mariepv's review against another edition
4.0
Yo, that was sweet.
It’s funny though, the beginning of the book is very similar to the beginning of Verity by Colleen Hoover. I don’t know who wrote their story first but anyway… the story of both books couldn’t be farther apart. lmao
It’s funny though, the beginning of the book is very similar to the beginning of Verity by Colleen Hoover. I don’t know who wrote their story first but anyway… the story of both books couldn’t be farther apart. lmao
reads_emily's review against another edition
5.0
Paige Toon has done it again. I adored every minute of this book and I never wanted it to end. I have fallen in love with Paige’s writing and I’m going to read all of her books. If you haven’t read this one yet, it is a must read.
I loved Bridget’s character from the start, but she only got better. I won’t spoil anything, but it ended exactly how I wanted it to. Some people may not like that but I think it had a beautiful ending that made reading it worth every second it took.
I could’ve read this book in one sitting, but I knew from the start that I wanted it to last, so I put off finishing it for ages. I’m sure that I will be re-reading it very soon. This is the easiest five stars I have given in a long time - it was a no brained!
I loved Bridget’s character from the start, but she only got better. I won’t spoil anything, but it ended exactly how I wanted it to. Some people may not like that but I think it had a beautiful ending that made reading it worth every second it took.
I could’ve read this book in one sitting, but I knew from the start that I wanted it to last, so I put off finishing it for ages. I’m sure that I will be re-reading it very soon. This is the easiest five stars I have given in a long time - it was a no brained!
pizzabrot's review against another edition
3.0
Umm...sadly, this didn't convince me at all. This was supposed to be one of those guilty-pleasure books that make you feel all fluffy and warm and cute inside, right? That make you curl up in your bed and go "Awww" while reading and end up loathing your life for not having found your own personal love story yet. I mean, that's what every chicklit's goal should actually be! But this book, it didn't even come close. There was no single "Awww" moment in it for me (and I'm so easy to awe!), the book was certainly trying, but it was trying too hard. It wasn't bad by any means, it still doesn't reach the stupidity levels of The Hating Game (still looking for my review! It'll never come back, will it...), but oh my god, was it bland! I can't even make fun of it, that's how dull it was. The author's writing style didn't do anything for me and I don't understand where all the praise is coming from. What is everyone seeing that I can't see? I don't even know where to start with the review of this book. It was all so...impersonal, forgettable, shallow...and completely illogical! But I guess I'll begin with Charlie, the good old male protagonist in the book. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm just so happy how every chick-lit novel emphasizes the hotness of the protagonist's love interest because who cares about any other qualities he may or may not have. And trust me, I tried very hard to see his other qualities, I kept looking for them with a magnifying glass even, because there has to be something, something other than his body and so-very-special eyes. And I guess...he has a decent sense of humor? (wow, so unique and unheard-of) Eventually, that's all I could come up with; apart from the fact that he apparently doesn't seem to have any problems leaving his infant toddler with a practical stranger in the house. Sitters and play groups and neighbours and even his own mother often aren't allowed to take care of that baby, but hey, his wife's ghost writer he barely knows? YES PLEASE. Go ahead! Making sense is not this guy's strongest suit I suppose- but hey, at least he looks hot. Also, I still can't get over the premise of this book. So the main character is supposed to finish the dead author's book and everyone is just..okay with that, with the exception of the author's family? Who cares about the freaking readers, if my (invented) husband died I would tell them all to go to hell. And I definitely wouldn't let some random stranger into my house, read my husband's personal (!) diaries and take care of my baby. (Hot take: that baby was really annoying. I want to have babies in the future, but they have no place in books and this one in particular hogged all the screentime for herself. If I read the name April one more time or how cute her oh-so-adorable Chipmunk cheeks are...) What kind of agent lets another random unexperienced person finish a bestseller book series anyway, and that just based on blog entries alone? Am I being naive, do I really not understand how the world works or are those people in the book really not making any sense at all? And then we have our lovely protagonist, Bridget. Oh Bridget. What an annoying and straight-out dislikable main character. But Charlie describes her as an enigma, so it's all cool I guess. I suppose once again I'm just too stupid to see a character's countless impressive qualities. What bugs me the most: why on earth was she blogging about meeting her former boyfriends when she was also planning to sell a book about about them? She already wrote down everything about their histories and
the meet-ups on her blog, so there wouldn't have been anything left for her actual book. I don't get it?! What kind of grown-up person actually asks people to give them back a piece of their heart anyway? As if that's just a completely normal thing to say? I thought April was the baby in the book! Oh god, now that I think about it, so many things in this novel were just straight-out ridiculous. That woman is 34 and she fell head over heels in love with twelve men? I'm 24 and I haven't fallen that hard for even one! Granted, I may be an extreme example, but so is freaking twelve (!) men. I mean, I get where the name-calling was coming from and I'd love to repeat some of them, but only because I hate Bridget as a character so much. The way she threw herself at Charlie, just leave the poor guy alone. Eventually, he wanted to be left in peace! His wife hasn't even been dead for much more than a year, how about just...chill. You didn't get the memo all this time that he was into you, and now you're in a hurry to occupy him? I say occupy as if he was an island because she literally said that she wants to own his heart. Possessive much or just looking for a new heart transplant? The latter certainly couldn't hurt...Personality-wise, Bridget was one of the most boring protagonists I've encountered in a while, yet the ending of the book was straight-out something from Stalker Manual 101. I thought I couldn't believe my own eyes when I read this shit. This is a little spoiler, but after weeks of separation because Charlie didn't want to see her, she randomly appears in the guy's bedroom not only unannounced, but in the middle of the night. WHO DOES THAT?! And then the guy just proceeds to have sex with her? Like excuse me...What kind of insane world is that! Try imagening if the roles were reversed, if Charlie were a woman and a man would just be standing in her bedroom, wouldn't that just be super creepy? Oh wait, nevermind, that already happened in Twilight. Anyway, I seem to have to take back what I said earlier, the book may be boring as hell, but you still get enough content worth ranting about. So there's that. Still, three stars for a quick reading experience and because I tend to see the positive in every book. But this is definitely not guilty-pleasure material; it was too much lacking the pleasure. What a snoozefest.
the meet-ups on her blog, so there wouldn't have been anything left for her actual book. I don't get it?! What kind of grown-up person actually asks people to give them back a piece of their heart anyway? As if that's just a completely normal thing to say? I thought April was the baby in the book! Oh god, now that I think about it, so many things in this novel were just straight-out ridiculous. That woman is 34 and she fell head over heels in love with twelve men? I'm 24 and I haven't fallen that hard for even one! Granted, I may be an extreme example, but so is freaking twelve (!) men. I mean, I get where the name-calling was coming from and I'd love to repeat some of them, but only because I hate Bridget as a character so much. The way she threw herself at Charlie, just leave the poor guy alone. Eventually, he wanted to be left in peace! His wife hasn't even been dead for much more than a year, how about just...chill. You didn't get the memo all this time that he was into you, and now you're in a hurry to occupy him? I say occupy as if he was an island because she literally said that she wants to own his heart. Possessive much or just looking for a new heart transplant? The latter certainly couldn't hurt...Personality-wise, Bridget was one of the most boring protagonists I've encountered in a while, yet the ending of the book was straight-out something from Stalker Manual 101. I thought I couldn't believe my own eyes when I read this shit. This is a little spoiler, but after weeks of separation because Charlie didn't want to see her, she randomly appears in the guy's bedroom not only unannounced, but in the middle of the night. WHO DOES THAT?! And then the guy just proceeds to have sex with her? Like excuse me...What kind of insane world is that! Try imagening if the roles were reversed, if Charlie were a woman and a man would just be standing in her bedroom, wouldn't that just be super creepy? Oh wait, nevermind, that already happened in Twilight. Anyway, I seem to have to take back what I said earlier, the book may be boring as hell, but you still get enough content worth ranting about. So there's that. Still, three stars for a quick reading experience and because I tend to see the positive in every book. But this is definitely not guilty-pleasure material; it was too much lacking the pleasure. What a snoozefest.
lousnewchapter's review
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Infertility
bookishromance's review against another edition
3.0
3.5! I really don’t know where I stand with this book. I loved it at some points and at other times I just wanted the story to get on with it. I took abt 4 days to finish the book which is surprising because I never take that long but I also never thought to dnf it. I was very intrigued and I loved April even though the only word we get from her is ‘da’.
kiam's review against another edition
4.0
Another Paige Toon book that I absolutely devoured. I just love everything about her writing, the characters, the setting, the plot. Couldn’t put it down!
diadukai's review against another edition
5.0
I'm still emotional. This is now one of my favorite books. At first I wasn't on board with the idea of Bridget falling in love with Charlie, it was really obvious it was going into that direction. I still feel like it was too soon. The poor guy just lost his wife the previous year. But at the same time, it made it more real in a way. Sometimes I needed more details on certain things, and of course no book can be perfect, but what I'm sure of is I adored the characters and loved the book despite its flaws.
samantha_2023's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Infertility
chrissireads's review against another edition
4.0
Paige’s books are often filled with amazing characters and very strong female leads. I can’t really ask for more in a book like this one.
As with all of Paige’s books, characters turn up that you meet in other books. This time, we learn more about Bridget. Bridget is a travel-writer and she’s used to travelling the world. Bridget’s focus at the moment is her blog, where she’s recounting stories of meeting up with her ex-boyfriends to get the pieces of her heart back that she left with them. Bridget is back together with her first love and she’s determined to give all of her heart to him. Her agent likes her writing style and says it’s similar to another writer, Nicole. Unfortunately, Nicole has recently passed away. They want Bridget to write Nicole’s sequel to her highly successful book. If Bridget is successful, it will open the doors to her own book being published.
Bridget travels to Cornwall to meet Nicole’s husband. Nicole’s husband Charlie shows her the notes that she wrote for her sequel. Through reading Nicola’s notes, Bridget learns more about how she wanted the sequel to go.
Bridget finds that there are lots of similarities between her and Nicola, including feelings towards her husband, Charlie…
I absolutely warmed to Paige’s characters straight away. Bridget was fun and adventurous and often made me smile. Charlie was sweet and adorable with his baby daughter, April. I grew to love them both. Paige Toon sure knows how to write beautiful male characters. Charlie’s determination to bring up April made my heart swell. He was clearly struggling with juggling childcare, work and his grief. His story touched my heart.
This book is a great beach read and perfect for fans of women’s fiction. It has light humour but also a lot of depth between its pages. Yes, parts of it were predictable, but that really didn’t affect my enjoyment.
As with all of Paige’s books, characters turn up that you meet in other books. This time, we learn more about Bridget. Bridget is a travel-writer and she’s used to travelling the world. Bridget’s focus at the moment is her blog, where she’s recounting stories of meeting up with her ex-boyfriends to get the pieces of her heart back that she left with them. Bridget is back together with her first love and she’s determined to give all of her heart to him. Her agent likes her writing style and says it’s similar to another writer, Nicole. Unfortunately, Nicole has recently passed away. They want Bridget to write Nicole’s sequel to her highly successful book. If Bridget is successful, it will open the doors to her own book being published.
Bridget travels to Cornwall to meet Nicole’s husband. Nicole’s husband Charlie shows her the notes that she wrote for her sequel. Through reading Nicola’s notes, Bridget learns more about how she wanted the sequel to go.
Bridget finds that there are lots of similarities between her and Nicola, including feelings towards her husband, Charlie…
I absolutely warmed to Paige’s characters straight away. Bridget was fun and adventurous and often made me smile. Charlie was sweet and adorable with his baby daughter, April. I grew to love them both. Paige Toon sure knows how to write beautiful male characters. Charlie’s determination to bring up April made my heart swell. He was clearly struggling with juggling childcare, work and his grief. His story touched my heart.
This book is a great beach read and perfect for fans of women’s fiction. It has light humour but also a lot of depth between its pages. Yes, parts of it were predictable, but that really didn’t affect my enjoyment.