Scan barcode
camillereadsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
andrea_author's review against another edition
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
annahamburger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Good entertaining read. Some elements missing to take it from good to great.
The good
- Dawson won me over as a character!
- The dialogue and banter was fun and helped grow the relationship
- The grouchy old man/father figure
- The goat that hates everyone but Dawson.
- The instalove/hate felt too much for the setting/situation.
- I felt like Tully served as a device to showcase Dawson. He could have been more fleshed out for me.
- This book had most of the elements that make a 4-5 star read for me, but suffered from "telling" me about them vs showing me.
- I wished I'd been shown more about the found family, instead Of Dawsons internal monologue telling me this conclusion after a time jump.
- Speaking of the timeline and jumps in time needed some finessing.
- Dawsons character and POV was about her and her growth. Tullys POV was about how he wanted and loved Dawson. He needed more character development.
The ???
- The pet name "legs" just didn't do it for me. Idk how he laid eyes on her and in like 1 Second decided that's what he was gonna call her...
- the possessiveness felt very "fated mates" during Tullys POV and out of place for this particular story.
- Especially bc there was no reciprocity of this possessiveness during Dawsons POV.
The bad
- The non communication of it all was okay but annoying to me as a plot device until the climax
- Idk how Dawson would believe what the creepy guy would tell her about Tully without asking or clarifying with him. And then not allowing him to clarify when he tried?
- In the epilogue the Link and Michaels significant others were referred to as their "women". But it felt so clunky. I recognize it was bc they are likely the characters of their own interconnected books, but it rubbed me wrong.
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Grief, and Classism
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
3.0
Steam level: contains open door spice
feralopossum's review against another edition
3.0
I like Dawson's grumpy character. But she was all over the place with liking/hating Tully. I couldn't keep track of her mood in any given scene.
Tully had insta love vibes, but didn't make a real effort when push came to shove. (Also how is his mom pro-Dawson, yet acts like she wasn't a part of the issue?)
Plot Issues
- Calling the coworkers by their cabin names half the time was confusing AF
lifeasmrsbaker's review against another edition
2.0
kateslovedreads's review against another edition
4.0
While reading Tinkering with Love, I had two different opinions about the beginning versus the ending. I really enjoyed the story line, however, the beginning did take me a while to get into to. I loved the banter and the setting, it just took me a little longer to read through. I think that came down to me just not having a lot of understanding of the characters until the second half. As I got into the background of Dawson and Tully, I began to feel truly absorbed into Rocky Falls. I read through the second half a lot faster
Side note: I loved how sweet Tully was with Dawson and that he could keep up with her stubbornness
brandece1's review against another edition
2.0
bookishneverland's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know if it's just the month of May, but it's been very hard to find books that really hook me. Tinkering with Love seemed like everything I'd love. Black FMC, breaking of gender norms. Slight enemies to lovers, but it just didn't hold my interest. To be completely honest, Tully creeped me out. Not once did he pump the breaks when it came to Dawson. The first 45% of the book was at a team-bonding retreat and I still don't understand the relationships of all the other characters' names.
There was something missing when I was reading Tinkering with Love. The secondary characters felt like an afterthought for much of the book and it was crazy 3 people given the most depth were at the very end of the story. The single mom and daughter and the grumpy old man.
There were so many throwaway details that could have been added to the plot but were discarded to the side. Personal details were given about both Tully and Dawson that seemed like they could affect the plot were never heard again.
Many people, will really love the grumpy girl/ sunshine boy. But Tinkering with Love had many flaws for me, and I couldn’t fully immerse myself in Rock Falls.
You could tell the writer has plans to have an interconnected series but unless the next book has been character growth. This series will not be for me.
mamas_gotta_read's review against another edition
4.0
I was given an ARC of this book by NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC. All opinions are my own.