A review by givemaribooks
You Were Made to Be Mine by Julie Anne Long
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This was not great. I found the pacing to be slow, and it took forever for the story to get going. It also felt like the side characters took up too much time, and took away from the focus on the MCs. And since the couple do not meet until like 30% this means that it felt a bit too insta-love for me, which I usually do not mind but I don't think it worked in this story. Christian was crushing on Aurelie just from a picture and then fell for her right away, which made me wonder if it was in part due to his obvious PTSD from his time in prison. And Aurelie falling so fast and trusting him so much came off as naive. She had literally just learned that not all people can't be trusted and she has been very sheltered, but trusts this man right away. And do not even get me started with this author's continuous disregard for the pregnancy. I had the same issues with the previous books because it makes me dislike the men for not trying to prevent pregnancies considering they are the more experienced ones and the ones with less to lose if the women become pregnant.
*small spoilers* I know not everyone reacts the same to sexual assault, but the author chose to make rape a plot point and then did not have follow through. She had Aurelie not acting with the caution someone who had been recently raped would likely act. Aurelie even mentions that she trusted the wrong man because of her naiveté and need to be loved, but then jumps into the relationship with Christian with very little thought or fear. I get that the author likely did not want to make the story darker by actually exploring Aurelie's feelings about the rape, but then she should not have used rape as a plot point and come up with a different reason for her to have run away. *end spoiler*
I also do not like that the author did not include a content warning.
CW: rape of fmc off page, possible PSTD from time in prison.
*small spoilers* I know not everyone reacts the same to sexual assault, but the author chose to make rape a plot point and then did not have follow through. She had Aurelie not acting with the caution someone who had been recently raped would likely act. Aurelie even mentions that she trusted the wrong man because of her naiveté and need to be loved, but then jumps into the relationship with Christian with very little thought or fear. I get that the author likely did not want to make the story darker by actually exploring Aurelie's feelings about the rape, but then she should not have used rape as a plot point and come up with a different reason for her to have run away. *end spoiler*
I also do not like that the author did not include a content warning.
CW: rape of fmc off page, possible PSTD from time in prison.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: War