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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I can't with this book. It's written in 1st person POV, but then they keep breaking the 4th wall and it just disrupts the immersion proces.
The author also re-does scenes from the other POV, which again disrupts immersion (hello, we just did that, why do I have to relive that scene again? If it added something, sure, but it's just a rehash of the same thing from someone else's POV. Not only is it annoying and boring, it also slows down the pace).
Lastly, the MC's weren't interesting. And the dialogue was especially bad.
The author also re-does scenes from the other POV, which again disrupts immersion (hello, we just did that, why do I have to relive that scene again? If it added something, sure, but it's just a rehash of the same thing from someone else's POV. Not only is it annoying and boring, it also slows down the pace).
Lastly, the MC's weren't interesting. And the dialogue was especially bad.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Next Worst thing by Sara Jane Woodley
Story – 3-stars
Narration – 4-stars
I listened to this audio book, narrated by Justis Bolding and Oliver Hunt. The narration was terrific, probably the best thing about the book itself. Sure, some folks talk about his narration of female voices, but in all honesty, I thought he did absolutely fine. I’d be happy to listen to more books narrated by them.
This story was a cute, totally clean Romcom-ish book. It was sweet and would make for a terrific beach read. There’s not much to the plot and the characters are obvious as to which ones you’re supposed to like and which ones you’re not. And like all romance novels, it has a guaranteed happy ending.
Beyond that, there wasn’t a lot to it. It was billed as an enemies-to-lovers romance, but the only enemy part was in her head. They never actually acted like enemies. At least he didn’t.
Ivy is running the family hotel and planning her brother’s wedding to the seemingly uninterested-in-actually-getting-married Eleanor, or Elle, or Lenore – depending on who’s talking. She knows her hotel business, but acts like a total, clutzy, ditz. Huge turn off for me. She’s well-educated and she’s running around like a dorky middle schooler. Great if we’re reading a book about a middle schooler, but we’re not. It fell flat.
James comes in, all confident and good-looking, and apparently attracted to his best friend’s sister. That’s fine and dandy, but their dialog was forced (all other women in the story were there just to flirt with James) and Ivy kept pushing him to admit to taking one of the women he’d literally just met, to the wedding as his date. Sigh.
There are several embarrassing situations where reading about them, or in my case, listening, was cringeworthy at best, but c’est la vie.
Any opportunities to create chemistry or tension between Ivy and James were cut short. Their double date – stopped, then talked about through narration in the next chapter. Perfect opportunity lost. In the middle and out of nowhere, a situation from school came up supposedly to explain why they were enemies (don’t think he ever got the memo on that). At that end, when his company tried to buy the family hotel from her grandparents, they said they had a plan, then we learned about it in the epilogue.
There was a lot of telling vs showing and could have really built up the romance. Instead, they ended up together because well – at one point, they each admitted to themselves that they liked the other, so that happened.
Side notes
I like that the POV changed from James to Ivy from chapter to chapter like many romance novels. To me, that’s a definite plus. Maybe I like getting into other people’s heads?
The story was cute, but definitely not deep or engaging.
The romance was squeaky clean – sweet, but no heat at all
Overall the story was ok. It was cute and I’d probably give this author another shot.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen and review this book!
Story – 3-stars
Narration – 4-stars
I listened to this audio book, narrated by Justis Bolding and Oliver Hunt. The narration was terrific, probably the best thing about the book itself. Sure, some folks talk about his narration of female voices, but in all honesty, I thought he did absolutely fine. I’d be happy to listen to more books narrated by them.
This story was a cute, totally clean Romcom-ish book. It was sweet and would make for a terrific beach read. There’s not much to the plot and the characters are obvious as to which ones you’re supposed to like and which ones you’re not. And like all romance novels, it has a guaranteed happy ending.
Beyond that, there wasn’t a lot to it. It was billed as an enemies-to-lovers romance, but the only enemy part was in her head. They never actually acted like enemies. At least he didn’t.
Ivy is running the family hotel and planning her brother’s wedding to the seemingly uninterested-in-actually-getting-married Eleanor, or Elle, or Lenore – depending on who’s talking. She knows her hotel business, but acts like a total, clutzy, ditz. Huge turn off for me. She’s well-educated and she’s running around like a dorky middle schooler. Great if we’re reading a book about a middle schooler, but we’re not. It fell flat.
James comes in, all confident and good-looking, and apparently attracted to his best friend’s sister. That’s fine and dandy, but their dialog was forced (all other women in the story were there just to flirt with James) and Ivy kept pushing him to admit to taking one of the women he’d literally just met, to the wedding as his date. Sigh.
There are several embarrassing situations where reading about them, or in my case, listening, was cringeworthy at best, but c’est la vie.
Any opportunities to create chemistry or tension between Ivy and James were cut short. Their double date – stopped, then talked about through narration in the next chapter. Perfect opportunity lost. In the middle and out of nowhere, a situation from school came up supposedly to explain why they were enemies (don’t think he ever got the memo on that). At that end, when his company tried to buy the family hotel from her grandparents, they said they had a plan, then we learned about it in the epilogue.
There was a lot of telling vs showing and could have really built up the romance. Instead, they ended up together because well – at one point, they each admitted to themselves that they liked the other, so that happened.
Side notes
I like that the POV changed from James to Ivy from chapter to chapter like many romance novels. To me, that’s a definite plus. Maybe I like getting into other people’s heads?
The story was cute, but definitely not deep or engaging.
The romance was squeaky clean – sweet, but no heat at all
Overall the story was ok. It was cute and I’d probably give this author another shot.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen and review this book!
slow-paced
3.5 * I had a harder time getting into this one, but I think it was just my mood. The book was good, except I didn’t love the ending.
I didn’t like the whole amped up argument and not letting the other explain themselves.
I also wanted Luke to really let Eleanor have it and instead she’s the one who broke his heart? That girl deserved a set down and I was mad she didn’t get it. She was awful.
I didn’t like the whole amped up argument and not letting the other explain themselves.
I also wanted Luke to really let Eleanor have it and instead she’s the one who broke his heart? That girl deserved a set down and I was mad she didn’t get it. She was awful.
It’s an ok read. The writing was fine, but the plot lacked. In the beginning it was a tad confusing considering the point of view was she’s cute and then the next point of view was I hate her? I think it jumped around too much for my liking
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened to audio for this one. It was a simple enemies to lovers trope that's an easy listen if you just want fluff. There were a couple of times that common idioms seemed to be used incorrectly, and that pulled me right out of the story every time. It was enjoyable, but I probably wouldn't reread.