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upallnightbookaddict's review
3.0
I will start off with saying that overall, I did enjoy this book. Even though I am not one for biker books these days, the biker element didn't take from my enjoying the overall story of this book.
I am stuck on the things that I didn't overly enjoy in this one. It moved slow for me. There was a bit too much filler and unnecessary rambling in this book that took away from this being an even better book. I found myself skimming a few parts that really played no part in anything in the story.
The resolution felt forced and a little sudden. I figured it would play out similar to how it did, but the way it was told left me still feeling a little less satisfied. Maybe that was just me?
I was on board with these characters. I love reading books written by authors who know how to create interesting characters I can like, love, or despise. This one is most assuredly one of those.
If you haven't been following allow with the band of authors writing books in the Pennyverse, you really need to rethink that decision. I haven't been disappointed yet, and I have now read over half of them. I regret nothing!
I am stuck on the things that I didn't overly enjoy in this one. It moved slow for me. There was a bit too much filler and unnecessary rambling in this book that took away from this being an even better book. I found myself skimming a few parts that really played no part in anything in the story.
The resolution felt forced and a little sudden. I figured it would play out similar to how it did, but the way it was told left me still feeling a little less satisfied. Maybe that was just me?
I was on board with these characters. I love reading books written by authors who know how to create interesting characters I can like, love, or despise. This one is most assuredly one of those.
If you haven't been following allow with the band of authors writing books in the Pennyverse, you really need to rethink that decision. I haven't been disappointed yet, and I have now read over half of them. I regret nothing!
ihateprozac's review
5.0
4.5 stars - my fave in the Green Valley Library spinoff so far!
Thuy is a fucking QUEEN and we have no choice but to stan. She's loyal as hell to Maddy without ever being a doormat. She cares about the library patrons and wants teens to see themselves in books. She's committed to helping people to fall in love with reading. She's dealing with a dark family legacy and isn't afraid to wield it to keep her loved ones safe. And she'll verbally smackdown a homophobic hag in the Piggly Wiggly if she needs to! I fucking loved her SO damn much!
I could take or leave Drill as a love interest, but the Iron Wraiths really came through with the conflict. I enjoyed getting a closer view of the club dynamics, the fallout from Razor and Daryl's sudden abdication, and Drill realising his boundaries have shifted. We didn't get a real feel for the club in Jethro's book but this book provided that in spades! Cathy Yardley also deftly explores the lines between right and wrong and how they can blur or sharpen over time.
This is also the first book set in the library where we actually got a feel for it as a workplace. Thuy connects with both the older and younger residents of Green Valley and helps them to succeed in the face of resource cuts. She had my heart the moment she started talking about YA and diverse books, and this truly felt like a love letter to YA readers. Thuy has to navigate some serious library politics and change management and it felt so frustrating and so real.
Again, we have no choice but to stan Thuy.
Thuy is a fucking QUEEN and we have no choice but to stan. She's loyal as hell to Maddy without ever being a doormat. She cares about the library patrons and wants teens to see themselves in books. She's committed to helping people to fall in love with reading. She's dealing with a dark family legacy and isn't afraid to wield it to keep her loved ones safe. And she'll verbally smackdown a homophobic hag in the Piggly Wiggly if she needs to! I fucking loved her SO damn much!
I could take or leave Drill as a love interest, but the Iron Wraiths really came through with the conflict. I enjoyed getting a closer view of the club dynamics, the fallout from Razor and Daryl's sudden abdication, and Drill realising his boundaries have shifted. We didn't get a real feel for the club in Jethro's book but this book provided that in spades! Cathy Yardley also deftly explores the lines between right and wrong and how they can blur or sharpen over time.
This is also the first book set in the library where we actually got a feel for it as a workplace. Thuy connects with both the older and younger residents of Green Valley and helps them to succeed in the face of resource cuts. She had my heart the moment she started talking about YA and diverse books, and this truly felt like a love letter to YA readers. Thuy has to navigate some serious library politics and change management and it felt so frustrating and so real.
Again, we have no choice but to stan Thuy.
kimberly_makes's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
hammock_and_read's review
5.0
Thuy is not only the main lady character of this book but really she is the badass of the whole book. She is Maddy’s best friend from college who helps her come back to Green Valley to take care of things after Maddy’s father dies. Thuy is the best friend all women of the world need! She let the town think they are together, willing to move to help with the baby, and I mean to even learn how to farm! I mean Cal to small town Tenneasse would be HARD! These two are a very fun “couple” to read about and love their friendship! This really made the book special!
Teddy aka Drill is Maddy’s big brother who comes home to see her since he left to join the Wraiths at 16. The Wraiths are the MC in town and well are not the best to say the least. It was hard to get to like Drill even if he reads for her and tries to help the girls, as I have a hard time with all the ugliness of MC culture. This is the one problem for me but I just thought of him as Jax from Sons of Anarchy, and it helped.
This was my first Cathy Yardley book, I loved her writing style as it had laugh out loud moments, quotes I just love, Thuy’s character is a gem, women friendship, adding some diversity into GV, and such strong female leads! Overall, I give this book a 4.5!
Also here are some gem book quotes:
“They are my favorite thing ever. They gave me a place to go when my life was shitty, and they have continually given me a reason to get out of bed in the morning. I read every single day. They’re my lifeline.” Cathy Yardley, Prose Before Bros
“We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody and they don't have books, don't fuck them.”-- John Waters
Thank you to the Author and Smartypants Romance for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here.
Teddy aka Drill is Maddy’s big brother who comes home to see her since he left to join the Wraiths at 16. The Wraiths are the MC in town and well are not the best to say the least. It was hard to get to like Drill even if he reads for her and tries to help the girls, as I have a hard time with all the ugliness of MC culture. This is the one problem for me but I just thought of him as Jax from Sons of Anarchy, and it helped.
This was my first Cathy Yardley book, I loved her writing style as it had laugh out loud moments, quotes I just love, Thuy’s character is a gem, women friendship, adding some diversity into GV, and such strong female leads! Overall, I give this book a 4.5!
Also here are some gem book quotes:
“They are my favorite thing ever. They gave me a place to go when my life was shitty, and they have continually given me a reason to get out of bed in the morning. I read every single day. They’re my lifeline.” Cathy Yardley, Prose Before Bros
“We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody and they don't have books, don't fuck them.”-- John Waters
Thank you to the Author and Smartypants Romance for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here.
cobaltbookshelf's review
3.0
3.5*
I really enjoy this book. Thuy is great character and hers romance with Drill is insta-love but character development are definitely there.
I really enjoy this book. Thuy is great character and hers romance with Drill is insta-love but character development are definitely there.
trudyd's review
3.0
Prose before Bros was a story with great characters and the world building. Mandy Blount has drug her friend, Thuy, to Green Valley all the way from California after her father has passed. Talk about culture shock!!!!!
There are many challenges facing them, least of which is Maddy being pregnant. Life gets real interesting at the reading of the will. Drill, her brother, is not happy with the outcome. It is going to cause a lot of issues.
They do need more issues. A romance between Drill and Thuy has all the makings for a catastophe or ten. Have no fear good things come to those that read it all.
My only issue and the reason for only three stars was the confusion in reading. I abhor having to go back and reread sections because things aren't making sense. This problem happened a couple of times. Consistency is important. Mixing up characters is also irritating. I wouldn't say anything but this is a author that has written many books. She should have Betas and editors that catch this before I spend my money, before you spend your money.
There are many challenges facing them, least of which is Maddy being pregnant. Life gets real interesting at the reading of the will. Drill, her brother, is not happy with the outcome. It is going to cause a lot of issues.
They do need more issues. A romance between Drill and Thuy has all the makings for a catastophe or ten. Have no fear good things come to those that read it all.
My only issue and the reason for only three stars was the confusion in reading. I abhor having to go back and reread sections because things aren't making sense. This problem happened a couple of times. Consistency is important. Mixing up characters is also irritating. I wouldn't say anything but this is a author that has written many books. She should have Betas and editors that catch this before I spend my money, before you spend your money.
mccorbin's review
2.0
I’m going to be honest and admit that I struggled with this book. However, I will say that I want to applaud Cathy Yardley for bringing a new kind of lead woman to the forefront! Thuy is not your average main character; an Asian woman who has a darker past than most, Masters in Library Science, and isn’t afraid of helping her best friend raise her new baby and run a farm and not know how to do any of it. Other than the above, that is all that I could praise Thuy for. I found it hard to believe that she would be attracted to Maddy’s brother in any way, especially after finding out her background with her family. She seemed a little lost in most of the book except for when she was at the library.
All - Thuy, Maddy, and Maddy’s brother, Drill just fell short in all occasions. I struggled with how non-badass Drill truly was and how after meeting Thuy, he questioned everything about the gang that he was ‘loyal’ to. Drill went back and forth with his mindset of, “Should I do what is right or should I do what is wrong?” And, after making wrong choices, he was surprised that his gang turned on him. Why in the world would he tell the gang’s President that he inherited half of the farm land, knowing that the gang was in financial trouble, and be surprised that they scheme to take the money.
Maddy was such a small character in this book but her very last action made me sigh. I won’t go into it but I was hoping for something else, something better for her.
All - Thuy, Maddy, and Maddy’s brother, Drill just fell short in all occasions. I struggled with how non-badass Drill truly was and how after meeting Thuy, he questioned everything about the gang that he was ‘loyal’ to. Drill went back and forth with his mindset of, “Should I do what is right or should I do what is wrong?” And, after making wrong choices, he was surprised that his gang turned on him. Why in the world would he tell the gang’s President that he inherited half of the farm land, knowing that the gang was in financial trouble, and be surprised that they scheme to take the money.
Maddy was such a small character in this book but her very last action made me sigh. I won’t go into it but I was hoping for something else, something better for her.
erinremen's review
5.0
Thuy loves her books, her job and most of all her friend Maddie. That is why she decides to move to her friends home town, work on her farm and help her raise her unborn child. No where in that descripton was there supposed to be a brother/biker deep in the very environment she has desperately been trying to escape from her entire life. But she can't help falling for him, anymore than she can help falling for the town and it's inhabitants.
Drill definitely did not want to be attracted to the cute little Thuy, his sisters best friend. The discontent he has felt with his club have been growing, especially after his sister decided to keep the farm and the club has been on him to force them to move. The club wants the money. But what does he want? I mean the woman even has him wanting to read a book! He is in an impossible position and he honestly has no idea how to keep the girls safe, and maybe leave the club?
All the feels, and even had me shedding a few tears, and some laughs! Lots of interaction with out beloved scary head librarian, as well as some other Green Valley residents. An outstanding addition to the Green Valley World that went above and beyond!
Drill definitely did not want to be attracted to the cute little Thuy, his sisters best friend. The discontent he has felt with his club have been growing, especially after his sister decided to keep the farm and the club has been on him to force them to move. The club wants the money. But what does he want? I mean the woman even has him wanting to read a book! He is in an impossible position and he honestly has no idea how to keep the girls safe, and maybe leave the club?
All the feels, and even had me shedding a few tears, and some laughs! Lots of interaction with out beloved scary head librarian, as well as some other Green Valley residents. An outstanding addition to the Green Valley World that went above and beyond!
h1ghpriest3ss's review
adventurous
hopeful
tense
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
5.0
nikiryther's review
5.0
Interesting and unexpected
I LOVED this story! I’ve really enjoyed all of the PennyVerse stories I’ve read so far, because I completely love the world she created and the characters in it, but I was really curious how the “bad guys” in the Iron Wraiths could be redeemed. This author did a fantastic job writing a really interesting story that kept me on my toes and made me love a very “unloveable” character. Though I did not care for the extremely selfish Maddy (I mean, who makes such huge life decisions that effect multiple people without caring what they wanted?!?), the characters in this story had a lot of depth and were very “real” feeling. Can’t wait to read another by her!
I LOVED this story! I’ve really enjoyed all of the PennyVerse stories I’ve read so far, because I completely love the world she created and the characters in it, but I was really curious how the “bad guys” in the Iron Wraiths could be redeemed. This author did a fantastic job writing a really interesting story that kept me on my toes and made me love a very “unloveable” character. Though I did not care for the extremely selfish Maddy (I mean, who makes such huge life decisions that effect multiple people without caring what they wanted?!?), the characters in this story had a lot of depth and were very “real” feeling. Can’t wait to read another by her!