Reviews

The Holiday Cottage by the Sea by Holly Martin

lauribooks's review

4.0

Es un 3,5.
Me ha gustado mucho, es una lectura muy ágil y muy tierna.
Considero que hay instalove en esta novela y normalmente no me gusta porque me parece poco realista y suele estar mal hecho, pero en este caso ha funcionado para mí. No sé muy bien por qué pero no me ha importado y la relación entre los protagonistas me ha parecido especialmente bonita.
Aun así, hay un par de cosas con las que no estoy de acuerdo y voy a comentarlas. La primera es que me ha faltado un epílogo. La historia se acaba de forma muy abrupta y sé que en los siguientes libros seguiremos leyendo sobre estos personajes y sabremos qué va pasando en su vida, pero me hubiera gustado echar una mirada al futuro.
Y la segunda y la que me ha hecho poner los ojos en blanco y pensar “otra vez esta frase de mierda” es que Aidan le dice a Tori que las mujeres suelen reunirse a cotillear pero que como a ella le gusta hacer skate y origami no es como las otras chicas, repito NO ES COMO LAS OTRAS CHICAS. Cada vez que leo esa frase en un libro me dan ganas de tirarlo por la ventana porque parece mentira que sigamos con esta estupidez.
Por suerte, solo lo dice una vez y no vuelve a tocar el tema ni de refilón, pero aun así sigo pensando que eso sobraba.
Centrándome en lo bueno, me ha encantado la ambientación. Ese pueblecito perdido en la nada de Inglaterra me ha parecido fabuloso, y me hubiera gustado conocer un poco más la historia del pueblo y de alguno de sus habitantes. También me hubiera gustado que se hablara más de la recolecta de esas fresas, de su proceso, de que se hace con ellas después, cómo se tratan, por qué tienen esa forma... simplemente me hubiera gustado saber más. Los personajes están bien, no me han deslumbrado pero tampoco los he aborrecido, y me he quedado con muchas ganas de conocer las historias de Isla y Melody. Tengo muchas ganas de continuar con la serie.

houseofbooksandcaffeine's review

2.0

Not Ms Martin's greatest work

I've really enjoyed some of her other books, and there were parts in this novel that made me smile and laugh, but I don't think I've cringed so much during one book before. Details about relationships were painful and very forthcoming. Think I'll reread One Hundred Proposals instead.

thorn_n_thistle_reads's review

5.0

Heart-warming, emotional and hillarious at times. I've loved listening to the audio if this book.

aminakara's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

hainyh's review

3.0

Holly Martin’s ‘The Holiday Cottage by the Sea’ is about Tori Graham, who moves from the hustle and bustle of London to a sleepy little village by the sea called Sandcastle Bay. As you would often expect from a book of the chick lit genre, Tori has a lot of hang-ups about finding love, and is simply heading away for a holiday, with no intention of finding love. Alas, she meets Aidan and feelings develop, and love blossoms. It’s a lovely easy read with a feel good plot and happy ending, so is great as a stand-alone book. However, if you’ve read any of Holly Martin’s previous books then I would sincerely suggest not to bother. Each of Holly’s books have interchangeable names and places, but otherwise the plots are pretty much identical, in such a way that if you’ve read one of her books then you’ve read them all.

bookishexpat's review

funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No

3.0

anwesha_rc's review

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

abedford's review

2.0

Look. I think there's an audience for this book but it isn't me. Many eye rolls.

kacieb's review

5.0

After seeing so many people read this book I was a a bit scared to read it just in case I didn’t think as highly as everyone else. That was certainly not the case, I really loved this book and I think a nice holiday cottage by the sea Is the perfect escapism that everyone needs at the moment. This book was such a fun and easy read and I flew through this within a couple of days.

Tori goes away on holiday to see her old friends and when she gets there, her fate is decided. She will marry Aidan Jackson. Tori is just going down to sandcastle bay for friendly catch ups and berry picking but other plans were made and she definitely wasn’t mad about it.

When reading this book I fell in love with both Tori and Aidan, Tori shows us that you don’t need a man to live and shows the heartbreaking reality of what it is like to trust a man who is completely new when your heart has been torn apart by men before. Aidan is a true gentleman and I’m so happy that Tori regained her trust and put it all into Aidan.

I would recommend this book to those who need a good excuse for a distraction from the world we are in today and those who want to laugh out loud.

I completely absorbed this book. I was laughing hard one minute and had tears brought to my eyes the next. This book was completely brought to life and I definitely wouldn’t turn away a holiday to sandcastle bay.

pixiekp's review

hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0