Scan barcode
kirbylover16's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There are pacing issues and redundancies everywhere. It takes half the book to get to the castle, which was the main reason why I wanted to read this book. (like Netflix's A Castle for Christmas) The other was for a romance/HEA, which I didn't get either. We meet Guy One, who does get fleshed out only for Zoey to ruin it. Then we meet another guy and, it seems like we're getting enemies to lovers but, Guy Two doesn't get fleshed out. Some descriptions made me cringe, " face with meeting a significant other's makers...Men are made in a way incapable of having an uncomfortable conversation with their female maker "
The author continues the tradition of misinterpreting Robert Frost's poem as it's about how different paths are interchangeable, not taking a path less traveled. There are references to James Bond, The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds, and clothing brand name-dropping every two seconds.
I can't connect to the main character Zoey. She's so privileged, immature, and super self-centered. She is edgy just to be edgy, which could work with teenagers or preteens but not adults(she's 29-31). Tattoos aren't that big of a deal. Also, she keeps pushing Guy One to have sex with her in public even though he's said no. If it's not clear, they're not good for each other. I connected with Ryan more and thought he deserved better.Ryan doesn't owe Zoey anything. It's his family's wedding, not Zoey's and, it's 90 days/3 months later. Zoey even knew he was coming with someone else. Mara is hot get over it. We zoom past cheating. Then It's revealed Ryan didn't tell Mara about his two years with Zoey and that he wanted to marry her. Effectively ending my empathy towards him and shifting it to Mara
The author continues the tradition of misinterpreting Robert Frost's poem as it's about how different paths are interchangeable, not taking a path less traveled. There are references to James Bond, The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds, and clothing brand name-dropping every two seconds.
I can't connect to the main character Zoey. She's so privileged, immature, and super self-centered. She is edgy just to be edgy, which could work with teenagers or preteens but not adults(she's 29-31). Tattoos aren't that big of a deal. Also, she keeps pushing Guy One to have sex with her in public even though he's said no. If it's not clear, they're not good for each other. I connected with Ryan more and thought he deserved better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility and Infidelity
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, and Gaslighting
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
foreverinastory's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This one was something...not sure what kind of something though.
Zoey Marks is a cursed bridesmaids. Every time she's been someone's bridesmaid, they end up not going through with the wedding. After the third strike, Zoey is starting to wonder if her ambivalence towards marriage has began to rub off on her loved ones. Then her perfect boyfriend proposes and Zoey says no. The two are heartbroken and left wondering what went wrong. Months later, Hannah, Zoey's best friend, is getting married in Ireland and she's asked Zoey to be her bridesmaid. Zoey is determined to get her best friend down the aisle to prove to herself that she's not cursed and then she'll be able to accept Rylan's proposal. Nothing can go wrong, right?
This was such a strange story, but I did generally like it. A lot of my ambivalence towards this book is to do with the writing style and pacing. The first 20% we get like a crash course of Zoey and Rylan meeting, their first date and then they've been dating for a year. It was a lot to happen in the first chunk and we didn't even really experience all of it. Zoey tells us like a brief summary of her relationship. It felt so odd to have this super whiplash dating and then after that everything slows down and revolves around Hannah's wedding which is like a week long vacation to it.
Zoey has a very big hangup about marriage, but even I still struggle to understand why she has this hangup by the end. She could never really explain it to Rylan or herself. I don't truly care about marriage hangups, but it was made into such a central point of tension, that I felt like we should've gotten a clearer answer. Which also leads me to my headcanon that Zoey is aromantic. Her ambivalence towards marriage and generally romantic coded things really resonated with me and I think had Zoey heard that term it might help her understand some of her own feelings. Also when she was saying how important her friendship with Hannah was, that really got me. I need more platonic soulmates between women in my books.
Rep: Jewish aro-coded female MC, white cishet male love interest, white Irish cishet male love interest, white lesbian female side character, sapphic female side character.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, infidelity, infertility, injury/injury detail. Moderate: antisemitism.
This one was something...not sure what kind of something though.
Zoey Marks is a cursed bridesmaids. Every time she's been someone's bridesmaid, they end up not going through with the wedding. After the third strike, Zoey is starting to wonder if her ambivalence towards marriage has began to rub off on her loved ones. Then her perfect boyfriend proposes and Zoey says no. The two are heartbroken and left wondering what went wrong. Months later, Hannah, Zoey's best friend, is getting married in Ireland and she's asked Zoey to be her bridesmaid. Zoey is determined to get her best friend down the aisle to prove to herself that she's not cursed and then she'll be able to accept Rylan's proposal. Nothing can go wrong, right?
This was such a strange story, but I did generally like it. A lot of my ambivalence towards this book is to do with the writing style and pacing. The first 20% we get like a crash course of Zoey and Rylan meeting, their first date and then they've been dating for a year. It was a lot to happen in the first chunk and we didn't even really experience all of it. Zoey tells us like a brief summary of her relationship. It felt so odd to have this super whiplash dating and then after that everything slows down and revolves around Hannah's wedding which is like a week long vacation to it.
Zoey has a very big hangup about marriage, but even I still struggle to understand why she has this hangup by the end. She could never really explain it to Rylan or herself. I don't truly care about marriage hangups, but it was made into such a central point of tension, that I felt like we should've gotten a clearer answer. Which also leads me to my headcanon that Zoey is aromantic. Her ambivalence towards marriage and generally romantic coded things really resonated with me and I think had Zoey heard that term it might help her understand some of her own feelings. Also when she was saying how important her friendship with Hannah was, that really got me. I need more platonic soulmates between women in my books.
Rep: Jewish aro-coded female MC, white cishet male love interest, white Irish cishet male love interest, white lesbian female side character, sapphic female side character.
CWs: Alcohol consumption, infidelity, infertility, injury/injury detail. Moderate: antisemitism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Antisemitism
More...