A review by lifeofchrstnlvly
Water Under The Bridge by Denise Stone, Kels Stone

lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

 I've been following one of the authors in Tiktok for quite some time and I saw the journey she went through in publishing this book. I wanted to like this book so much, but no. Unfortunately, this was not it.

The banter? Bad.
Chemistry? None.
Dialogue? Unrealistic.
Characters? Unlikeable.
Writing? Subpar.

Luca is your typical MMC: tall, (described as) handsome, loves to workout, eats protein bars... you know - surface level. He was written perfectly that it was too unbelievable. It's like he was written to satiate the appetite of women reading this book. Avery is the annoying, immature, I'm-not-like-other-girls FMC (Luca was right: she should handle rejection better).

The constant reminder of how they lust after each other didn't help. It felt like the authors needed to remind the readers how much Luca and Avery lust after each other to try and ignite sparks and to build up the spice. The dialogue was off, even the conversations Avery had with her friend, Lily. No one talks like the way the characters talk in this book. I know this is fiction, but the banter/conversations were too... perfect. Not perfect in a sense that it was good, but perfect in a sense that everything was too convenient so it will be swoon worthy.

I mostly skimmed. It was boring because it was cliché.

1 star because there are 2 cute scenes that made me smile.

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