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chai_and_books's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I don't know how I feel about this book. I've read one other book by Mia Sheridan and subconsciously I feel I kept comparing the writing and pacing of this book to that of Archer's Voice. The time jumps in between were confusing to keep up with: you start the next paragraph and suddenly two weeks had already passed by. The mmc was infuriating at times. Like, I understand that he was plagued by his past and that held him back but some of the things he did were so stupid I could not with him. I found the fmc to be okay. Nice but naïve. I really liked how her love for history was expanded upon and weaved in the story. But her love story was so so. And the ending- It came out of no where??? The mmc had a 180 degree personality flip in 5 pages. Yes, the author was building up to it (I think?) but it was so sudden. For no reason. But it may work as a good book you'd read to numb your mind and get out of a slump.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent
jtbooklover's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Simply a beautiful story of love, loss, and redemption. Fate truly bring Callen and Jessica together. Mia intertwines a story of Joan of Arc with the current story of Callen and Jessica beautifully. You can feel the love each character has for each other and fate truly finds a way.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence
izzyf16's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent
Minor: Death
bribreez's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
5.0
I’m convinced that Mia Sheridan has a magical touch with her books because, with each book I read I fall more in love with her and her characters, etc. From the very beginning with the prologue that introduced Jessica and Callen, I immediately felt a kinship with Jessica, and my heart went out to Callen. Mia has a way of reaching into your soul through her words, and captivating your entire attention, having you on the edge of your seat trying to anticipate where the story will lead to next. Fair warning, I’m going to be repeating myself by saying how much I fell in love with this book haha.
Immediately with the first few pages, I felt connected to Jessica. While I have never studied French, I did relate to her with her love for fairytales when she was younger. When I was a kid, I was always playing pretend and imagining myself with my own prince. I would get swept up in the make believe world I created just as Jessica did, and similarly I used the stories of fairytales to escape the reality of my life when I was a kid. Jessica was a sweetheart, and reading just a bit of her own life from those first few pages, I already knew in my heart I loved her. Even that first meeting with Callen, I was intrigued to see who the mysterious boy was, and who he’d become to Jessica. Reading about Jessica and Callen when they were kids was so endearing, and I loved seeing those little pieces of memories they created together.
The moment when Callen realized that Jessica was the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about, it made my heart swoon, but also be like, “why didn’t you recognize her earlier on??” Anyways, it was cute seeing Callen and Jessica jump back into the groove of their friendship, but also see how attracted they were to one another even after so many years apart. The chemistry between Jessica and Callen was palpable and fantastic! I adored the little glances, subtle moments that highlighted the love emanating between them. Once again, Mia Sheridan just knows the way to my heart, and the way she wrote Callen (as well as her other male characters from previous books) had me wanting to jump into the story, and have my own adventure with Callen.
While Callen was portrayed as a “bad boy”, that was only partly due to Callen restoring to vices such as, drinking and one night stands to blur the harsh memories of all the bad things he endured in his life. When Callen was reunited with Jessica, he rekindled his relationship with Jessica, but also rediscovered a part of himself from when he was a kid around Jessica. For Callen being the “serious, bad boy” type, I found it endearing how he was sometimes shy or slightly obsessed with Jessica with him waiting around all day for her (in other words he was a total sucker/ simp for Jessica).
This story gave me, “it’s always been you” trope vibes, with the way that Callen and Jessica were around each other, but also due to the fact that Jessica bought out a side in Callen that he hadn’t experienced in so many years. In addition, there was an immediate positive change in Callen that helped with his writer block for his music, and allowed him to feel a true sense of happiness that he always felt when being with Jessica.
This story was absolutely beautiful and heartfelt. The message embedded within the story was inspiring and one I will try to remember in my life from now on. I enjoyed how Jessica’s and Callen’s story was kind of interconnected to the history of Adelaide and Oliver. There was a vibrancy to this story that really made me reflect on my life as well as seeing how Jessica and Callen went about their own lives. Overall, I fell in love with this book and of course the epilogue was a sweet ending to Callen and Jessica’s story, fate truly did have a plan for those two and I couldn’t say enough lovelier things about this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Alcohol
ariana_m's review against another edition
emotional
tense
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
4.0
This was good! I enjoyed it. Jessie and Callen's buildup and formation of a relationship was cute. It was like a reverse save type of situation. Usually it's the guy who's saving the girl but this was the opposite. I feel like even though Callen was using alcohol and sex to help him with his issues, I feel like there was an undertone of addiction issues. I feel like that should have been addressed. Even though this is a book and not real life, I feel like just because a person who you care about walks into your life, that doesn't mean those issues just magically go away. Other than that this was amazing. I like reading this a lot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse