Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - French Holiday

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

French Holiday by Sarah Ready

13 reviews

katievallin's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

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bellebookcorner's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

“At the end of your life, it’s not what you did that makes you happy, it’s who you loved and who loved you.”

I highly recommend you to read this rom com if you like;
• Enemies to lovers
• Forced proximity
• Grumpy x Sunshine
• One bed

I really like this standalone rom com set in Paris with great writing style that describes the setting, Paris in a country side with beautiful scenery and the delicious food!

I also love the chemistry between the main characters, Merry and Noah. The bantering and how they started to open up to each other are my absolute favorite moments. Their personality is different but that’s what makes them good for each other.

Not just Merry and Noah love story, there’s also a mystery element in figuring out Noah’s parents. My heart is also touched by the love story of the painter with his way of painting as a love letter to his loved one.

Overall, it’s a well written rom com with loveable characters, beautiful setting and fascinating plot. I feel satisfied with how everything got wrapped up at the end!
I’m really looking forward to read more books from this author in the future!

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: death of a parent, abandonment, sexual content

I received an advanced review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!

“I think that love can bring about the best in us.
But… Love can also bring out the worst. It can hurt. Quite badly.
Sometimes, I think life would be easier if people didn’t love so much.”

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theonlybaillie's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book won't be for everyone, but it was for me and I loved it so much. 💕

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

An escapist romcom to its core, we follow Merry as she travels to France to get over her unrequited love. As Kirsten said in her previous review, this book has pretty much every trope, from only one bed, love triangles, enemies-to-lovers, Insta-love, slow burn, you name it, and I found that hilarious!

My favourite part was the plot twist into a bit of gothic fiction, which you may know if you’ve been on our page for a while that both Kirsten and I love a good gothic read. Also, the narrator Kelsey Navarro was an excellent choice to voice Merry, with excellent comedic timing & great flow.

I would recommend this book to anyone who:

Loves the idea of staying at a castle in France
is a romcom lover that doesn’t mind waiting for a bit of spice
Is looking for an engaging summer/beach read

Thank you so much Netgalley, Swift and Lewis Publishing, and the author for an ALC of this audiobook—this was so much fun!

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courtofsmutandstuff's review

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medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

This was really cute (and I especially loved the audiobook narrator). This was a quick, easy read that was engaging and very easy to binge. The premise starts out a little dark (Mary is in love with her best friend (Leo) who has just had a whirlwind romance with her sister, and Mary is now the maid of honor at their wedding, then Mary has to fire dozens of people at work and quits her job in depression) but is then a traditional rom-com as she runs away to a French chateau, hoping to have a mad love affair with a French man named Pierre, but instead she must share the only bed in the crumbling chateau with Leo's friend Noah who she's convinced hates her, but through the magic of forced proximity and "there's only one bed", they grow to like and respect one another. It's not completely a closed door romance, but it's very close to it. If you like forced proximity and "running away from your life" or books in France and closed door isn't a deal breaker, I'd recommend this.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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chloelj27's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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jelavision's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I thought this was a lovely book focusing on a character's journey of love after she had her heart broken by those in her life. There were moments where my heart broke for Merry; and moment where my heart soared in happiness for her. The book was a contemporary romantic comedy that had moments of mysterious intrigue. The romance between Merry and Noah was very slowburn. It's filled with a lot of miscommunication and combative energy to start. To be honest, I struggled a little with their chemistry in the beginning of the book. However, it does get better towards the middle of the book; and you really feel it and root for them.

I had a few issues with the book which made me give it a 4 star review. The book focuses a lot on describing the scenery. To the point where the dialogue got repetitive. I got tired of reading about the red hued turrets and stone material. It just wasn't necessary for me as a reader. And it dragged the book on by 30-40 pages. Another issue I had was I didn't enjoy the ending for Noah's

mother. I wish the author hadn't written in an implication of her being attacked and robbed because it put a dark feel over the book. Noah's acceptance of it - instead of being upset over what his mother went through - made me side eye. I wish it simply ended with her reaching Thomas and then dying due to her health issue. And Merry's proclamation of love on the bridge just came too soon in the book. It felt like the romance suddenly became a bit of a fastburn - instead of the slowburn it was. Having her first "I Love You" be in the tower during the first time would have been powerful enough.

All in all, I really did enjoy this book. It reminded me of Emily Henry's style of writing.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

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jbaysinger_1069's review

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adventurous emotional funny slow-paced

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

4.0

First off I want to thank NetGally, Sarah Ready and Swift & Lewis Publishing LLC for the opportunity to read and review French Holiday. This review is composed of my own thoughts and opinions. I understand that others may not feel the same as I do towards this book/ARC and that is fine.
Let's talk about the cover of this cute Rom-Com... It is so eye-catching. So cute and I can't wait to add it to my physical collection of books. Now on with the review.
I gave French Holiday 4 stars. This is due to part of how long this book drags out for me personally. I loved the dual budding romance stories going on with Camille/Pierre and Meredith (Merry)/Noah, although it really did confuse me as I thought that Camille had the hots for Noah hard core. I thought the banter between Merry and Noah was the best and the way they both began to not only fall in love (well kind of since Noah loved Merry from the get go) with each other and the Chateau was so heartwarming. Including the marital problems of her sister (and dare I say enemy lol) Angela really added a ton of depth and dimension to the story. As someone who has siblings and everything seems to be a competition I know Merry's pain. Nobody likes to see people be red biked.
This book was such a slow paced reach that was much needed for my reading goals. I thoroughly enjoyed Sarah Ready's writing style of French Holiday so much that I have added more of her books to my wishlist add to my shelf!

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booksandcoffeewithlexi's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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elyssam's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

French Holiday is such a fun read! You truly feel like you’re jetting off to France.

Merry is the maid of honor in her sisters wedding. Problem is, her sister is marrying the man she’s in love with. It has always been this way with Merry and Angela. Merry wants something, but Angela somehow gets it. The day is bad worse when she has to walk down the aisle with Leo’s best friend and best man, Noah. Noah doesn’t like her and she’s not too fond of him either. After the wedding and a bad week at work, Merey finds herself fleeing to her godmother’s chateau in France only to find two things wrong with it: it’s in disrepair and Noah has rented it out. The two must learn to live with one another and make the best of their crumbling palace.

Reading this reminded me of Emily Henry’s novels and Christina Lauren’s Unhoneymooners. It has the lightness of a romcom but both the main characters are haunted by their past. The story is elevated by a small mystery that keeps the reader and characters on their toes. I especially enjoyed the honesty of Merry’s character (to the reader, not to those around her haha). She was always getting into awkward situations and the second-hand embarrassment was felt. I almost thought the romance was rushed, then realized that I had gotten to the end of the book and just hadn’t realized it; I wanted more! The troubles Noah and Merry face force themselves to open up, learn about one another and, most importantly, learn about themselves.

As for the narration (I read the audiobook), it took me a while to get used to it. Some of the sentences lilted up like Merry’s entire inner-monologue was just questions and a few words at the beginning were pronounced in an uncommon way. Nonetheless, it grew on me. The awkwardness of situations and the emotions that carried the heavier chapters were brought out really well in the narrator’s voice.

French Holiday is a great summer or vacation read!

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