thequeerbookish's review
4.0
(actual rating: 3.5)
A nice and easy read.
I had fun reading The Open Window. Both Morgan and Val are interesting characters with their own quirks and faults, something which makes this romance very believable. I loved how they met and I would love if more people would think like Val. I won't spoiler you so if you are curious now, you have to read this novel. But I can tell you (since it's in the description as well) that Morgan believes in magic and all things related. Since I am working at a publishing house concentrating on spiritual books this was rather interesting to me.
Usually f/f romances are only cute stories but with this one you get some rather sexy sex scenes as well. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this, but it was a nice surprise.
I do have two regrets about this book though. First one is the asexual side character. Since the band is called The Asexual Kinks I was kinda expecting that asexuality would be a theme in this book. But it's not. One side character is ace but aside from her saying it once there is no mention of this ever again.
The second is the drama. Its resolve was far too quickly done and felt unrealistic because of this.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.
A nice and easy read.
I had fun reading The Open Window. Both Morgan and Val are interesting characters with their own quirks and faults, something which makes this romance very believable. I loved how they met and I would love if more people would think like Val. I won't spoiler you so if you are curious now, you have to read this novel. But I can tell you (since it's in the description as well) that Morgan believes in magic and all things related. Since I am working at a publishing house concentrating on spiritual books this was rather interesting to me.
Usually f/f romances are only cute stories but with this one you get some rather sexy sex scenes as well. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this, but it was a nice surprise.
I do have two regrets about this book though. First one is the asexual side character. Since the band is called The Asexual Kinks I was kinda expecting that asexuality would be a theme in this book. But it's not. One side character is ace but aside from her saying it once there is no mention of this ever again.
The second is the drama. Its resolve was far too quickly done and felt unrealistic because of this.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.
munleigh's review
3.0
Morgan O'Brian has the luxury of writing full time as she got an inheritance from her mother. Morgan meets Valentina Lyal, a musician in the electro-punk band The Asexual Kinks, while doing laundry. They begin to date after meeting a couple of times but run into some trouble in the present from Val's past.
Morgan and Valentina were interesting characters to read and I enjoyed getting to know them. I especially thought it was interesting to know about Valentina's background and the description of throat singing.
As for the conflict between the two characters, I thought that Morgan overreacted when she saw Val with her ex, she just assumed the worst without having a conversation with her girlfriend.
Overall, I thought this book was an okay read and probably won't go on my reread shelf.
Review also posted here: http://wp.me/p4Pp9O-zb
I was given a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Morgan and Valentina were interesting characters to read and I enjoyed getting to know them. I especially thought it was interesting to know about Valentina's background and the description of throat singing.
As for the conflict between the two characters, I thought that Morgan overreacted when she saw Val with her ex, she just assumed the worst without having a conversation with her girlfriend.
Overall, I thought this book was an okay read and probably won't go on my reread shelf.
Review also posted here: http://wp.me/p4Pp9O-zb
I was given a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
stifledlaughter's review
5.0
I *really* enjoyed this book.
I liked both characters a lot, and both were developed really well. The fact that half of the book takes place long-distance is rather interesting, and I liked the personal journeys that both MCs went on. (I particularly enjoyed reading about the "life on the road" aspect of Val's journey, not something I usually see in romance novels.)
My one complaint about the book was (being vague as to avoid spoilers) a minor part near the end that seemed unusually "bad romcom plot", but that didn't diminish the book too poorly in my eyes. I quite liked this book and if you want MCs with interesting quandaries/going through big changes in their lives while finding love, it's a great read!
I liked both characters a lot, and both were developed really well. The fact that half of the book takes place long-distance is rather interesting, and I liked the personal journeys that both MCs went on. (I particularly enjoyed reading about the "life on the road" aspect of Val's journey, not something I usually see in romance novels.)
My one complaint about the book was (being vague as to avoid spoilers) a minor part near the end that seemed unusually "bad romcom plot", but that didn't diminish the book too poorly in my eyes. I quite liked this book and if you want MCs with interesting quandaries/going through big changes in their lives while finding love, it's a great read!
fianaigecht's review
3.0
I received this book from NetGalley in return for a review, so I'll probably cross-post this review to my blog at some point (with minor changes, probably). I think it's still a fair while until this one comes out but I know if I don't review it immediately I'll forget how I really felt about it, so here goes.
This was actually probably a 2.5 star read, though to be honest I wasn't at all sure how to rate it.
I liked the story itself -- it's an F/F romance between an artist and a musician, and so we get to see their comics and the band and so on. Each of them had a personality and a past and felt real, because although they're not like anybody I've ever met, I sort of get the impression I could meet them one day. The romance, while it progresses reasonably quickly, is based on more than just physicality, because they have a lot of interests and tastes in common, which makes it feel more realistic.
However, I wasn't a huge fan of how the story was told. The writing in places felt somewhat unpolished, exacerbated by a seriously huge number of typos. Of course it's an ARC and hopefully those will be fixed, but some of them were completely the wrong word, which seemed like a massive oversight. A lot of the time, the narrative stated the obvious instead of allowing the reader to make any connection between description and events, and it felt overly wordy for what it was. So while the story it was telling was good, it didn't feel quite finished.
There were some lines I really liked, though --some bits of dialogue that amused me enough to highlight them on my Kindle, particularly observations about life in a band. My brother's a musician, so I could appreciate these remarks about the modern music industry even if my experience is a bit secondhand. The book definitely felt like it had potential to be more finely tuned than it was, because there were some witty insights but they kept getting lost among what seemed to me like fairly mediocre writing. (Argh, that sounds harsh, I'm sorry.)
I wasn't entirely sure about the explicit content. I knew there would be some as there was a warning on NetGalley, and I tend to be very hit and miss when it comes to sex scenes. Most of these didn't really do anything for me, largely due to writing style. (There is nothing sexy about the word "tits" AT ALL.) They're pretty detailed, so if you're into that kind of thing they might be more enjoyable, but I'm not only asexual, I'm also really picky about written sex scenes. So. I wasn't a fan, and there are quite a few of them in the book, which limited my enjoyment.
On the asexual front, though, the drummer of the band is canonically mentioned to be asexual. It doesn't enter the story at all, but a nod to representation is better than nothing, right? Lots of queer characters here.
I wasn't wild about Morgan's interest in pagan and occult things. She kept going on about astrology and there are few things I care less about than star signs and whatnot -- they've always seemed like a load of nonsense to me, and I couldn't help rolling my eyes whenever she started analysing her Scorpio traits. Sometimes tarot and the like can be really effective in books (see: The Raven Cycle), but here it didn't feel meaningful and intense, just a bit silly.
BUT there was a very cute cat that entered near the end of the book, and I've been clamouring for more cats in books, so yay?
On the whole, a pretty mixed response. While it was a reasonably cute romance and I enjoyed the creative side of the characters' personalities, I felt the execution of the ideas was a bit weak, and on the whole, the book didn't click with me. I'm probably being over-generous in giving it 3*s, so you'll have to assume I'm rounding up.
This was actually probably a 2.5 star read, though to be honest I wasn't at all sure how to rate it.
I liked the story itself -- it's an F/F romance between an artist and a musician, and so we get to see their comics and the band and so on. Each of them had a personality and a past and felt real, because although they're not like anybody I've ever met, I sort of get the impression I could meet them one day. The romance, while it progresses reasonably quickly, is based on more than just physicality, because they have a lot of interests and tastes in common, which makes it feel more realistic.
However, I wasn't a huge fan of how the story was told. The writing in places felt somewhat unpolished, exacerbated by a seriously huge number of typos. Of course it's an ARC and hopefully those will be fixed, but some of them were completely the wrong word, which seemed like a massive oversight. A lot of the time, the narrative stated the obvious instead of allowing the reader to make any connection between description and events, and it felt overly wordy for what it was. So while the story it was telling was good, it didn't feel quite finished.
There were some lines I really liked, though --some bits of dialogue that amused me enough to highlight them on my Kindle, particularly observations about life in a band. My brother's a musician, so I could appreciate these remarks about the modern music industry even if my experience is a bit secondhand. The book definitely felt like it had potential to be more finely tuned than it was, because there were some witty insights but they kept getting lost among what seemed to me like fairly mediocre writing. (Argh, that sounds harsh, I'm sorry.)
I wasn't entirely sure about the explicit content. I knew there would be some as there was a warning on NetGalley, and I tend to be very hit and miss when it comes to sex scenes. Most of these didn't really do anything for me, largely due to writing style. (There is nothing sexy about the word "tits" AT ALL.) They're pretty detailed, so if you're into that kind of thing they might be more enjoyable, but I'm not only asexual, I'm also really picky about written sex scenes. So. I wasn't a fan, and there are quite a few of them in the book, which limited my enjoyment.
On the asexual front, though, the drummer of the band is canonically mentioned to be asexual. It doesn't enter the story at all, but a nod to representation is better than nothing, right? Lots of queer characters here.
I wasn't wild about Morgan's interest in pagan and occult things. She kept going on about astrology and there are few things I care less about than star signs and whatnot -- they've always seemed like a load of nonsense to me, and I couldn't help rolling my eyes whenever she started analysing her Scorpio traits. Sometimes tarot and the like can be really effective in books (see: The Raven Cycle), but here it didn't feel meaningful and intense, just a bit silly.
BUT there was a very cute cat that entered near the end of the book, and I've been clamouring for more cats in books, so yay?
On the whole, a pretty mixed response. While it was a reasonably cute romance and I enjoyed the creative side of the characters' personalities, I felt the execution of the ideas was a bit weak, and on the whole, the book didn't click with me. I'm probably being over-generous in giving it 3*s, so you'll have to assume I'm rounding up.
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