Scan barcode
shinypurplepants's review against another edition
1.75
I personally didn't like the writing, characters, or narration in this one. This book will resonate with those readers that genuinely believe Love(tm) is the only thing that matters. It is a highly romantic tale rather than a romance book.
Now for my very personal opinions in a Tangent:
I hated Vanessa and her stupid attitude. When you're almost 30 it's embarrassing to be so reckless and rebellious. She doesn't ever try to empathize with *why* the people around her are the way they are. She just thinks she's always right. It was so immature and annoying. She read very much like a YA protagonist.
Neither her nor Mark is a good romantic lead. The ending was so obvious and the conflict so obnoxiously contrived. I only finished because I wanted to know how Evelyn's story ended.
The prose was also very repetitive and simplistic. For the amount of actual content (plot and character development) this should have been 20% shorter. I also hated HATED how the blatant racism was magically solved off screen as soon as a Man stepped in. The fact everyone went along with it cannot realistically be ignored. This version of Paris is obviously bigoted toward Evelyn but NOPE GOTTA IGNORE THAT CAUSE THEY'RE SNOGGING UGGGHHHHHH. The more I think about it the angrier I get.
Final tangent!! I love romance books where two Fully Formed adult love interests find each other and choose to be together. The magic of True Love can be a feature but, for me, it being the only feature is off-putting and annoying. Vanessa has literally never been in love before. Why not have her time with Mark be a stepping stone rather than the End All Be All??? I hate this couple! They share good food in a romantic city and I'm supposed to believe they're a good realistic couple that should be married after three weeks? Yeah no thanks!! I don't think their spark was enough to last a vacation much less a lifetime!!!
Pass on this one!!
Now for my very personal opinions in a Tangent:
I hated Vanessa and her stupid attitude. When you're almost 30 it's embarrassing to be so reckless and rebellious. She doesn't ever try to empathize with *why* the people around her are the way they are. She just thinks she's always right. It was so immature and annoying. She read very much like a YA protagonist.
Neither her nor Mark is a good romantic lead. The ending was so obvious and the conflict so obnoxiously contrived. I only finished because I wanted to know how Evelyn's story ended.
The prose was also very repetitive and simplistic. For the amount of actual content (plot and character development) this should have been 20% shorter. I also hated HATED how the blatant racism was magically solved off screen as soon as a Man stepped in. The fact everyone went along with it cannot realistically be ignored. This version of Paris is obviously bigoted toward Evelyn but NOPE GOTTA IGNORE THAT CAUSE THEY'RE SNOGGING UGGGHHHHHH. The more I think about it the angrier I get.
Final tangent!! I love romance books where two Fully Formed adult love interests find each other and choose to be together. The magic of True Love can be a feature but, for me, it being the only feature is off-putting and annoying. Vanessa has literally never been in love before. Why not have her time with Mark be a stepping stone rather than the End All Be All??? I hate this couple! They share good food in a romantic city and I'm supposed to believe they're a good realistic couple that should be married after three weeks? Yeah no thanks!! I don't think their spark was enough to last a vacation much less a lifetime!!!
Pass on this one!!
ladyseven's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to enjoy this book so much. So so soooo much!
I added this book to my tbr last year convinced that I would love it. And this was its time to shine, to bring me out from one of my longest reading slumps in recent years.
It did bring me out from my reading slump, I automatically started something new but not for the reason I was hoping. I was in need of a... palate cleanser. yes, that. I needed to rub this book off of me.
Among the few this I did like about this book I would choose the aunties and their pack relationship as my top pick... I really liked them. I thought from the intro that Vanessa and her cousing would be like that too but I was wrong. None of her cousing ever show up again not even as a name drop or maybe one or two name drops but that's all. She has just 3 contacts in her new Paris phone??
I didn't enjoy anything else from this book either.
Vanessa is supposed to be 27 years old. She felt like a 15yo at best. She was dumb, inmature, entitled, opinionated, nosy and more. I couldn't connect with her at all. Not a problem in most cases, I've been able to read and enjoy books where I don't like or connect with the MC. This was not the case, probably because of the first person POV another reason could be the fact that I got to see first hand how hurtful her self-centered and egotistical ways were for everyone around her but she still chose to be like that because "stubborn is her character trait and she's not going to change that now".
The insta love was laughable. The magic power development and "resolution" was also laughable.
The fact that this bitch could live six months in Shanghai and learn 0 chinese words because she doesn't need other language than english?????
You're there to study!! If not to connect with your roots at least try to learn something to communicate more confortably with your teacher! She was happy to use her newly acquired boyfriend as translator for everything and as a personal chef. No wonder the author felt the need to give him a gambling problem (which was solved with the twirl of a magic wand and love). If not for that gambling issue this dude was perfect.
He can cook, draw, fluently speak at least 3 languages that we know of, he's tall, handsome, knowledgeable in art in various forms such as: painting, photography and architecture.
Whatever. I wanted a cozy, low stakes read and I got that.... I a way at least. Just not in the way I could enjoy and immerse myself in the read. This book was plagued with stuff that pulled me out of the story all the time. I'm sad and dissapointed with myself and this book for not liking it as much as I wanted to.
I added this book to my tbr last year convinced that I would love it. And this was its time to shine, to bring me out from one of my longest reading slumps in recent years.
It did bring me out from my reading slump, I automatically started something new but not for the reason I was hoping. I was in need of a... palate cleanser. yes, that. I needed to rub this book off of me.
Among the few this I did like about this book I would choose the aunties and their pack relationship as my top pick... I really liked them. I thought from the intro that Vanessa and her cousing would be like that too but I was wrong. None of her cousing ever show up again not even as a name drop or maybe one or two name drops but that's all. She has just 3 contacts in her new Paris phone??
I didn't enjoy anything else from this book either.
Vanessa is supposed to be 27 years old. She felt like a 15yo at best. She was dumb, inmature, entitled, opinionated, nosy and more. I couldn't connect with her at all. Not a problem in most cases, I've been able to read and enjoy books where I don't like or connect with the MC. This was not the case, probably because of the first person POV another reason could be the fact that I got to see first hand how hurtful her self-centered and egotistical ways were for everyone around her but she still chose to be like that because "stubborn is her character trait and she's not going to change that now".
The insta love was laughable. The magic power development and "resolution" was also laughable.
The fact that this bitch could live six months in Shanghai and learn 0 chinese words because she doesn't need other language than english?????
You're there to study!! If not to connect with your roots at least try to learn something to communicate more confortably with your teacher! She was happy to use her newly acquired boyfriend as translator for everything and as a personal chef. No wonder the author felt the need to give him a gambling problem (which was solved with the twirl of a magic wand and love). If not for that gambling issue this dude was perfect.
He can cook, draw, fluently speak at least 3 languages that we know of, he's tall, handsome, knowledgeable in art in various forms such as: painting, photography and architecture.
Whatever. I wanted a cozy, low stakes read and I got that.... I a way at least. Just not in the way I could enjoy and immerse myself in the read. This book was plagued with stuff that pulled me out of the story all the time. I'm sad and dissapointed with myself and this book for not liking it as much as I wanted to.
crafty_reader's review against another edition
3.0
Liked the first half- seemed like there was more potential to dive into the story. I wanted more from the tea shop.
taliabasma's review against another edition
super creative plot but it’s less romance forward so i am stoping now rather than later
madae's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
fishneys's review against another edition
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? Yes
3.5
feefie4o's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
leasummer's review against another edition
3.0
*Please seek out own voices reviews*
What I liked - the delicious descriptions of food, it made me so hungry, the Paris setting.
What I didn’t like - Vanessa is very whiny, I don’t know if this is an audiobook impression or if it also comes across in the text, she’s very immature and petulant.
Overall, it wasn’t that enjoyable. The HEA seemed forced and I was actually hoping it would just end. There was no exploring her feelings, just that she wanted love and didn’t want her gift.
What I liked - the delicious descriptions of food, it made me so hungry, the Paris setting.
What I didn’t like - Vanessa is very whiny, I don’t know if this is an audiobook impression or if it also comes across in the text, she’s very immature and petulant.
Overall, it wasn’t that enjoyable. The HEA seemed forced and I was actually hoping it would just end. There was no exploring her feelings, just that she wanted love and didn’t want her gift.
melanief's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
librarydancer's review against another edition
3.0
2 1/2 stars
Parts of this story were lovely, but a lot about the main character didn't add up. One example is how in the beginning of the book, the lead mentions how she is not a 'foodie' the way her cousin is, but then the book proceeds to spend a great deal of the rest of the story mentioning how much she revels in delicious, exclusive restaurants and meals.
I had a few issues with the book that totally took me out of the story, and lingered after I tried to continue.
The details of the food absolutely made me crave some delicious Chinese food. However, the ebook did not list recipes as some of the reviewers mentioned they had.
Parts of this story were lovely, but a lot about the main character didn't add up. One example is how in the beginning of the book, the lead mentions how she is not a 'foodie' the way her cousin is, but then the book proceeds to spend a great deal of the rest of the story mentioning how much she revels in delicious, exclusive restaurants and meals.
I had a few issues with the book that totally took me out of the story, and lingered after I tried to continue.
The details of the food absolutely made me crave some delicious Chinese food. However, the ebook did not list recipes as some of the reviewers mentioned they had.