Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - The Spanish Love Deception

Reviews tagging Panic attacks/disorders

The Spanish Love Deception, by Elena Armas

10 reviews

tsar's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

“When I finally kiss you, there won’t be any doubt in your mind that it is real.”

When someone says that a certain romance novel has some of my favorite tropes: enemies-to-lovers and fake dating, I will devour them in a heartbeat without further thinking. Another plus point if it sets in a workplace environment as it's relatable to my status as a career woman. Thus, that's how I fell into the rabbit hole of The Spanish Love Deception, and I'm happy that it doesn't disappoint my expectations.

The novel revolves around Catalina Martins, a late 20ish career woman who struggles to find a fake date for her sister's wedding in her home country Spain, so she can avoid the family's assumptions about her single status. Without her expecting it, Aaron Blackford offers his hand to be her fake boyfriend; the cold and aloof work rival who 'hates' her existence in the office. Even more surprising, he has no ill-advised intention or secret agenda in his proposal. And while Lina stubbornly refuses his hand at the beginning, she might've realized that Aaron is the perfect choice for her desperate attempt to fool her rambunctious family.

In a fake dating or enemies-to-lovers trope, the narrative has a peculiar pattern to build the tension between the characters before they officially become a couple. We will see both of them slowly appreciate the gestures of one another and then fall in love, or one of the pairs is already in love, and they only have to wait for their fake date to be in love with them as well. It's a delicious theme that stands against the time, providing a mix of emotions from happiness to humor to the pain from assuming that they can't get the other to love them.

Armas learns this trope very well: she introduces the animosity between Lina and Aaron in their office, deliberately presenting that the hostile feelings are one-sided on Lina's side to the point where her best friend can see it herself. And it isn't just a silly hostility over something so minuscule but a justified reaction from Lina ever since she is indirectly shamed for her personality and ethics as a co-worker in the same place. Armas gradually conveys her characters a chance to relearn one another beyond their given perspective at their respective desks, allowing them to mend their misunderstandings and build mutual respect that is almost nonexistent at the beginning of the story. It's quite a slow process since Armas utilizes their changing perspectives not only to accelerate their romantic fall but also to influence their personality development, mainly the protagonist.

It turns fruitful in Armas' case. As the main protagonist, Catalina can be considered annoying—this is one point I've found from several readers and reviewers. Her stubbornness is almost beyond the norm, despite the fact that she isn't an arrogant person by any means. She's introduced to be mouthy and quick to assume, and they are mostly negative presumptions about someone else. However, as Armas forces Lina to open up more about herself due to having Aaron as her only ally during this fake relationship fiasco, she expands the backstory that impacts the headstrong attitude she exhibits in her work environment; a brown-skinned immigrant with constant pressure to prove herself in academic and career field that can strip her off of the public stereotypes, and the trauma she still harbors from a fatal incident that prompts her to move away from her home country.

Without counting Rosie as her best friend, it is a presumably lonely lifestyle in a city like New York. It shapes her independence and fear of incompetence, rebuffing help, especially from someone she genuinely dislikes. However, the all-around uncompromising personality is proven not to be the only thing that defines Catalina; Armas writes her to be capable of having fun and letting loose, owing to the familiar comfort of her family. Furthermore, she writes her to be skittish, numerously displaying uneasy gestures that indicate that her trauma from her hometown is not fully gone even after years of migrating to America. It's a dynamic character writing that Armas successfully appeals to in gouging the emotions of empathy, frustration, happiness, and support towards her main character. So, her initial 'annoying-ness' is perhaps justified, as I've stated earlier.

Armas' dynamic characterization also appears in Aaron Blackford's writing; he's introduced as a distant person, coming off as a straight arrow and guarded whose sole focus is only on his works. Even at times of uneasiness, Armas seems to be occupied in making his reactions so in control as if he's only slightly bothered about it. Yet, he has tender moments reserved personally for him and his loved ones, such as his love for Disney animated films, his surprisingly easy going interaction with Catalina's family, or the moment he can finally open up about his relationship with his father as well as his mother's death. However, the revelation of Aaron's 'new' side doesn't contribute much to his character development, unlike how it vastly opens up Catalina's shell. His personality still seems to be the same as his initial introduction in the first chapter, albeit he's a bit more sentimental. Maybe it's because we see him from Catalina's perspective in the narrative, so at the end of the day, his growth simply shows how much he's been in love with her for years.

Does that make their romance any less sizzling? It doesn't. As I've mentioned above, it is a slow-burn one between both of them, but it's a satisfying journey to watch Aaron and Catalina become head over heels with each other, from the way they mix some truths and lies in their fake romantic history to Lina's family to their sexual and romantic struggle not to jump each other—and their sexcapades? Gold. I was honestly hot and bothered when I read how Aaron keeps goading Lina every time they have intercourse.

Another highlight, which I could say is the most significant substory, is that Armas keeps it authentic in describing the workplace bigotry against Catalina. Her scuffle with the male co-workers in the office, particularly Gerald, is not only an example of sexism against a career woman who is in the potential position of a leader or an equal (both Catalina and Gerald are project team leaders), but it's also an example of racial aggression. She is a full-blooded Spanish immigrant living in America with a penchant for exploding to strings of Spanish sentences and hinted to have light-tan or brown skin color that will still consider her exotic in the eyes of men like Gerald. It's one thing that I can say to be realistic and painfully relatable examples for students or working adults who move from their countries to America.

And if there's one thing that I feel a bit disconnected with aside from Aaron's characterization is the numerous Spanish lines in the novel. I appreciate that Armas keeps the authenticity of her ethnicity alive in the book, but I also struggle to understand what Catalina says in Spanish because very few of them include a direct or paraphrased translation. I wish that Armas provides a glossary for all the words she uses, so readers can understand since not all of her global audience are familiar with the Spanish language.

As an author newly introduced to me, I am impressed with her debut. It's fun, sexy, and exhilarating. I am looking forward to seeing the follow-up of this book and her future releases!

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megcarrick's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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marveloustime's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

MY NEW FAVORITE BOOK 💞 I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT AND AARON BLACKFORD SUCH A BOYFRIEND AND HUSBAND MATERIAL HE IS 😩💗

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faitherslibrary's review

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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arthur_ant18's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

mollydollydoodah's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

An absolutely perfect read for Valentine’s Day <3 I couldn’t put it down, and I was absolutely in love with every character (except Daniel, gross).

Spoiler

I loved every little thing Aaron said to Lina, everything he did to show her how much he loved her, despite her stubbornness and refusal to believe it. Also, the spice scenes were on point. Absolutely fantastic ;)

I definitely recommend this novel, especially if you are looking for a fake-dating trope, because this is sure to be on the very top of the list for that trope. I absolutely loved it, and it made me physically laugh out loud several times. Highly recommend!

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astoryofpages's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

I've heard a lot of good things about this book and... it's a disappointment. The enemies-to-lovers trope wasn’t incredible, I didn't even feel like it was central to the story (unlike the fake dating one). The characters were just rude to each other which is quite annoying.

Lina was a bit childish and Aaron (who I liked at the beginning) completely changed his personality at 50% of the book. Everything was ✨miscommunication✨ and the difficulties Lina and Aaron had to face were swept away without real solutions.

The smut was weird and made me uncomfortable and the end was meh. I think the “sexism storyline” was too superficial, while it would have been really interesting if it has been explored with more depth. While the beginning was long, the end was completely rushed.

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navyaaa's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

This book infuriated the heck out of me. I have so many thoughts. When you read the description of this book you think, huh sounds like a cute little rom-com that will give us great characters and whatnot. I tell you that instead I got annoyed. Really annoyed. This is going to take a while.

First, The plot. No depth. I knew about 100 pages in how this book was going to end. Not even a little suspense was instilled. there was literally zero angst and tension or whatever. For me this was not a slow burn, this was a book being dragged out for about 200+ pages with zero plot or character development. Instead of being a brooding person if Aaron asked Lina out, this book would've ended like 20 pages in.

Second, The characters. One of the main reasons people seem to love this book is the character, Aaron Blackford. I understand why but we'll get into that a little later. Let's talk about Catalina first. When I started reading the book the beginning was cute. The typical fiery female main character who won't take shit from anyone. And then I hit the 100-page mark. I just wanted to hold Lina by the shoulders and shake some sense into her little brain because it was not working. She is blind as a bat when Aaron is like a heart-eyed emoji behind her. Lina could go hit a child and Aaron would say the child deserved it. The worst part is, Lina herself is like a 14-year-old kid. And no offense to anyone who relates to her but god I hated her as the book progressed. Then comes Aaron. this man has a tragic past and is googly-eyed for Lina from sentence one. I hated how the author did not even bother to give us the element of suspense with this. He is remembering little things about Lina that he has no business knowing. It's cute in the beginning and then it gets annoying and creepy. They have no chemistry or tension or any kind of real build-up to the things that go down between them. the side characters have literally no significance but to tell Lina how Aaron is perfect.

Spoiler

They go to Spain for Lina's sister's wedding which is why this book happens. Guess what? we don't get to see the wedding at all. AT ALL. And also, Aaron tells Lina the cheesiest most romantic lines and Lina just goes, This is not real he is just pretending.

Third, The writing. Super descriptive mediocre writing. but then the smut kicked in. God, it was so sudden. them being lovey-dovey was cute to read but the smut just made me cringe. except for the smut and extra extra long inner monologues of a woman who is immature and holding a grudge over the littlest thing, it wasn't all that bad. The problem for me kicked in when I started reading why Lina is so traumatized over relationships. It kind of negated it and disconnected Lina even further for me. It was super icky.

Spoiler

Also, compared to Aaron's tragic past, Lina's problems seem superficial to the reader. Especially after the cancer bomb was dropped twice on Aaron. Even the misogyny seems superficial.

This book was two-dimensional with a literally perfect male protagonist (it's actually a little creepy how this guy has no flaws at all.) and a literally annoying female protagonist. I see why people are obsessed with Aaron's character and I myself agree with people. The rest of the book? in my opinion, was about 250 pages too long and could've been written better. But, if you loved this book, good for you. For me, this is one of my worst-rated books and it's a bummer because I get the Aaron Blackford hype. If the author writes a book with Aaron and a female character that he actually deserves and one that deserves him, I would love that.

Content Warnings

bhavya_s_book_reads's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

“Mamá had taught me better than to leave things hanging over my head. Ignoring and waiting for them to go away on their own wasn’t the smart thing to do. Because they didn’t. Sooner or later—and just when you least expected them to—they’d fall off right on top of you, and chances were, they’d take you down with them if you let them.”

~ Rating- 1 star ~

Content/ Trigger Warnings- Sexism & Misogyny, Dieting & restrictive eating (causes mc to faint as she doesn’t eat for a day, possible eating disorder), Grief & loss depiction, Death of a parent, Fainting, Adult- Minor relationship (recounted), Panic Attacks (on page), Alcohol, Cancer, Bullying, Grief, Swearing & Cursing, Sexual Content (in detail)

Note- I have tried to include all the content warnings that I noticed, but there is no guarantee that I haven’t missed something.

-No Mention of these in the review-

This review has mild spoilers. It is my subjective option. Feel free to disagree and comment respectfully! Hate comments will not be acknowledged and will be blocked.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"One didn’t need to be young for their life to change in the span of an hour, a handful of minutes, or nothing more than a few seconds. Life changed constantly, wickedly fast and terribly slow, when one least expected it to or after a long time of chasing that change. Life could be turned around, inside out, backward and forward, or it could even transform into something else entirely. And it happened regardless of age, but most importantly, it didn’t care for time. Life-altering moments spanned from a few seconds to decades. It was part of the magic of life. Of living."

The Spanish love Deception is a book everyone must have heard about at least once this year (unless you are living under a rock, or are staying away from romance altogether, in which case good for you, and forget you saw this review). This book was released in February 2021, but already has 81,378 ratings and an average of 4.21 star rating (as of November 2021) on GoodReads, which is pretty high, especially for a new release. The Spanish Love Deception was showing up on my feed almost every day, which is why I picked it up in August (yes I know my review is going up 3 months later, don't call me out). I read it through kindle unlimited when I was going through stressful times, so it was a good break, but that's unfortunately all the praise I have.

So, was The Spanish Love Deception good? Well, according to everyone it was wonderful and the best book they ever read. According to me? I don't know. Majority clearly wins, so ignore my opinion and give this book a read if you want to. I didn't like The Spanish Love Deception. Actually, that's a lie. I was entertained while reading the book, but there's nothing about it that made me want to give it more than 1 star. I know most people are expecting me to rant and write a long review as to why I hated it, but frankly I don't care about this book enough to do that. I know that sounds harsh, but when I sat down to write this review I had so idea what to say. Still, I'll try. I'm lying again, this is very long and I've hit the character limit.

"Because life wasn’t ideal. It turned and bent. It spun you out for a minute and swung you right back in the next."

The Spanish Love Deception was... ok? It's almost 500 page contemporary. I even hesitate to read fantasy books that are so long. Its not because I find long books boring, I've willingly read books as long as Game of Thrones and then I gave it 2 stars, but that's besides the point, so long books aren't an instant turn-off for me.

My issue is that if I am going to sit through and read such a long book, it should be worth the read. There should be angst and yearning. There should be character development but the characters have to have a personality to begin with for that. There should be chemistry between the characters. There should be a proper plotline. The side-characters should be well developed, and not props that the MC only remembers when they need something. The Spanish Love Deception, according to me, had none of this, it was a book that fell flat on most things that make a good book. But I am in the minority, keep that in mind. I will acknowledge that I am not exactly the target audience, as I am a teenager and this is an adult romance, but since romance is one of my favourite genres, I guess that doesn't apply.

So, let's break this down.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

“We just try our best, even when, often, our best is not good enough. Blaming yourself now is not going to change the past; it’s only going to take away energy that you should be spending in the present. And look where you are now; you are here. It’s not too late.”

Catalina Martìn needs a fake date in a month for her sisters wedding in Spain. Catalina lied to her family and told them she has a boyfriend, as the groom's brother is her ex and she does not want to go alone and face everyone's judgment. Her coworker, Aaron Blackford, offers himself up as her fake date for her sister's wedding. The only problem? Aaron is her nemesis and number one enemy. Will Catalina get over her ego and go to Spain with Aaron, the boy who is obviously in love with her and spare us some unnecessary torture? Will Catalina be able to overcome her inner prejudices and go to Spain with Aaron, and maybe find love along the way? Of course she will, that's how romance books work.

“Only the truth. The reality. We weren’t friends. We barely tolerated each other, Aaron Blackford and I. We were spiteful to each other, pointed out each other’s mistakes, criticized how differently we worked, thought, and lived. We condemned our differences. (...) I wasn’t the only one driving along Hate Boulevard. It was a two-way road. Not only that, but it had actually been him, the one causing our fallout. I hadn’t started this feud between us. So, why? Why was he pretending to offer me help, and why would I humor him by even considering it?”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

➼The plot

The plot of The Spanish Love Deception was... not that great. It dragged a lot, the pacing was quite off, and it is a very typical kind of romance book. Basically, writing a 500 page book just about a love-story is not enough. There has to be something more.

"Because Aaron was right. Finding a date in such a short amount of time was perhaps a little optimistic. Believing I’d find someone to pretend to be my made-up boyfriend was probably delusional. But accepting that Aaron was my only choice and taking him up on his offer? That was straight-up insanity."

The first half of the book dragged a lot. It takes about 200 pages for Lina to agree to go to Spain with Aron for her sisters wedding, and that's not a spoiler as its obvious from the burb. Then when they go to Spain, we don't get to see the wedding. Yes, you heard that right. WE DO NOT GET TO SEE THE WEDDING. The whole purpose they were going to Spain was the wedding, and we get scenes before and after, but not the wedding itself. That was disheartening, as one of the reasons I was so excited to read this was so I could read a wedding set in Spain. I decided not to tag this as a spoiler, because I don't want people to have wrong expectations before going into the book, like I did.

"Your family loves you, and that’s a kind of bond you can’t force. It’s a kind of love one doesn’t find anywhere else. It can be overwhelming, but that’s only because it’s always honest."

Apart from all this, the plot entirely lacks depth. While it explores some social issues like facing discrimination at work as a women from STEM, being in a toxic relationship in the past etc well, it falls flat due to the fact that there's nothing going on except the romance. This would have been fine had the book been shorter, but the higher the page count the more I am expecting from a book.

➼The writing

The writing for this book was ok. I liked quite a lot of quotes, but I wasn't a fan of the way the characters communicated in certain scenes (specifically the ~steamy~ ones). Sometimes the dialogue came off cringey and cliché, but since this is a debut I do think there is scope for improvement.

"I couldn’t know how or why. Didn’t even have the slightest idea. And wasn’t that part of the mystery of life? Part of what made it breathtakingly exciting? Unexpectedly beautiful? We couldn’t control and tame emotions to our convenience."

The paragraphs were defiantly long and wordy, and hyphens were used a lot. There are a lot of word repetitions (no, I did not make a list this time) I also think this book would have been better as dual POV. I am hoping Elena Armas's work gets better, as I do think they have potential, though I don't know if I will read more by the author.

➼The characters

➡Catalina (Lina)

Lina is our main character, and the one who's perspective we are stuck in. Lina's inner monologue was repetitive at times, which is understandable as there is literally no plot, so her thoughts only comprise of Aaron Blackford, his abs and his blue eyes. I found Lina annoying. I could tolerate her in some scenes, and was also sympathetic to her situation, but she really dug her own grave with the number of lies she kept telling. It was difficult for me to keep excusing her behavior.

“So, was it that silly of me to want to stand there and look good? Not just fine. Not just getting by. To everyone watching, I wanted to look complete. Beautiful, flawless, unaffected. I needed to give the impression that I had my life back on track. All figured out. Happy. With a man on my arm. Objectively, I knew how dumb all of it sounded, how much I shouldn’t be measuring myself in terms of having a man, looking thinner, or having clear skin. But, God, I knew that was what everybody else would be doing.”

Lina is also an adult, but I didn't feel like that while reading. Lina is not that mature for her age, and sounded like an angsty teenager. I found her perspective boring and sometimes tiresome to read. I also didn't like the way most of the conversations she had with her friends and family were about Aaron (more on this later). I wish Lina's character had a bit more depth.

➡Aaron

I know people are going to come after me with pitchforks when I say this, but I'm not a huge fan of Aaron Blackford. Yes, yes I get why people like him. He is the typical 'brooding love interest who is misunderstood and has a tragic past'. Such characters show up in almost every book, and unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of this trope (Declan Murphy will always be the exception).

“Aaron didn’t do nonsense. He pointed out facts; he stated verifiable truths. He had been disciplined to do that, just like every other engineer in the consulting company where we worked, me included.”

Aaron is alright. I'm quite indifferent towards his character. He does have some likable qualities. I also found him more interesting than Lina, and wish we got some chapters from his perspective. I don't really have much to say about Aaron.

“I’ve never been scared to work for something, Catalina. Even when all odds are against me.”

Of course, some things about him got on my nerves, like the way he knew so many details about Lina and her life, due to him 'eavesdropping' conversations as Lina 'talks too loud'. It was cute in the beginning, but eventually I found it kind of creepy. I also didn't like the moment he started calling Lina 'baby'. It was awkward to read. I'm quite neutral towards Aaron otherwise, but I defiantly don't think he is the best love interest ever or something along those lines, but I'm happy for you if you liked his character!

➡The side-characters

The side-characters did not play any major role in the story. Their only purpose was for Lina and Aaron to have romantic moments, and it was beyond infuriating. SC's are not there just so the main characters can use them to their convenience. SC's deserve their own stories and characters apart from the MC's, and no-writing another book with them as the MC will not excuse their lack of personality in the main book.

“every person is different. We all have our own pace to put back together our lives after going through something like that. Some people need more time than others. And if you haven’t managed to get there yet, then there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

I was so immensely disappointed with this, as this book had more than enough page time to incorporate the side-characters own arc well. Rosie is Catalina's best friend, but the only times she shows up is so she can tell Lina that Aaron is totally in love with her, or so that Lina can gush or rant about Aaron. Her only purpose is be Lina's support system when something goes wrong. She doesn't have a life apart that, as Lina never bothers being a good friend and asking about Rosie's problems. In fact, Aaron found out that Lina needed a date for through her conversations with Rosie (not a spoiler, happens in first chapter). It was irritating.

Lina's family also plays a similar role for the most part, where majority of what they say makes Lina realise how much of a good person Aaron is. All this would have been fine if the side-characters had personalities and arcs apart from the romance, but since they didn't, it was vexing.

➼The Romance & The Relationship

Lina and Aaron are an ok couple, but I never saw chemistry between them. I also don't think they will be compatible in the long run, but that's just my personal opinion. The thing about them that bothered me the most was that they were so entirely dependent on each other. Every single scene was about Aron and Lina and developing them as a couple.

“You always find a way to catch me completely off guard. And that’s not something many people can do.”

Lina flew to Spain for her sisters wedding, and yet we don’t get her bonding with her family much. The entire thing was about Aron. Its all about Lina and Aron, Lina and Aron, Lina and Aron. They also don’t have any character development apart from their relationship. If I’m reading a 500 page book, character development is the bare minimum. It also isn't really enemies to lovers, more like sort-of-rivals-to-lovers. As a whole, I'm not a huge fan of their romance.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

➼Tropes in the book-
➡Slow-Burn
➡Rivals-to-Friends-to-Lovers
➡Office Romance
➡Fake Dating
➡Only One Bed

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"I was over Daniel. My singlehood had nothing to do with that. I simply … struggled to trust somebody enough to give myself completely. I managed to keep myself one or two feet from anything that had the potential to hurt me. And that always ended one of two ways. I either walked away, or I was the one who was walked away from. But at least, I did come out of it wholly."

Overall, The Spanish Love Deception was obviously not for me. However, I did enjoy reading a bit and would recommend it if this interests you.

"In the real world, there was a consequence to every decision I made. To every choice that I ever took. A perfect world where life happened neatly and ideally didn’t exist. Life was messy and often hard. It did not wait for anybody to be ready or to expect the bumps on the road. You had to grab on to the wheel and steer your way back to your lane. And that was all I had done. That was what had brought me to where I was. For better or for worse."

Review written & uploaded on 14th November 2021.

P.S.-I tried a new reviewing format, would love feedback! This took me 3 hours to write. BR with Mariem!

Storygraph Review. Storygraph. Spotify. Youtube. Pinterest. Linktree.

DISCLAIMER-All opinions on books I’ve read and reviewed are my own, and are with no intention to offend anyone. If you feel offended by my reviews, let me know how I can fix it.

How I Rate-
1 star- Hardly liked anything/ was disappointed
2 star- Had potential but did not deliver/ was disappointed
3 stars- Was ok but could have been better/ was average / Enjoyed a lot but something was missing
4 stars- Loved a lot but something was missing
5 stars- Loved it/ new favourite

.....................................

Lowering to 1 star. RTC.

......................................

2.5 stars maybe. This was entertaining, but it didn’t need to be long. This is probably the first time I’ve read an almost 500 page contemporary book. This was super hyped up so I was expecting something better, and while it didn’t disappoint, it didn’t blow my mind either. Review to come soon.

Content Warnings

hide4's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

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