A review by wildwolverine
Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas
3.0
The final installment of the Ravenels series is a most unusual romance. While the hero Tom falls madly in lust with Cassandra on sight, the two actually take several months before ending up together. This is because Tom truly doesn't believe he's capable of loving, so the book spends an inordinate amount of time on him as he learns to grow a heart, only switching to Cassandra when the reader needs something swoon-worthy. That said, it's an understated, slow burn of a romance.
The conflicts presented in this book aren't nearly as dramatic as its predecessors, but it's also a lot more real. While Tom learns to explore and accept his emotions, Cassandra deals with a misogynistic society that treats her more harshly than her entrepreneur sister Pandora. While Pandora was aware of what would happen to her wealth and status when she married, no one treated her different for it, at least nobody noteworthy. Her twin experiences a very different and a much more realistic Season as men objectify and manipulate her by giving her what she thinks she wants (flowers equating as romance), which helps her to reject the society she thought she wanted for true love.
As sweet and mature as the book is, it's a little too understated. I won't lie: since I'm writing this review several months after reading the book, I had to skim through it to even remember what it was about. Now that I've done so, I recall its merits, as well as its faults. It's not groundbreaking, but it's still fun.
The conflicts presented in this book aren't nearly as dramatic as its predecessors, but it's also a lot more real. While Tom learns to explore and accept his emotions, Cassandra deals with a misogynistic society that treats her more harshly than her entrepreneur sister Pandora. While Pandora was aware of what would happen to her wealth and status when she married, no one treated her different for it, at least nobody noteworthy. Her twin experiences a very different and a much more realistic Season as men objectify and manipulate her by giving her what she thinks she wants (flowers equating as romance), which helps her to reject the society she thought she wanted for true love.
As sweet and mature as the book is, it's a little too understated. I won't lie: since I'm writing this review several months after reading the book, I had to skim through it to even remember what it was about. Now that I've done so, I recall its merits, as well as its faults. It's not groundbreaking, but it's still fun.