laviaenrose's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bibillieophile's review against another edition
3.0
It is not that bad actually. But yeah, I admit that the story is kinda boring but the diction on this book is sooo goooooooooooodd I love it so much. Well- maybe this book is trying to explain the beauty on the sadness, maybe (what).
krystaldiane's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't expect to like this one very much because I've never read anything that's Leav and one of my professors gave a not-so good feedback about her works during a discussion before. That's why my expectations were low. I've only started reading it last year because it was the only available in my friend's shelf that I found interesting at that time. Also, it was post-Odette time. No electricity and reception.
P.S. Was it a little dark for me that nobody really knew about the whole thing? hahahha I need therapy I guess.
P.S. Was it a little dark for me that nobody really knew about the whole thing? hahahha I need therapy I guess.
anahhs's review against another edition
4.0
OKAY. this was a very good reading experience for me!! i hadn't read a +300 page book in a day in a very loooong time (icr the last time even) and it felt soooo good to be able to do that and be carried away by the story and for that i am very thankful!!! thank you lang leav!!!!
However, a couple of things were a bit of miss for me:
1) audrey's work journey seemed unrealistic to me, are people out there really that lucky when it comes to job offers/their careers? her position in the agency also progressed way too fast imo. whenever a new advancement or promotion was mentioned, it would take me out of the story bc it was just that unrealistic to me (did she even retook those exams? lmao);
2) this one is coming from a VERY cynical person when it comes to love (i know, what am i doing reading lang leav's work in the first place lmao i couldn't tell you either!), i should add, so take this point with a huge grain of salt! BUT THE THING that bothered me the most was exactly how rad and audrey's love and love itself was portrayed, the madly in love, crazy stypid all consuming love to the point "even if it screws up your moral compass so you can't see right from wrong. (...) that's what love is." like, hello??? i could not believe my eyes when i read that! absolutely outrageous for my cynical pea brain lmao more than that, i just didn't like how the idea behind this is that that's the only way to live a fullfiling passionate love affair and/or relationship, completely invalidating the rest. i think i get what the author is saying but this is the type of ideas that makes me roll my eyes at this love discourse and 2.1) don't even get me started on the whole cheating plot- HATED EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT, probably the thing i hated most, quite honestly. once again, very personal opinion, i just can't justify the act, ever. just keep it in your pants, jesus. it only makes me dislike the idea in the previous point 2) even less bc it somehow "justifies" the cheating "oh we were so madly into each other, the moment was so intense we could not resist!" like grow up and take responsability, man;
3) didn't like how the protagonist had a thing with three different dudes throughout this story like, is she made of honey or something was that last dude really necessary lol i got the idea that if she hadn't met him she wouldn't have "flourish and found herself" which, funny enough goes against the whole "i need to leave this town and find myself" spiel, does it not? kind of disappointed that, in the end, she had yet another dude in love with her when the point was for her to find herself and grow lol i just wanted to see her ALONE, by herself with no man for A MINUTE! i thought in order to find yourself you weren't supposed to get caught in another fling and focus on yourself instead? maybe i am nitpicking at this point and being way too cynical when it comes to love in general lmao i really don't know why i keep coming back to lang leav's work, maybe subconsciously i want to believe her and share her love ideals...
i just needed to get that off my chest and with all of that said, i swear i enjoyed this book a lot!!! the writing flowed very effortlessly and it kept pulling me in! i had trouble staying away from the book which is why i finished this in a day! very engrossing book! i'll definitely continue to check out her work!!
However, a couple of things were a bit of miss for me:
1) audrey's work journey seemed unrealistic to me, are people out there really that lucky when it comes to job offers/their careers? her position in the agency also progressed way too fast imo. whenever a new advancement or promotion was mentioned, it would take me out of the story bc it was just that unrealistic to me (did she even retook those exams? lmao);
2) this one is coming from a VERY cynical person when it comes to love (i know, what am i doing reading lang leav's work in the first place lmao i couldn't tell you either!), i should add, so take this point with a huge grain of salt! BUT THE THING that bothered me the most was exactly how rad and audrey's love and love itself was portrayed, the madly in love, crazy stypid all consuming love to the point "even if it screws up your moral compass so you can't see right from wrong. (...) that's what love is." like, hello??? i could not believe my eyes when i read that! absolutely outrageous for my cynical pea brain lmao more than that, i just didn't like how the idea behind this is that that's the only way to live a fullfiling passionate love affair and/or relationship, completely invalidating the rest. i think i get what the author is saying but this is the type of ideas that makes me roll my eyes at this love discourse and 2.1) don't even get me started on the whole cheating plot- HATED EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT, probably the thing i hated most, quite honestly. once again, very personal opinion, i just can't justify the act, ever. just keep it in your pants, jesus. it only makes me dislike the idea in the previous point 2) even less bc it somehow "justifies" the cheating "oh we were so madly into each other, the moment was so intense we could not resist!" like grow up and take responsability, man;
3) didn't like how the protagonist had a thing with three different dudes throughout this story like, is she made of honey or something was that last dude really necessary lol i got the idea that if she hadn't met him she wouldn't have "flourish and found herself" which, funny enough goes against the whole "i need to leave this town and find myself" spiel, does it not? kind of disappointed that, in the end, she had yet another dude in love with her when the point was for her to find herself and grow lol i just wanted to see her ALONE, by herself with no man for A MINUTE! i thought in order to find yourself you weren't supposed to get caught in another fling and focus on yourself instead? maybe i am nitpicking at this point and being way too cynical when it comes to love in general lmao i really don't know why i keep coming back to lang leav's work, maybe subconsciously i want to believe her and share her love ideals...
i just needed to get that off my chest and with all of that said, i swear i enjoyed this book a lot!!! the writing flowed very effortlessly and it kept pulling me in! i had trouble staying away from the book which is why i finished this in a day! very engrossing book! i'll definitely continue to check out her work!!
bkjoap's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Plot twist at the end brought this books rating up for me! The theme that it’s okay to not be okay was real in this book. It was a quick and easy read.
jackystea's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
ckreads28's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This book and another book in September, even though I wasn't in love with them, I do think they had important themes. I will not be rating them, but it goes to show it's okay not to be okay. I hope these characters had growth at the close of this book.
cherrythepie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5