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lucysnowy's review against another edition
3.0
now.
it is very clear to me that pretend you're mine was originally written as a stand alone. because the majority of the dialogue in this book is an exact copy of scenes from the first book.
don't get me wrong, i loved the gloria and aldo scenes where they are on their own, where luke and harper don't appear. but i got so bored to reading scenes i've already read before, just a few days ago, from a slighly different perspective.
also ... gloria had no reason to do that dramatic break up 89% into the book. score just needed the final moment of strife to happen and forced gloria to break up with aldo when he is literally the kindest man ever. she literally just saw luke and harper break up and went 'maybe i should do that too'. unnecessary.
i like the exploration of scars and healing on the whole, i like the open conversations that they have about it. i like gloria building herself a new life.
interesting. mid.
it is very clear to me that pretend you're mine was originally written as a stand alone. because the majority of the dialogue in this book is an exact copy of scenes from the first book.
don't get me wrong, i loved the gloria and aldo scenes where they are on their own, where luke and harper don't appear. but i got so bored to reading scenes i've already read before, just a few days ago, from a slighly different perspective.
also ... gloria had no reason to do that dramatic break up 89% into the book. score just needed the final moment of strife to happen and forced gloria to break up with aldo when he is literally the kindest man ever. she literally just saw luke and harper break up and went 'maybe i should do that too'. unnecessary.
i like the exploration of scars and healing on the whole, i like the open conversations that they have about it. i like gloria building herself a new life.
interesting. mid.
mybooksandimaginations's review against another edition
5.0
Finally Mine: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 3.5 (open door bedroom descriptions, multiple bedroom scenes)
Content Warnings: partner/spousal abuse, depression, PTSD, death of a spouse, loss of limb due to war service, descriptions of war, child abuse (off screen), violent offense from criminal, prisoner bribery, attempted murder
Gloria is finally leaving her abusive partner after 10 years, she has been with him since she was 16 years old. It doesn’t end up as she expected, and Gloria is only saved by a well meaning good citizen. But the leaving isn’t the hardest part, it’s in picking herself back up afterwards, it’s in building her stepped on self esteem, it’s in allowing herself to be happy. Because of the journey she needs to make, she swears off men, but Aldo has been patiently waiting for Gloria to leave her ex for 10 years, and now that she is free, he doesn’t want to miss his chance. Aldo is deploying with his National Guard unit, but doesn’t want to leave without telling Gloria how he feels, his deployment will still giving her the time she needs to heal. When his deployment ends after a life altering injury, both Gloria and Aldo have healing to do, and baggage to unpack.
This book made me feel all the feels. As someone who has had to let a loved one make her own choices and stay in an abusive relationship while always being there for when she decided to leave, I empathize with Aldo and Gloria’s mom. It’s hard to watch a loved one suffer, but until that person decides to leave on their own, they will keep going back, even if it’s dangerous for them. Lucy Score captured the internal monologue of an abusive victim very well. It’s a lot of ups and downs, doubts, struggles, depression, anxiety, therapy and relearning. Aldo and Gloria’s mom did not do anything wrong by stepping back from Gloria and the abuse she was suffering, sometimes that is the safest choice for both the victim and their loved ones, if you step in, it could result in even more hurt and further isolation. I also thought Lucy did well at describing Aldo’s baggage after coming back from his deployment. Luckily, Aldo comes back from his depression with help from his friends, family and therapy, but that’s not always the case. This book is not going to be to everyone’s taste, it deals with really raw, emotional, hard issues, but Lucy treated each issue with the respect it deserved.
Spice level: 3.5 (open door bedroom descriptions, multiple bedroom scenes)
Content Warnings: partner/spousal abuse, depression, PTSD, death of a spouse, loss of limb due to war service, descriptions of war, child abuse (off screen), violent offense from criminal, prisoner bribery, attempted murder
Gloria is finally leaving her abusive partner after 10 years, she has been with him since she was 16 years old. It doesn’t end up as she expected, and Gloria is only saved by a well meaning good citizen. But the leaving isn’t the hardest part, it’s in picking herself back up afterwards, it’s in building her stepped on self esteem, it’s in allowing herself to be happy. Because of the journey she needs to make, she swears off men, but Aldo has been patiently waiting for Gloria to leave her ex for 10 years, and now that she is free, he doesn’t want to miss his chance. Aldo is deploying with his National Guard unit, but doesn’t want to leave without telling Gloria how he feels, his deployment will still giving her the time she needs to heal. When his deployment ends after a life altering injury, both Gloria and Aldo have healing to do, and baggage to unpack.
This book made me feel all the feels. As someone who has had to let a loved one make her own choices and stay in an abusive relationship while always being there for when she decided to leave, I empathize with Aldo and Gloria’s mom. It’s hard to watch a loved one suffer, but until that person decides to leave on their own, they will keep going back, even if it’s dangerous for them. Lucy Score captured the internal monologue of an abusive victim very well. It’s a lot of ups and downs, doubts, struggles, depression, anxiety, therapy and relearning. Aldo and Gloria’s mom did not do anything wrong by stepping back from Gloria and the abuse she was suffering, sometimes that is the safest choice for both the victim and their loved ones, if you step in, it could result in even more hurt and further isolation. I also thought Lucy did well at describing Aldo’s baggage after coming back from his deployment. Luckily, Aldo comes back from his depression with help from his friends, family and therapy, but that’s not always the case. This book is not going to be to everyone’s taste, it deals with really raw, emotional, hard issues, but Lucy treated each issue with the respect it deserved.
agrippinaes's review against another edition
3.0
Rating: 3 stars
What I Liked: There were parts of this book that I really liked. The central relationship between Gloria and Aldo is lovely and sweet and romantic. They had good chemistry and I liked seeing their relationship develop from friendship to more. Gloria was a great main character and her development as a person was particularly strong and lovely to see; I thought Aldo was a great hero in a book like this, he was adorable and sexy and so thoughtful.
A lot of the side plots around their relationship were good: I liked that they worked through their respective traumas in a mature and honest way, talking to each other and helping each other through it. It was a gentler book in a lot of ways than the other two in this trilogy
What I Didn’t: The biggest flaw of this book was the fact it follows the same timeline as the previous one. Big chunks of it are scenes from the previous book, including the same dialogue. I get that a first-time reader starting with this book instead of the previous one wouldn’t have an issue, but as someone who just finished the previous one before reading this, it was really repetitive and it made the pacing of the story drag quite a lot. These scenes added nothing new to either character and served more to develop Harper and Luke, the main characters from the previous book.
Similarly, the plot at the end felt off.
Overall: I really enjoyed the central relationship in this as I thought it was lovely and sweet, but there were big parts of it where I felt like Gloria and Aldo weren’t really the focus of the story. I think there were too many points replicated from the previous book to set up or develop Harper and Luke’s relationship in a way that felt distracting.
Would I Recommend It?: Yes, if you want a small town friends-to-lovers romance with a sweet, lovely couple and a fair amount of angst.
Would I Read Something By The Author Again?: Yes.
Content Warnings:Domestic abuse (literally in the opening scene), violence, IED explosion (on page), loss of limb (on page), rape (in past), stalking.
What I Liked: There were parts of this book that I really liked. The central relationship between Gloria and Aldo is lovely and sweet and romantic. They had good chemistry and I liked seeing their relationship develop from friendship to more. Gloria was a great main character and her development as a person was particularly strong and lovely to see; I thought Aldo was a great hero in a book like this, he was adorable and sexy and so thoughtful.
A lot of the side plots around their relationship were good: I liked that they worked through their respective traumas in a mature and honest way, talking to each other and helping each other through it. It was a gentler book in a lot of ways than the other two in this trilogy
Spoiler
and for understandable reasons, there isn’t as much sex, but the sex scenes there are are well-written and hot.What I Didn’t: The biggest flaw of this book was the fact it follows the same timeline as the previous one. Big chunks of it are scenes from the previous book, including the same dialogue. I get that a first-time reader starting with this book instead of the previous one wouldn’t have an issue, but as someone who just finished the previous one before reading this, it was really repetitive and it made the pacing of the story drag quite a lot. These scenes added nothing new to either character and served more to develop Harper and Luke, the main characters from the previous book.
Spoiler
This was most notable at the end - the epilogue is pretty much the reconciliation scene from the previous book, and as such it did not feel like the central focus of the epilogue was Gloria and Aldo. I thought this was disappointing. I know that Lucy Score writes longer epilogues that are available, but I think it would have been nice to have the epilogue be about them and just them.Similarly, the plot at the end felt off.
Spoiler
Their separation at the end felt really forced. I didn’t hate Gloria doing the final actions she felt necessary to gain closure, such as visiting Glenn in prison, but I really didn’t think her reasons for ending things felt believable. It felt very forced and then their reunion felt rushed. On a different note - I don’t know why but I really didn’t like Aldo paying off Glenn’s mother to leave Benevolence.Overall: I really enjoyed the central relationship in this as I thought it was lovely and sweet, but there were big parts of it where I felt like Gloria and Aldo weren’t really the focus of the story. I think there were too many points replicated from the previous book to set up or develop Harper and Luke’s relationship in a way that felt distracting.
Spoiler
My favourite book in the trilogy by far is the third one, and I think it benefits from being set a couple of years later, when both Harper and Luke and Aldo and Gloria are settled in their relationships.Would I Recommend It?: Yes, if you want a small town friends-to-lovers romance with a sweet, lovely couple and a fair amount of angst.
Would I Read Something By The Author Again?: Yes.
Content Warnings:
booksbottlesandbows's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
nikkeexox's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
4.0
lvineyard's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.0
esteera's review against another edition
2.0
just did not stand out to me. dnf’d it once and was determined not to do it again so gave it another shot but just wasn’t for me. i’m determined to give the author another shot though bc i’ve heard so many good things
lilbear_emily's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5