kassidyreads's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Abandonment, Body shaming, and Racism
sarah984's review
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This was a very weird book experience for me. I thought the concept of a group of teenage girls working together on a high seas heist sounded fun and exciting, but unfortunately somehow not much happens. The characters are all kind of bland and same-y (except that one had this constant low key racist mental monologue going on, which was kind of weird for a character who was clearly meant to be sympathetic) and a lot of things are glossed over. The characters made inexplicable decisions and the use of real people felt borderline disrespectful, particularly matron Wallis and Phillips.
Spoiler
(why would seeing a scary guy heading your way make you decide to get out of the life boat?????)Spoiler
(who steals something from one of the girls for no reason)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Confinement
Minor: Body shaming, Classism, Misogyny, Racism, and Abandonment
novelty_reads's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
sad
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? No
2.0
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
When someone mentioned the words "heist" and "the Titanic" in the same sentence, I just knew I had to read A Million to One.
I was immediately drawn to the premise. Having read this author's debut, The Henna Wars and having enjoying that, I was sure this book would be a delight. You should've seen me when I got the e-galley copy, I was over the moon and excited to start reading.
Unfortunately, this seemed to be a case where the concept didn't match up with the execution.
The book follows four girls, con artist and leader of the group, Josefa, circus performer, Hinnah, actress, Violet and aspiring artist, Emilie who board the Titanic to steal a rare and priceless book, The Rubaiyat from one of the First Class passengers. I was expecting a fast paced novel, high stakes and a slow romantic build up (since I knew there would be a sapphic pairing months before reading). But unfortunately, this book didn't live up to my expectations.
For starters, I had a few issues connecting with the characters. With Josefa, from the very start she annoyed me for some reason, and the way she was trying to get the girls to join her on her heist for the Rubaiyat just irked me. If you're trying to get someone to join you on a dangerous mission, especially when two of the said people joining you, you've never really talked to before, please sell their part in the mission as more than just "we need you, I've seen the work you do, there is nobody else in the world who can do [blank] as well as you can!" I don't know... if I were those girls I think I would've refused straight away. It takes a lot of trust and loyalty to a person to literally put your life on the line for them and for them to do so, and so willingly for someone they could classify as a stranger didn't really make sense to me. Even though the backstories were revealed as to why they were willing to go on this heist, to me, it didn't seem justifiable enough, especially for some of the other characters.
I didn't mind Hinnah and Emilie's characters but I still didn't feel connected to them despite the elaborate backstories about their personal lives. Violet was probably the character I connected to the most and even that is a far stretch. She had a brother she left in Croatia who she was trying to help and support as much as she could and I could see that desperate love in every chapter in which she mentioned Marko. But that being said, there were a few parts to her character that I didn't understand. She seemed to be very prickly towards Emilie for no real reason and it seemed like a petty sort of hatred, kind of like the two girls were pitted against each other for no other reason than dramatic purpose. At one point I thought how cool it would be if Violet and Emilie ended up in a relationship together as an enemies-to-lovers/grumpy-sunshine couple, having to work together against all odds to steal the Rubaiyat. The drama would've made more sense then, but unfortunately no reasoning apart from an annoyance at having an amateur con artist to help execute the heist, was used to justify Violet's unfair treatment towards Emilie.
Being a high stakes book featuring a heist, I would've expected the book to have been quite fast paced and action packed. The book however, followed a rhythm which looked something like 200 pages being on developing the characters and letting the reader in to their backstories and the last 74 pages being fast paced as the plot (and Titanic's unfortunate fate) played out which arguably was the most adrenaline filled part. I wished the high stakes and suspense of whether their plan would succeed or fail was continued throughout the entire book because by the time the book picked up the pacing, I just wasn't interested anymore. Because the start of the book fell so flat, I found I wasn't as emotionally invested in August's pursuit of the girls and the ultimate fate of their heist and their lives. When the ending occurred, while it was sad, I was so disinterested that the emotional aspects of the books didn't pack an emotional punch as much as I would've liked.
Now onto the romance. I felt like it was rushed. The two girls wanted to get to know each other and they already had some feelings developed before the events of the book, but the romance felt incredibly surface level without a desired build up of chemistry or romantic tension which I hungered for. I must admit though, the epilogue was very cute and it actually was the best part by far of the entire book.
The other aspect of note was that I never felt truly transported to the world of 1912 Ireland and the Titanic. The setting was never really prominent not when the girls were still living in their Irish boarding house nor when they were on the Titanic among more wealth than they have ever seen in their lives. Considering these girls came from poverty and from the poorer areas of Ireland, I would've expected more emphasis on the decadence of the Titanic to create this sort of fantasy-like dream of a ship, but that historical allure was barely there at all and I felt the remnants of a missed opportunity here.
All in all, I really wanted to love this book, it was a hotly anticipated novel for me but it unfortunately fell flat a bit with the pacing, romance, characters and setting. I do see a lot of things other readers may like, after all, a book sometimes isn't for everyone. Sadly, that is the case with me and A Million to One.
ACTUAL RATING: 2 STARS
When someone mentioned the words "heist" and "the Titanic" in the same sentence, I just knew I had to read A Million to One.
I was immediately drawn to the premise. Having read this author's debut, The Henna Wars and having enjoying that, I was sure this book would be a delight. You should've seen me when I got the e-galley copy, I was over the moon and excited to start reading.
Unfortunately, this seemed to be a case where the concept didn't match up with the execution.
The book follows four girls, con artist and leader of the group, Josefa, circus performer, Hinnah, actress, Violet and aspiring artist, Emilie who board the Titanic to steal a rare and priceless book, The Rubaiyat from one of the First Class passengers. I was expecting a fast paced novel, high stakes and a slow romantic build up (since I knew there would be a sapphic pairing months before reading). But unfortunately, this book didn't live up to my expectations.
For starters, I had a few issues connecting with the characters. With Josefa, from the very start she annoyed me for some reason, and the way she was trying to get the girls to join her on her heist for the Rubaiyat just irked me. If you're trying to get someone to join you on a dangerous mission, especially when two of the said people joining you, you've never really talked to before, please sell their part in the mission as more than just "we need you, I've seen the work you do, there is nobody else in the world who can do [blank] as well as you can!" I don't know... if I were those girls I think I would've refused straight away. It takes a lot of trust and loyalty to a person to literally put your life on the line for them and for them to do so, and so willingly for someone they could classify as a stranger didn't really make sense to me. Even though the backstories were revealed as to why they were willing to go on this heist, to me, it didn't seem justifiable enough, especially for some of the other characters.
I didn't mind Hinnah and Emilie's characters but I still didn't feel connected to them despite the elaborate backstories about their personal lives. Violet was probably the character I connected to the most and even that is a far stretch. She had a brother she left in Croatia who she was trying to help and support as much as she could and I could see that desperate love in every chapter in which she mentioned Marko. But that being said, there were a few parts to her character that I didn't understand. She seemed to be very prickly towards Emilie for no real reason and it seemed like a petty sort of hatred, kind of like the two girls were pitted against each other for no other reason than dramatic purpose. At one point I thought how cool it would be if Violet and Emilie ended up in a relationship together as an enemies-to-lovers/grumpy-sunshine couple, having to work together against all odds to steal the Rubaiyat. The drama would've made more sense then, but unfortunately no reasoning apart from an annoyance at having an amateur con artist to help execute the heist, was used to justify Violet's unfair treatment towards Emilie.
Being a high stakes book featuring a heist, I would've expected the book to have been quite fast paced and action packed. The book however, followed a rhythm which looked something like 200 pages being on developing the characters and letting the reader in to their backstories and the last 74 pages being fast paced as the plot (and Titanic's unfortunate fate) played out which arguably was the most adrenaline filled part. I wished the high stakes and suspense of whether their plan would succeed or fail was continued throughout the entire book because by the time the book picked up the pacing, I just wasn't interested anymore. Because the start of the book fell so flat, I found I wasn't as emotionally invested in August's pursuit of the girls and the ultimate fate of their heist and their lives. When the ending occurred, while it was sad, I was so disinterested that the emotional aspects of the books didn't pack an emotional punch as much as I would've liked.
Now onto the romance. I felt like it was rushed. The two girls wanted to get to know each other and they already had some feelings developed before the events of the book, but the romance felt incredibly surface level without a desired build up of chemistry or romantic tension which I hungered for. I must admit though, the epilogue was very cute and it actually was the best part by far of the entire book.
The other aspect of note was that I never felt truly transported to the world of 1912 Ireland and the Titanic. The setting was never really prominent not when the girls were still living in their Irish boarding house nor when they were on the Titanic among more wealth than they have ever seen in their lives. Considering these girls came from poverty and from the poorer areas of Ireland, I would've expected more emphasis on the decadence of the Titanic to create this sort of fantasy-like dream of a ship, but that historical allure was barely there at all and I felt the remnants of a missed opportunity here.
All in all, I really wanted to love this book, it was a hotly anticipated novel for me but it unfortunately fell flat a bit with the pacing, romance, characters and setting. I do see a lot of things other readers may like, after all, a book sometimes isn't for everyone. Sadly, that is the case with me and A Million to One.
ACTUAL RATING: 2 STARS
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Grief, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Abandonment, Racism, and Violence
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