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aubreywurth's review against another edition
4.0
i loved this book and i actually loved the time jumps in the first half because it gave vera some time to get readjusted back into the real world and helped ease some of her anxieties. i love mateo i love allie i love vera i just love everyone i hate that the series is over.
readwithcyn's review against another edition
2.0
I kept going back and forth between rating this book a 1 or 2. Seeing how many good reviews this book is receiving is making me feel picky, like did we read the same book? I feel like this was not Devney’s work. Am I dreaming? Did I read something different?
All the other Eden’s stories kept me intrigued and wanting to devour anything from the Eden family. However, Mateo’s story was not it. About the first 20 or so chapters were all from Vera’s POV and they were not great. A lot of repetition and really no clear insight into her past. A lot of it was how in love she’s with Mateo but the girl doesn’t do anything about it. Waits two years until she finally sees Mateo in a date and she snaps. She takes action but then ends up running away. Her solution to all problems is running away. You would think that after being back in the real work, for 2 years that she would have done some work and growth on herself, but NO. We do finally get to know what happens that night from her POV but it’s basically the same that was told in Lyla’s story with Vance.
We learn more about Mateo around chapter 22 or 23, how he met Madison and what happened during their relationship. Nothing exciting honestly. I expected so much more from his side and his story. In previous books they made him seem like the wild child, fun, lost, just enjoying life. In reality he was the complete opposite, very mundane.
My biggest issue with this book was that Vera expected complete openness from Matteo but she didn’t capture the concept that she needed to do the same. She finally lets him in towards the end of the book. Also, don’t even get me started on the ending with the epilogues. Allie, their daughter brings a boyfriend to a party…the dude is 20, she’s 17 with still 1 year left of high school. WTH, just gave me the ick how Vera was totally okay with it and trying to convince Matteo to be okay with it. Nope… big ick, why not just make her 18 at least.
So sad that this book took me forever to get through and at times I wanted to DNF. Just disappointed with this story.
All the other Eden’s stories kept me intrigued and wanting to devour anything from the Eden family. However, Mateo’s story was not it. About the first 20 or so chapters were all from Vera’s POV and they were not great. A lot of repetition and really no clear insight into her past. A lot of it was how in love she’s with Mateo but the girl doesn’t do anything about it. Waits two years until she finally sees Mateo in a date and she snaps. She takes action but then ends up running away. Her solution to all problems is running away. You would think that after being back in the real work, for 2 years that she would have done some work and growth on herself, but NO. We do finally get to know what happens that night from her POV but it’s basically the same that was told in Lyla’s story with Vance.
We learn more about Mateo around chapter 22 or 23, how he met Madison and what happened during their relationship. Nothing exciting honestly. I expected so much more from his side and his story. In previous books they made him seem like the wild child, fun, lost, just enjoying life. In reality he was the complete opposite, very mundane.
My biggest issue with this book was that Vera expected complete openness from Matteo but she didn’t capture the concept that she needed to do the same. She finally lets him in towards the end of the book. Also, don’t even get me started on the ending with the epilogues. Allie, their daughter brings a boyfriend to a party…the dude is 20, she’s 17 with still 1 year left of high school. WTH, just gave me the ick how Vera was totally okay with it and trying to convince Matteo to be okay with it. Nope… big ick, why not just make her 18 at least.
So sad that this book took me forever to get through and at times I wanted to DNF. Just disappointed with this story.
thevirgowarrior's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
mmcminn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
tatianasworld's review against another edition
2.0
Im just mad. I loved this family & this series as almost every book was 5 stars and this being the final book about my baby Mateo was just…. Not about mateo, like at all. It was all about Vera and barely any Eden in the entire book , honestly im disappointed
maryjayka's review against another edition
5.0
OK, NGL this book destroyed me a little bit. If I didn't love Devney Perry I might just be a little bit mad at her. Dang can she write a book!
Let me preface everything else I have to say with this: the way this book is written does justice to Vera's character and story. However, because of what she's been through, the recovery isn't easy. Glossing over what she had been through or having a miraculously smooth transition to normal life would have been implausible. Instead, Ms. Perry walks us through years of recovery and prompts us to feel the challenges along with Vera.
Part 1 of the book was tough and almost depressing. If I didn't know Ms. Perry and have the utmost confidence to pull this off I might have quit reading. Vera had been through years of significant difficulty and social isolation. Getting used to living around people again took time. There was, at times, almost a sense of hopelessness over how much time had passed while she was still living on the sidelines and sort of just existing. But what would life be like after being a fugitive and living in the woods for 4 years after witnessing murders? That's not a fast or easy trajectory of recovery.
What was fascinating to me was that no one else noticed Vera's crush on Mateo, which shows how successfully she had made herself invisible on the sidelines of the family just as she had always made herself invisible in the woods. She was finally seen when she allowed herself to be seen and forced everyone, including Mateo, to see her.
Part 2 showed a different phase of recovery, where she was no longer just existing, but learning how to live with the past while building in the present and planning a future. I've seen some reviews that were disappointed that we didn't get more information about Matee, who he was and things like how he felt when he first found out he had a daughter. I think we actually got everything we need to know about him. He didn't have the same burning passion to run a business that his siblings did. He was content to be on the sidelines for a while until he could acknowledge that he wanted a fairly simple life. His inner thoughts about how he was more like his uncle who was content to let Harrison run the ranch and live quietly in the cabin are mirrored in his choice to live in that exact cabin. That may not be what long-time readers might have expected of his character, but it fits perfectly within the range of personalities in the family.
I also think it's perfect that there was more focus on unravelling Vera's past and present because she was sidelined for so long that centering her character is fitting.
The whole family is included in so many ways, including a perfect epilogue set in the future, making this book a great ending to this series.
It was an emotional rollercoaster because there was some difficult content. But all of it was so well-written and so exceptionally well-done that it only took me about 2 hours to forgive Ms. Perry and then reach for the prequel Christmas in Quincy!
Let me preface everything else I have to say with this: the way this book is written does justice to Vera's character and story. However, because of what she's been through, the recovery isn't easy. Glossing over what she had been through or having a miraculously smooth transition to normal life would have been implausible. Instead, Ms. Perry walks us through years of recovery and prompts us to feel the challenges along with Vera.
Part 1 of the book was tough and almost depressing. If I didn't know Ms. Perry and have the utmost confidence to pull this off I might have quit reading. Vera had been through years of significant difficulty and social isolation. Getting used to living around people again took time. There was, at times, almost a sense of hopelessness over how much time had passed while she was still living on the sidelines and sort of just existing. But what would life be like after being a fugitive and living in the woods for 4 years after witnessing murders? That's not a fast or easy trajectory of recovery.
What was fascinating to me was that no one else noticed Vera's crush on Mateo, which shows how successfully she had made herself invisible on the sidelines of the family just as she had always made herself invisible in the woods. She was finally seen when she allowed herself to be seen and forced everyone, including Mateo, to see her.
Part 2 showed a different phase of recovery, where she was no longer just existing, but learning how to live with the past while building in the present and planning a future. I've seen some reviews that were disappointed that we didn't get more information about Matee, who he was and things like how he felt when he first found out he had a daughter. I think we actually got everything we need to know about him. He didn't have the same burning passion to run a business that his siblings did. He was content to be on the sidelines for a while until he could acknowledge that he wanted a fairly simple life. His inner thoughts about how he was more like his uncle who was content to let Harrison run the ranch and live quietly in the cabin are mirrored in his choice to live in that exact cabin. That may not be what long-time readers might have expected of his character, but it fits perfectly within the range of personalities in the family.
I also think it's perfect that there was more focus on unravelling Vera's past and present because she was sidelined for so long that centering her character is fitting.
The whole family is included in so many ways, including a perfect epilogue set in the future, making this book a great ending to this series.
It was an emotional rollercoaster because there was some difficult content. But all of it was so well-written and so exceptionally well-done that it only took me about 2 hours to forgive Ms. Perry and then reach for the prequel Christmas in Quincy!