, too little dialogues. I just ended up skimming to the end to see how it would ended up.
Sorry but this did not work for me at all.
ARC kindly provided by the authors via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I'm probably in the absolute minority with this book but this one just failed to impress me on so many levels. Granted I didn't love the fi2 STARS! ★★
I'm probably in the absolute minority with this book but this one just failed to impress me on so many levels. Granted I didn't love the first book as much but I had an inkling of hope that the 2nd one could redeem itself after that cliffhanger in the first read.
I went in expecting there'd be some form of angst or intensity with Saint being pissed at Rachel or Rachel doing a lot of grovelling from what happened in Book 1. But nope. Zilch. Nada. Everything seemed to have fall back into place just as fast. It was almost like there was no repercussions from the blown up disaster of events in the first book. All I got ended up to be cheesy dialogues and a plotline that fell flat till I ended skimming a good portion of the read.
Thought the plot to be underdeveloped because other than Sin's father being up to no good, there wasn't anything more substantial than the romance. I just needed more to go on with. So yeah, I'm disappointed and underwhelmed with how this sequel turned out to be. Highly doubt I'll follow through with the last one.
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Manwhore +1 is the 2nd book in the Manwhore series.
So apparently I was supposed to read this AFTER Sins and Needles but call me a rebel. Just finished this quick one and my emotions ran from one end ofSo apparently I was supposed to read this AFTER Sins and Needles but call me a rebel. Just finished this quick one and my emotions ran from one end of the scale to the other end once I was done.
Me for the most portion of the read: [image]
My feelings for Javier for 90%: [image]
My feelings for Javier in the last 10%: [image] [image]
THE AMOUNT OF RAGE I HAVE RIGHT NOW!!! There better be some good explanation for this!! *rage airfist*
Moving onwards with my Karina Halle binge-reading! Onto Sins and Needles now :D...more
This was what I was NOT expecting at all. I'm not even sure if I'm shocked that this read stumped me in more ways than one or how I called itDNF @ 21%
This was what I was NOT expecting at all. I'm not even sure if I'm shocked that this read stumped me in more ways than one or how I called it quits this early.
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This is my first read from this author and I went in with close to zero expectations, so to say that I'm disappointed with this is not even close to what I'm really feeling right now. The blurb and the forbidden student-teacher trope sold me but in the first 20% itself, I already made a mental list of how this read absolutely didn't work for me.
- It felt like the story was birthed out of nowhere. More precisely, a rushed birth. The beginning didn't feel like a beginning; it felt like there should've been a prologue book before this one. It started with Reed (the teacher) meeting his student, Auburn again in his class. They apparently had a history before this as a student-teacher but it was not explained on. I felt like I was being thrown into a story without a proper background story.
- Being told from the guy's POV, all I got from the get-go was him lusting her and how he couldn't stop thinking about his student, Auburn. Again, why? No explanation from the past & all I can deduce so far is his infatuation for his student for no solid reason. What's so great about her? I simply can't tell at all.
- By the end of Chapter 3, I totally lost my shit with this read. And why you ask? READ AT YOUR RISK! (view spoiler)[It went from infatuation and lusting to professing their undying love for each other. Also they kissed and started saying things like:
"Auburn, that kiss, I'm afraid it was a mistake. A relationship between us could cause a scandal, it could ruin my life and yours. I love more than anything else spending time with you, talking to you, but we can't cross that line again."
"God, I know. I just never felt this kind of connection with anyone else."
At this mark, I cussed out loud at how unbelievable this read was already without passing through 20% and added on with my profusely eye-rolling, I was ready to call it off.
But I told myself I wasn't a quitter....not yet.
So I read another half of a chapter and next thing I know, (view spoiler)[Reed who by the way, is still a married man and has a disgruntled unhappy wife, later went home, texted Auburn a little and started jerking off to her. (hide spoiler)].
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Cue yet another cuss out loud from me, I officially called it quits.
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The writing style was choppy and the relationship felt superficial, there just wasn't enough depth to the story for me. Also it didn't feel anything like a forbidden romance, just more like a whole lot of lust that sparked out from nowhere.
I don't usually rate a DNF read but just from 20% alone, I would have given it 2 stars. And after a good reading buddy who spoiled me with the apparently shocking ending, all I can say is thank lawd I'm stopping now or I will be slapping a 1 star rating.
Sorry ladies, perhaps this is a case of personal preference but with only having almost an hour a day of reading for me these days, I definitely have to cut my losses early. However, please don't let it deter you from trying this one :)
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review....more
"You are what started this all, and with you, I will finish this forever."
Wow this was what I was not expecting at all...in a ba2 STARS! ★★
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"You are what started this all, and with you, I will finish this forever."
Wow this was what I was not expecting at all...in a bad way. Honestly after reading the first instalment Snare and thinking it could get better from where it left off, I was left disappointed with what took place for a good major portion of this read. I felt like I just had an 'expectation vs reality' moment right here.
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Seize picks up exactly right after the mail-biting cliffy in Snare and things start to escalate for Sebastian & Lilith as they try to escape the thwarts of the Genesis group. We got a clearer glimpse now of Sebastian's past and the events leading up to how he ended up getting involved with the Genesis. The same can be said for Lilith and her struggles of being confronted by the reality of the deceptions she'd been a part of all along.
"Sebastian played me right into his hand. He forced me past my boundaries, expecting me to cope with the impossinle, and yet I long to push on."
For 40% of the book, it felt like the book was heading into the direction I expected it to; the secrets unfolding, the unexpected twist and the thrill of escaping from the bad guys. But later the main focus shifted to the emotional battle between our two MCs and a tug-of-war of 'I hate you but I love you' coming from Lilith started to annoy me one too many times. Sebastian also ended up trying too hard to get back Lilith's trust & his constant professing of love made me see him as a weak anti-hero.
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And then what really ticked me off was the last portion of the book. Maybe it's just me but it's a pet peeve of mine when a book ends off in this certain manner that seems rushed & tied up nicely. (view spoiler)[The time jump of 5 months where both MCs got separated and later reunited, to only have it reveal in the very last moment that the bad guys got taken out by the hero while he was gone. WTF? That's it? (hide spoiler)] Perhaps it's the author's intention to only reveal the details of it in the next book but personally I felt cheated with that kind of an open ending. Sadly, it left me fuming after putting down this read. Looks like I'll still be awaiting the 3rd book to get my closure.
Again, I don't really consider this to be a heavy dark read because while there are some seriously messed up stuffs going on, the romance is not. Personally, it kinda missed the mark as a dark read for me. However, please don't let my rating discourage you from reading this as it's very likely to be a case of my personal preference. After all, I'm a picky beech when it comes to the dark ones...
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Seize is the second volume of the Delirious series and should be read in order with the previous books in the series. Seize ties up the story of Sebastian & Lilith and Book 3: Scorch will be a standalone that will complete the series.
ARC kindly provided by the author in an exchange for an honest review....more
You know one of those occasions that you caught onto a good blurb and you just have to read it no matter what? This is definitely on2 STARS! ★★
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You know one of those occasions that you caught onto a good blurb and you just have to read it no matter what? This is definitely one of those instances but sadly this read wasn't what I expected it to be at all. Let me just put it out there that this isn't a PNR read despite what the blurb may seem to suggest. It does touch on the subject of belief in destiny/fate and somewhere along the lines of a family curse but that was pretty much all there is to it.
The 27 Club isn't your usual club, it's one that Zoey Flowers believed that her family is bestowed with a death curse that they all die at the unimaginable age of 27. Her brother, Zach recently succumbed to this deadly fate and now she believes that death is knocking down on her door very soon. Having to face the death of her brother, she flies to his place in Miami where she meets Zach's best friend, Nate and what she comes to learn about her brother's life isn't all it's made up to be.
I'll hand it to the author that the premise is refreshing for me and was how it caught my attention in the first place. The underlying message of living life to its fullest is something I appreciated but what absolutely didn't work for me is the execution of it all.
For starters, these characters are supposedly 27 but Zoey's lack of maturity was glaringly obvious that if it wasn't for the title of the book, I could have easily passed her off as a tween in her early twenties. I really struggled to connect with her especially when it kept harping on her constant fear of death and her continuous need to break into tears and running headfirst into Nate's arms. It was hard to shake off that Zoey came off needy of his protection and it started to look more like a brotherly connection than a sexual one at times.
Nate's character was a little better for me but their instant connection came off a little manufactured like a typical case of right place, right timing. I can understand that their no-strings attached relationship is running on a 'carpe diem' setting but at times, their petty arguments and misunderstandings came off unnecessary and honestly, a little frustrating. Again, this brings me back to my point of how I find these characters acting unlike their age.
Now the plot itself really had some great potential. There was an introduction of pivotal characters that shed some light on Zach's life prior to his passing but I wished it could have been explored more on which could have gave the read that extra depth apart from the romance factor. Those were the scenes that had me glued to the read but once it passed, I just wasn't as invested anymore.
Overall The 27 Club had a great premise but the execution just absolutely missed the mark for me. I'll give it 1 star for the plot and another 1 for the rather steamy scenes but sadly, that's as far as I can give. I've heard praises for this author's other works, so I'm still holding out my judgement and will give her books another shot in the future. Perhaps this one just wasn't my cuppa but it could very well worked for many others :)
The 27 Club is a standalone adult contemporary romance read.
ARC kindly provided by Berkley/NAL Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Yet another one bites the dust for me *sighs*. Well I was secretly hoping that this one would at least wDNF @ 36%
Random Books vs Jasmine: 5 - 0
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Yet another one bites the dust for me *sighs*. Well I was secretly hoping that this one would at least worked out but against the forces of the book universe, me and random pickup reads were destined for doomsville.
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The worst part is that I actually enjoyed the book for the first 25%. I loved the female MC and she was dishing out some amazing humor and mentally raging at her evil boss that literally made me LOL-ed.
"This fucker. He's wormed his way into every part of my life somehow, ruining everything - except this. This was all I had until now.
Oh Jesus God, I have masturbated to words that this man wrote.
I'm going need something heavier than an ashtray."
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But past 25%, I started needing more than just entertaining monologues and slowly I realized that if I looked past the humor, the plot really lacked depth. The story was running all over the place like a headless chicken and the characters were acting sporadically without reasons, especially this boss cum kinky author. It nearly gave me whiplash!
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One minute this boss was apparently evil but turns out he's actually nice. One minute they were boss/secretary but another minute they were like close buddies. Huh what? Did my book lose some pages in between that the dynamic shifted at lightspeed?
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Also I then realised I had no idea what this dude actually does for a living except he's filthy rich and apparently has too much time on his hand that he pretends to be a female author that writes a panty-soaking series. For all I care, it could have been a damn hippie who wrote it either.
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Okay so this isn't really a review but I'm just gonna cut my losses early and move on :)
"To be in love...It's powerful and completely debilitating all at the same time. It's ecstasy and agony, and it's one of 2 TRIGGER STARS ★★
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"To be in love...It's powerful and completely debilitating all at the same time. It's ecstasy and agony, and it's one of the single most terrifying feelings in the world."
I swear that these days all the books are on a mission to deceive me with their pretty covers, eye-catching titles (look at how interestingly ironic this one was!) and promising blurbs. Why why why?!
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Honestly I'm so wiped out after a day's work to be even writing a review but then I look at this book and remind myself the amount of effort I had to put in to pull myself through this read. So here's my $3.99 two cents of worth.
*******
First, let's talk about that blurb. I know, it pretty much offered nothing about this book or what it's about except it's a love story filled with...hate? Damn that irony totally pulled me into this one.
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Warning: This standalone novel contains explicit language, sexual content, and potential triggers
So I do enjoy going into a book blind once in a while but sometimes, we all just want a hint of what we might actually get into. There are some triggers that people may get uncomfortable with, so it's better to be forewarned. To be fair enough, let me just list those triggers into a spoiler tag. But please only open it if you're an eager beaver and have a certain definite set of triggers that will sure to put you off. If not, move along and who knows, you may enjoy this book without knowing what triggers are ahead.
The thing is, I'm okay with triggers. I love 'em in fact. I love them like having chocolate sprinkles and nuts on top of my sundae icecream. But if it ain't done right?
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I felt that a big portion of the triggers were crammed in the first half of the book and they came in continuous waves crashing upon me before I even have the time to soak in the moments. I haven't got the time to let my feels flow! It felt like I was in one of those moments where I go shopping with my mum and she kept rushing me in and out of each store before I have a proper look at everything.
Sorry mum, I hope you don't ever stumble across my review. I still love you.
And then let's talk about those excessive time gaps. For those who want to know, this book spans from (view spoiler)[7th grade till age 30. The largest time jump being 10, I repeat, TEN years (hide spoiler)]. And I'm not a huge fan of them, so *shakes head*. There's just too much time gone and without proper filling in these gaps, it just couldn't work for me, I'm sorry.
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Here comes the real kicker for me which then told me I should have DNF-ed this but my non-quitter self told me to suck it up. Again, this goes in a spoiler tag because it's a whole lot of triggers and MEGA SPOILERS.
MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD
(view spoiler)[Okay summary: The girl MC, Whitney met the guy MC, Blane when young; they became BFFs. Later they both met another girl, Franny who then become both their BFFs. Blane ended up with Franny, knocks her up, she got an abortion, then depressed and later suicide. Whitney also then realised she loved Blane all the while. But Blaine couldn't, so he left and cue in 10-year time gap.
The whole gist of it is that Blane came back and he realised he loves her too. He was in love with two women, HUZZAH! Let me just quote him:
"Even when I was in love with her, I was in love with you!"
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If the love of my life ever told me that, I'd tell him to pack his damn ass off. (hide spoiler)]
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The only reason I didn't DNF this was because of one person in this book and that would be Whitney's grandma. Who is probably the coolest grandma EVER. She is literally the saving grace of this book otherwise I would have given up. Love her knack of humorous advices and just being plain crude.
"Two things I'm serious about are abortion and penises."
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Would I recommend this read? It could go both ways and I'd say it depends on your reading preferences (and triggers). There are some glowing reviews for this one, so it could just be me being picky. I won't deny that there are some actual great emotional scenes that brought out some major feels in me. But sadly, it just wasn't enough to redeem the entire read. ...more
**Review written POST-watching the movie. All spoilers mentioned WILL be tagged**
3 THIS SOUNDS LIKE "LOST" STARS ★★★
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“Just follow me and run **Review written POST-watching the movie. All spoilers mentioned WILL be tagged**
3 THIS SOUNDS LIKE "LOST" STARS ★★★
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“Just follow me and run like your life depends on it. Because it does.”
So, the good and bad news:
Bad: The movie significantly deviated from the book. A lot of key events were different, the chronology of events changed & almost everything was just a big WTF IS GOING ON ANYMORE.
Good: The deviation wasn't entirely a bad thing because it actually addressed a lot of problems I had with the book.
Should you read the book before watching the movie? My answer would be NO.
Put it this way: The only similarity between the book and the movie is the beginning and the ending. Everything else in between was a major clusterfuck.
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So on to my book review now...
A FAIR WARNING: Jasmine takes her YA dystopian reads very seriously (easily her top fav YA genre) which means you might be seeing a superbly bitchy picky side of Jasmine in this review.
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The Maze Runner abruptly starts with Thomas being thrusted, via The Box (aka the lift), into a strange new world inhabited by other teenage boys like him. He remembers nothing of his life before this or how he even got there. It gets worse when all the other boys are uncooperative and refuses to reveal much about their current home, which we then learnt is called The Glade.
And surrounding the Glade, is The Maze which technically is made up of really tall stone walls and contains vicious creatures called The Grievers. A stung by one of these would cause someone to go through The Changing and can be cured through The Grief Serum.
Only a group of boys called The Runners are the ones who are allowed to enter the maze and everyday they've been trying to find a way out but failed miserably. Until Thomas came along.
Have I lost you with all the terminologies? Trust me, that's just the tip of the iceberg.
********
The misses:
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THEY WERE EVERYWHERE. I could write a long list of them but I'd spare you all (or we can discuss it thru PM for anyone who has already read it).
2. Almost zero character development. Everyone felt so one-dimensional and the author's writing focused more on telling me what to feel for these people than actually let me feel it. (view spoiler)[The WORST part for me is when Thomas went thru The Changing & all we got at the end of the chapter was and I quote, "Everything else turned into pain". WTF WAS THAT. I EXPECTED GLIMPSES OR STH DAMNIT. And then later he just conveniently knows everything about the maze (damn plotholes!!). (hide spoiler)] And also it didn't evoke any emotions in me when (view spoiler)[Alby or Chuck died. WHYYY?! I should have felt sth more! (hide spoiler)]
3. Bad pacing. The first 30% felt like a torture to read, it was very unnecessarily draggy. Felt that the author spent too much time on details that barely adds value to the story (in terms of plot & world-building). Also, an overload of terminologies that aren't crucial to the story.
Also, the withholding of information was dragged out TOO LONG. It can only be so long before either 1) people give up on this read 2) it gets all anti-climatic.
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4. Teresa, the one and only Girl in the Glade. Her character was superbly one-dimensional and I felt that she simply existed because the story needed a girl. She could've been a guy & it wouldn't make a difference. And also (view spoiler)[the telepathic thing with her and Thomas?! How?! What's that for?! Very unnecessary and damn plothole alert again! (hide spoiler)]
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5. What's-that-slang? I didn't really hate the weird slang used in this book, but it came to a point that they were used in so many diff contexts that they confused me. At one point I got confused between 'shank' and 'shuck'. Also I still can't figure out what 'shuck' actually means (I think it's like a combination of 'suck' and 'shit'? Pls refer eg below) or how they derive 'greenie'. Huh.
“You are the shuckiest shuck faced shuck in the world!”
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The wins:
1. The overall premise. Sounded very promising and it definitely keeps you guessing. I had a few theories about the maze and although I was only half-correct, I'm really keen to see where this is all heading.
2. The secondary characters. Really enjoyed reading the presence of Chuck, Newt, Alby, Minho; in fact I think I enjoyed them more than Thomas himself. The movie did their characters justice ;)
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3. Had some good twists I didn't anticipate. I like it when I'm wrong ;) And I think the epilogue was well-played, definitely wants me to keep going on with this series.
4. A very refreshing read for me. It was finally nice to read one where the lead is a boy, instead of the usual heroine in today's YA dystopian reads.
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Overall verdict: It had a really good premise but a lot of things were executed poorly. The author succeeded in delivering a well plot-driven story that keeps the readers intrigued but failed to produce characters that could appeal, or at least connect to the readers.
Sidenote: Contrary to what the book promotes saying "A Must for Fans of The Hunger Games", this actually felt more like the TV series "Lost" and NOTHING like THG.
"I want to do something I'm not supposed to do. I want to want something I'm not supposed to want. I want to make the2 NOT MY CUPPA STARS ★★
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"I want to do something I'm not supposed to do. I want to want something I'm not supposed to want. I want to make the mistake I'm not supposed to make."
The first thing that went through my mind after putting down the book was:
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And let me tell you, I do not mean it in an entirely good way.
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Gracelynn aka Gray is a ballerina who is at the peak of her career and has been dating her current boyfriend, Ian for 4 months. On one of her rehearsal days, Ian's introduces his best friend, Jasper to Gray and subsequently led to Ian proposing a threesome (and also hinted that it's a common thing between those two in the past). Initially refusing the idea from both Gray & Jasper, a dinner between the trio has made Gray realised that she needed to let loose a little and eventually agreed to the idea.
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Okay so here’s the thing. Prior to picking up the book, I’ve already read enough reviews to know what this book has to offer. Yes it’s not technically a love triangle book because one of them was a complete twat & that said twat allowed the other two to play hanky-panky with each other. But then the curious side of me was dying to read this one, so I went into this with only three expectations in mind.
1. To see how much of a douchebag can Ian be. 2. To see how long it takes for Gray to dump said douchebag above. 3. To see how irresistible Jasper is.
Expectation 1
And without a doubt, the award for the King of Douchebags goes to Ian.
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On a scale of 1-10 of “the worst boyfriend ever existed” meter, he’s at 100. Rating him any less would be a complete understatement. Calling him a rude, condescending prick and an arsehole is being very nice. Seriously, there were zero redeeming qualities about him. I found his little rules to be rather pointless (view spoiler)[because he sets the rules for Jas & Gray and later walks out on them, in which he ACTUALLY expects them to abide with the rules when he’s not around. Wow talk about major benefit of doubt right there. That's very un-douchey of him tho. (hide spoiler)]
Expectation 2
The official breakup was done at like (view spoiler)[80% into the book. Unfreakingbelievable. I honestly thought it would be around 50% (which would have been bad enough), but 80% is absolutely ludicrous (hide spoiler)]. I can’t for the life of me understand how it didn’t cross her mind to dump Ian sooner. I’m appalled that any woman would subject themselves to such degradation from their boyfriend (view spoiler)[in which he insults her small tits and says shit like how he was nice enough to accept her “flaws” (hide spoiler)].
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I probably get it that the author went overboard with Ian’s douchebaggery to cure the love triangle situation and not dumping him earlier would only escalate the angst and the “forbidden love” factor in this story. But I would have appreciated it more if the author took the time to executed it better. I love me some good angst, but this one didn't appeal to me at all.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against douchebags, I just have issues with heroines who lack any sense of dignity.
However, before anyone starts throwing objects at me, I understand that this is a work of fiction. And that it's totally okay to date douchebags & not dump them at their soonest. And the fact that not everything has to make sense in a fictional world.
Lesson learnt: Suspension of disbelief will save your tortured soul in this read. Toss all logic aside and enjoy the ride.
Expectation 3:
Well I've finally made it to the redeeming part of the book for me. Lo and behold the incredible smutfest!
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Brought to you by Jasper who is the complete opposite of Ian. Besides the obvious fact that he is one amazing sex on legs (and a dirty talker mmhmm), he was completely endearing and affectionate towards Gray. I won’t lie, the chemistry between Jas and Gray was undeniable and they shared some great emotional moments together.
You can’t help but root for this couple throughout the book and you probably won’t even remember that Ian doucheface still existed. And remind me, what rules again?
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Overall, I was probably not made to love these kind of stories. Well yeah, I did enjoy the smut and some of the emotional scenes but that was just about it for me. I need my angst to be well-substantiated and for my heroine to have a better backbone. And that little juvenile part at the end? Definitely not well-played at all.
However, this is my very honest personal opinion of the book and while I didn't love it, please do not let it stop you from trying out the book :) I have a lot of buddies who really enjoyed this one and personally, you should give it a shot and you may find it to be at your liking ;) ...more
Well this is probably the quickest read I ever had to do. With only 34 pages, I got bored out of my mind before I hit hal2 I GOT BORED STARS ★★
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Well this is probably the quickest read I ever had to do. With only 34 pages, I got bored out of my mind before I hit halfway. The only reason I didn't DNF this is because it's too short for me to even bother =\
The story starts out with Hadley Scott who received an exclusive invitation to Club Q which is apparently elusive and once she's in, she learns about the club's concept. The female counterpart will be led into a dark room where the male counterpart awaits them. So technically, they have sex. In the dark. Unknown to each other.
Sorry to say that while the idea/concept could have seem intriguing, I didn't enjoy anything while reading this. No build up, nothing compelling and sex was just...sex. Which pretty much sums up to my boredom & eye-rolling while I read this.
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Still, I gave it a 2-stars because it may lead to something better in the next book. And the writing was alright, just that it didn't intrigued me. But overall, I'm not keen on picking the next one up.
~ ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review ~...more
"I, James Cavendish, unrepentant dominant, sexual deviant, and prolific slut for more years than I cared to count, 3 MR BEAUTIFUL STARS! ★★★
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"I, James Cavendish, unrepentant dominant, sexual deviant, and prolific slut for more years than I cared to count, was in love."
When I heard that RK Lilley was putting up a novella featuring all my favourite men from her series, I quickly jumped at the chance of this one as soon as it was out! I'll be frank that I usually don't have high expectations when it comes to these kinds of novellas because they always seem to be a rehash of the original series.
So how do I explain this book to you? I'll just let Forrest Gump break it down for you.
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Jumping into this one, I didn't know what to expect. Will this be James's retelling of the trilogy? Or will it be the events after the trilogy? And where does all the other men's POV come into place in this book?
Well this book was definitely a whole bucketload of surprises.
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Unfortunately, this is also where I found the read to be rather off-putting.
If you're hoping for a solid story that takes place after the events of the original trilogy, you're not likely to get one here. This novella was running different stories simultaneously and to put it mildly, all over the place. It alternated between past/present POVs and also concurrently alternating between James and Stephan for a good majority of the book.
And turns out, the actual story for James (aka Mr Beautiful) ended at 66%. Ah geez, why you'd do that Ms Lilley?! D:
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The remaining 34% were pretty much bonus POVs/teaser chaps from Tristan/Frankie/Akira/Lourdes and some retelling of the original trilogy in James's POV. And I didn't like that these random chapters/teasers stuck out like a sore thumb since there was no proper flow between each one.
However I did very much enjoyed that we got to see Stephan's story which was the only thing that took me by surprise in this book. And yes, those M/M scenes; well nothing too overly explicit I think but good enough to convince me to join the other side...
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Overall, a little disappointed with the read considering I paid $6.99 for it and found out the story I was looking most forward to actually ended at 66% (I'm starting to think I'm getting ripped off a lot lately). But for what it's worth, Lilley still brought out some smokin hot smutfest and James Cavendish will be the reason that I'm gonna need PLENTY OF ICE for my ovaries.
So yeah, I paid $6.99 so that my ovaries can have a good time and get a taste of M/M. Don't judge me okay?!
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Please note that Mr. Beautiful should only be read after reading the original trilogy: Up in the Air series....more
But Kate did the impossible. She changed all that—she changed me. I think we can all agree I was pretty frigging awes3 VEGAS PARTY STARS ★★★
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But Kate did the impossible. She changed all that—she changed me. I think we can all agree I was pretty frigging awesome before . . . but now I’m even better.
Oh boy...unpopular opinion coming through. I may need to go into hiding a while after this one LOL.
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Tied takes place approximately a few years after Tangled with Drew & Kate's wedding day dawning on them soon. Told entirely from Drew's POV (yay!) and with the addition of their baby boy James, we get to see a different side of Drew as he enters fatherhood.
And of course, no wedding day is complete without the mandatory bachelor/bachelorette party and what better place to do it than in the Sin City itself.
"Besides, I think you should enjoy the good times while they last. I did. I have a feeling things are going to get real crazy—real quick—from here on out. ’Cause our next stop? That’s Vegas, baby. And there’s a reason it’s called Sin City."
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Well when I heard that we're getting back Drew's POV and we all know how much we LOVE hearing that arrogant, cocky man going all crude in his mind palace back in Tangled, I just couldn't wait to get back in his head again! Even more after reading the other rather disappointing books in the series, I was hoping this one would redeemed it all. So when I started it, I was getting all:
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And it was really off to a great start! Being back in Drew's head after what seemed like centuries had me literally LOL-ing for a good 30 minutes or so and even as he entered fatherhood, his knack of saying the most ridiculous stuffs was still ever present.
“What do you want, James?” My voice has a frustrated edge. “You’re dry, I’m holding you, I’m trying to feed you—what the hell do you want?” I walk back to the kitchen and grab the checkbook off the counter. “Will money make you happy?” Ridiculous—yes, I know. Don’t judge me. “I’ll give you ten thousand dollars for four hours of sleep. I’ll write the check out right now.”
But the problem starts kicking in for me when the story shifted to Vegas.
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From here then on, I felt that the story kinda fell flat for me. Don't get me wrong, there were some great funny scenes involving the guys but after a while, I really couldn't be bothered and ended up skimming through a lot. I wished that we could have seen the bachelorette side instead of solely focusing on the bachelor side.
Not that I was particularly fond of Kate's POV in Twisted but I thought it would have been a great touch to the book and allowed the book to diversify. After all, it is Drew & Kate's wedding, not just a one sided affair.
Also the Vegas storyline didn't do much to excite me and there was nothing extraordinary done to shake things up a little. From the first half of the book, it sounded almost like Drew implied something big was gonna shake them up prior to the wedding. And when we do finally get to that part, I was left underwhelmed and a little cheated.
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And don't get me started on Delores, I wanted to slap that woman silly a few times LOL. But in a way, I'm glad her appearance was kept rather minimal in this one & didn't annoy me too much. Also I missed little Mackenzie and the darn things she used to say! Now that she's grown up, looks like lil James took over her role for saying the darnedest things (how cute was the "poosy" scene?!) :D
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Overall, I thought it was a still a really sweet fun read to finally tie up Drew & Kate's story. Liked it but didn't love it. I'm glad that Emma didn't deviate too far with Drew's character eventhough he's starting to show a more tender side with James now, so plus points for that! The epilogue was a sweet loving one which made me happy that these two finally got their official HEA ♥
Would still recommend it if you need a good dose of laughter and a fix of Drew's dirty offensive mind palace.
Sadly this book has put an end to my winning streak of reads in the past week. Looks like all good things must come to an end :(
Sidenote: I almost felt cheated having spent almost $8 on this read. Especially the fact that I finished this in 2 hours..damn....more
"And when his eyes cut my way, and I see the darkness on the surface, I'm reminded that this man hangs out with mo3.5 I LOVE NAZ STARS! ★★★☆
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"And when his eyes cut my way, and I see the darkness on the surface, I'm reminded that this man hangs out with monsters. And one might even exist inside of him."
I was left pretty disappointed with how I imagined this book would be like. I don't know if it was just that my dark reads standards have been raised or this book just underwhelmed me after seeing some great reviews on this one. I found myself really baffled about Karissa & Naz's relationship to a point that I don't buy it at all.
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Monster in His Eyes revolves around Karissa, the 18-year old girl who apparently only attends philosophy class and seems to be struggling with that subject since her professor is giving her a damn hard time with her papers. Also, she has a tendency to lose her phone often which allowed her that one fateful (or not so fateful) encounter with our anti-hero, Ignazio Vitale aka Naz who is this sexy, confident 37-year old man in a black suit.
From one encounter to another, they started spending more time together but in all of those times, Karissa never really found out what Naz's work really is. And when she does, her world is about to be turned upside down.
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Prior to diving into this one, yes I've been warned about Miss Little Naive and Gullible Karissa. So yeah, can't say I'm shocked about how a 18-year old girl decided to run off along with a 37-year old man whom she hardly knew, let alone possibly do torturous things to her. And then you know, let this man banged her without a damn condom at first go. At this point, I was just shaking my head in disbelief but I pulled through no doubt.
But here's the funny thing. It wasn't so much of Karissa that didn't make this book worked for me. It was actually more of the heavy insta-love thing going on. I know I said this was a minor pet peeve for me, but this one was just WAY too unbelievable for me to fathom. And what sucks more was the fact that I absolutely DO NOT understand what Naz sees in Karissa that made him LOVE her.
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Absolutely zero chemistry and I felt so disconnected from both MCs. I'm not surprised because all they pretty much do is go out for fancy dinners, occasionally watch movies and then mostly sex and BAM! Suddenly these two are professing their love for each other and then that's me for most of the read:
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I'm sorry, I really am. But I simply cannot buy their "love story". It pretty much made no sense to me at all and this makes me really sad that I felt so emotionless reading this story; no flutters, nothing. I wanted to love their LOVE but there ain't any :(
“He set out to destroy me, but he fell in love with me instead. I fell in love with him, and that's what destroyed me in the end.”
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The saving grace for the book for me is definitely Naz's character. THANK GOD. He was like an enigma and with his calm & cool demeanour, I was rather compelled by him. He will probably be the sole reason I will pick up Book 2 and being told from his POV will definitely be something to look forward too :)
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Overall, I still enjoyed the book for the most part. The first half felt a little dragged and mundane but when things started picking up in the second half, I couldn't put down the book. And I'll admit that the twist at the end came as a little shock to me and will get me going to read Book 2 ;) ...more
"You've taken the only resilient part of me and annihilated it, Livy."
First up, HIGHLY unpopular opinion coming thr1 I BEG TO DIFFER STAR ★
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"You've taken the only resilient part of me and annihilated it, Livy."
First up, HIGHLY unpopular opinion coming through. If you're a huge fan of this book/series, I suggest you steer clear of my review because 1) there will be spoilers and 2) I hope to God I will not offend anyone who loved this. And before I say my cents of worth, I'd like to state that I'm actually a huge fan of JEM's writings from her This Man trilogy and it absolutely PAINS ME that I'm rating this so lowly for one of my fav authors' books.
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I really had high hopes after finishing One Night: Promised months ago and while it did not impressed me as much at that time, I still held onto this imaginary line that JEM will redeem this series in the 2nd one. This Man trilogy definitely started off the same way; a slow draggy start but later catapulted into a great one. After seeing hopeful early reviews, I thought there is a good chance that this series will excel after a slow start.
But holy hell, I was left so completely shell-shocked by this one. And I mean it in an entirely bad way because I swear, I SWEAR that I did not expect such level of writing from JEM. It was like someone else wrote this book entirely! I refused to believe this same woman gave me Jesse Ward and part of me wishes that either I got a really lousy copy of this book by mistake or this is a whole big fat nightmare.
Heroine: Terrible. Hero : Terrible. Unromantic quotes: Atrocious Plotline: WTF this is going in circles. Editing: SOMEONE SHOULD FIRE THAT PERSON (I'll get to that shortly)
Let me just break it down to you the writing in this one. I mean, it's usually a good thing when I highlight so many quotes because I love them. But in this scenario, I highlight so many of what nearly made me want to claw my eyes out.
"Olivia, I've not tasted anyone or let anyone taste me. Tell me you believe me."
^ Seriously, taste? Miller thinks people are like...food? So tell me Miller, how do you really feel?
"But nothing will ever come close to the pleasure I gain from worshipping you"
^ Case in point: Hero says this about 1000 times everytime they engage in sexual deeds. Last time I check, Livy the heroine is NOT a goddess nor a shrine that requires worshipping. Or even in the case of a golden vagina, the word "worship" was overused to the extent that it loses its "holy-ness".
"Give me my thing, Livy."
^ You must be thinking...what the fuck is "my thing" right here. You guys wanna know? Really? Here just click the spoiler tag (view spoiler)[CUDDLING IS A THING PEOPLE. Because you know, "my thing" just sounds way cooler. (hide spoiler)]
"Is my sweet girl exposing her sassy streak?"
^ SWEET BABY JEEBUS. This brings out all the pedo feels in me. I'm sorry but isn't there better pet endearing names than this?! Seriously, my sweet girl? How does that make my libido turn on at all?!
Have all of those quotes MULTIPLIED BY 20 TIMES in this entire book, I was eye-rolling to the point that I was so close to clawing them out. I could have live with small doses, but seriously, this was WAY TOO MUCH.
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And let's get to the part where the editing was absolutely horribly done that I felt like personally messaging JEM and asking her if she really left out a chapter in the book or if her editing team did a huge mistake.
For anyone's curiosity, I'll just paste a quick excerpt between chapters to get my point across in spoiler tag.
(view spoiler)[End of Chap 10: {in Miller's apartment where Livy runs out to the elevator in rage} ‘Fuck!’ He releases the doors and they start to close. ‘I refuse to give up, Olivia.’ Blue eyes glaze over, his expression straightening. ‘I won’t lose.’
‘You’ve already lost,’ I murmur as his face disappears.
Start of Chap 11: I don’t know how I’ve ended up here. Probably to reinforce my decision. Seeing the four-poster bed, the regal room, and the images of me restrained is helping steel my resolve. But it’s also magnifying the pain. I’m standing in the middle of the hotel room, gazing around, torturing myself further and praying for some strength to see me through.
‘I won’t lose,’ he says, resting his hands in his pocket. ‘I can’t lose, Olivia.’
Tears begin to trickle down my cheeks as I stand before him, defeated. Conquered.(hide spoiler)]
So I literally did a double take and went HUH WTF?! How did those two ended up there? Are you telling me one can just simply walk into a hotel room? Not only did it jumped from an apartment scene to a hotel room scene, but the worst part was how Livy went all "No you've lost me, don't ever come near me again" to all "Okay I lose, you can totally bang the fuck outta me now".
ALL WITHIN A SPAN OF LIKE A CHAPTER BREAK?!
And yes, they totally shagged in that hotel room. Point made: Livy is SO FULL of contradictions and a superbly forgiving heroine in a nano second.
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I could probably go on and tell you more what made the book hell for me and made me wanted to DNF this more times than I count. But in short, for me the plot was going in absolute circles by witholding "the secret" from the readers and it was so dragged on with all the parts of Miller TASTING and WORSHIPPING Livy.
Everything absolutely failed for me in this one. It kills me to be in the minority and honestly, I won't be reading the last one in the trilogy. There is only so much I can put up once the characters fail, the plot fails and worst of all, the writing fails. It was disastrous to say the least :'(
I haven't been this let down since Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover and God forbid, I hope I'll not be having another one like this soon. Officially declaring myself to be in a book slump right now after coming out from 2 horrendous reads.
On a personal note, I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my review. I'd just like to emphasize that this is a matter of my personal opinion. I believe everyone reads things differently, so I'm not here to tell you to not read or read a book. I have buddies who enjoyed this read (do check out their lovely reviews HERE and HERE) and I wished the same for everyone who picks up this book :)
One Night: Denied is the second instalment in the One Night trilogy and must be read in order....more
♥ Most epic Buddy Read with my funny ladies: Eda, Flo & Supreet! Thanks lovelies, couldn't have done this without youZERO FARK GIVEN STARS *RAGE MODE*
♥ Most epic Buddy Read with my funny ladies: Eda, Flo & Supreet! Thanks lovelies, couldn't have done this without you! ♥
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In today's lesson on how to ruin an initially great series, here's an easy step-to-step guide.
Step 1: Write a trilogy and announce at the end of the book that there'll be more books to come! [image]
Step 2: Make your readers wait for 1 and a half year for the next book to be out. [image]
Step 3: Releases said book to only find out later that it's filled with nonsensical bored out of my freakin mind filler plot. [image]
Step 4: Charges $8 for said book. [image]
Step 5: Ends the book by saying the next one is coming soon. WELL, RINSE AND REPEAT PEOPLE. [image]
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Well now that's outta the way, I'm not even gonna say it's a huge disappointment because clearly, I give ZERO FARKS about this series anymore.
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But to sum this book up for me, basically this is what I honestly think SD felt when she wrote this book.
SD: Oh dear, my readers love Gideon & Eva so much, I can't let this trilogy end yet. Perhaps I should write more books and continue this series. But what else can I write about these two anymore? HMMM.
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(6 months later) SD: Oh gosh, I'm still stuck but I need to write SOMETHING soon. Perhaps I should let my readers wait a little longer.
(Another 6 months later) SD: Okay they're all hounding me, I'm gonna do this! Gideon and Eva...okay I'm just gonna leave them to their dysfunctional ways and have them yelling back and forth at each other. Now let's throw in some jealousy, everyone loves a good drama. Okay Corrine and Brett, it's your time to shine again!
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SD: What else...how about some more filler scenes with Cary, Gideon's mummy and stepdaddy. Family drama is always so much fun! And let's throw in Megumi too although I'm sure no one cares about her. Oh and of course, let's not forget those sex scenes! Office scene anyone?
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SD: Now for some emotional scenes, get my readers to ache for Gideon's awful past and his damaged self. And Eva dear, let's make her a crazy insecure wife that drives Gideon mad because she's so damn good at it. I think my readers will love watching these two getting so frustrated at each other, it'll be so fun!
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SD: Anddd voila! Now that'll satisfy my readers long enough to keep them waiting for the next one :D
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And there you have it. It truly felt like the author couldn't even be bothered to write a proper book after making her readers wait for what seems to be an eternity. What a complete joke. The writing and plot was completely half-arsed and almost like she wrote the book JUST BECAUSE SHE HAD TO. Boring, boring and for crying out loud, AWFULLY BORING.
Gideon and Eva's relationship was in a constant loop of insecurities and basically rehashing the same old shit over and over and over again. "Oh stop hurting me!" "I can't live without you!" "Let's just fight and have awesome make-up sex!". And although the descriptive sex scenes were cut down, it was still all "let's just have sex everywhere because it fixes all our problems". Yup, we're talking morning sex, bathroom sex, kitchen counter sex, limo sex, office sex etc AND ALL WHICH I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FARK ANYMORE.
This could have easily been Entwined with You 2.0 where basically it was all filler and no progression. What's new?
Nothing. Nothing at all *yawns*
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I have ZERO respect for this author anymore and I think I speak on behalf of all the readers that felt cheated by this awful filler read after making us wait for so long. And not only did she write a book that isn't worth the money we paid for, she didn't even bother to thank her readers in her acknowledgements. Instead she thanked her damn publishers at the end...like WTF? Are they the ones giving her sales or we are?! Smh.
So congratulations SD if you're trying to drive this series into the ground so deep under that it can never recover because you think you can earn a bucketload by playing us readers.
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Aaaand I'm done. Sylvia Day, you have officially lost a reader forever. And for the record, I'm giving this NEGATIVE 5 STARS because I can #sorrynotsorry. ...more
“Just remember to always be yourself and don’t be afraid to speak your mind or to dream out loud."
I always get a litt4 ROADTRIP STARS! ★★★★
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“Just remember to always be yourself and don’t be afraid to speak your mind or to dream out loud."
I always get a little nervous picking up a book which has been highly rated because I'm a little afraid that I might not enjoy it as much as majority did or the fact that I go in with some high expectations. Well safe to say, I really enjoyed this read with the whole roadtrip idea, coupled up with a 'strangers to friends to lovers' premise and was close to being a winner for me. Sadly, there was something that I simply couldn't overlook which caused me to deck out 1 star overall :(
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The Edge of Never is the story of 21-year old Camryn Bennett, whose life seems rather messed up after a string of events starting from the death of her boyfriend to her family problems and the final straw being a huge fight with her best friend, Natalie. Tired of it all, Camryn decided to buy a one-way bus ticket to anywhere as long as she gets to escape the current life she leads. In a fateful encounter on the bus, she meets 25-year old, Andrew Parrish who is planning to visit his dying father in Wyoming.
What started out a strangers on a bus turned out to be something more for both of them as they embark on a journey of self-discovery in a roadtrip adventure after a twist of event.
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The idea of a roadtrip in a book definitely excites me & I can certainly say that I had a really good time reading all the tiny details of each place they visited & the crazy things Cam and Andrew did throughout their trip! I know the pace of the book came off a little slow in the first half and nothing much wow-ed me but I still enjoyed it for the most part. I liked seeing how their friendship slowly evolved and surprisingly, it didn't bother me that it was a slow buildup romance. Usually I take that as a good sign in a book because it doesn't make me want to skip the filler details.
“Live in the moment, where everything is just right, take your time and limit your bad memories and you'll get wherever it is you're going a lot faster and with less bumps in the way.”
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Loved both MCs and I was really happy when we get glimpses of Andrew's POV aside from them being mostly from Camyrn. I felt that it definitely allowed me to connect and relate to their actions, so there was no unnecessary need to feel of frustrated from my end.
What Cam and Andrew shared had brought on some beautiful moments and it really gives you something to think about living life in the moment. ♥♥
“The heart always wins out over the mind, The heart, although reckless and suicidal and masochist all on its own, always gets it way. The mind may be what's best, but I don't give a shit what my mind is telling me anymore. Right now, I want to live in the moment.”
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And now I reach the dreadful part of my review that explains why I had to deck out 1 star from my rating. I'll put it in a spoiler tag in case anyone hasn't read the book:
(view spoiler)[I was really enjoying the read up to the 90% mark until the author suddenly dropped the bomb twist of Andrew having a brain tumor. Just a disclamer: I'm not going to say I'm an expert in this illness but having witness my dad being diagnosed with brain tumor 2 years ago, I can sorta relate to this; so bear with me here.
It really didn't bode well with me that the author would downplay the seriousness of a brain tumor event. It is almost impossible that a person suffering from a brain tumor would have the capability to function as well as Andrew did throughout the entire roadtrip, especially if its at a critical stage (I'm assuming the case here since in the book, Asher told Cam that "the chances of survival were small").
The brain is literally one of the most vital functioning organ in the human body which has the power to control our emotions/senses/motor actions and a tumor that serious wouldn't have gone unnoticed in his behaviour to outside people.
Also it's true that seizures come alongside with the presence of a brain tumor which our neurologist then advised that it would be very unsafe for my dad to drive (other than the fact that the brain tumor made him lose focus easily). And the very fact that Andrew has been driving the entire time (and for long periods of time!) in this book pretty much means that he has been risking both his life and Camryn on the road. Uh so yeah, not sure how I feel about that after the bomb was dropped =\
The point is: Probably I would have appreciated it better if the author did some research before using brain tumor or any other illness for that matter. To drop a twist like that at 90% of the book killed the entire reading experience for me a little as it didn't made sense to me for what I've just read in the earlier 90% of the book :( I'm sorry but to me, this was something I simply couldn't overlook. (hide spoiler)]
However, I would really like to emphasize that the above point is a matter of a personal opinion and probably had I not know better, I believed I would have loved this read as much as everyone else :)
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Overall I still enjoyed and loved the read for the most part; it made me smiled, laughed and got me a little teary-eyed as I read Andrew's letter to Camryn.
“I think that if past lives are real then we have been lovers in every single one of them. I've known you for a short time, but I feel like I've known you forever.”
The ending may have been a little rushed for me, but probably this was done to allow Book 2 to play out more. Well not sure if I'll be reading Book 2 as I glanced through multiple mixed reviews and some DNFs for it. This may be the case of a book better off being a standalone but I can't really judge for sure ;) ...more
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