I really hated this book! The female main character was super immature and annoying. The male main character was so rigid, and I really didn’t get what he liked in her. I think my time with contemporary romances is officially over. I thought it was just my age, but you really hit on all the points that annoyed me about this book.
i really wanted this to be a true love to hate it was so disappointing. everything was SO RUSHED! the physicality thing about being small and all that was repeated and enforced so many time it started to creep me out. basically yes to everything you said. I'm only half way through this... might dnf tbh
I enjoyed it well enough while reading it as well. It's looking at it more in retrospect that flaws come up for me. I also think I'll really enjoy the movie adaptation.
I completely agree with you. I DNFed it because it was just unrealistic. I didn’t understand how they liked each other very fast because it was unexplained. The attraction happened way too quickly and it felt forced. Relationships don’t happen that quickly especially if they’re after hate. I think I would’ve liked it more if things took their time. Also the girl was unlikable she cared about appearance way too much.
To be fair, this was her debut novel. I actually really enjoyed it. I’ve been reading romance for forever so in comparison to others I’ve read, this was not bad at all. It’s also been nice to see some new ones come out that are getting attention. Honestly, I haven’t been in the habit of reading them critically because a lot of them are like candy - you know they aren’t good for you but it’s fun to have every once in awhile. They’re good palate cleansers between dark fantasy that I also like reading. I actually didn’t like The Unhoneymooners as much for some of the reasons you list for this one! Things didn’t feel very realistic. But I might have been in a more critical mood when I was reading it. Reviews like this are good though because hopefully the genre will just continue to improve. 😊
I was also offended by the disability shaming in this book. One of my best friends in the entire world was born with a cleft lip, and Sally Thorne made fun of that...
Hey Sam, I just recently discovered your channel and I LOVE that you do so many reviews of just one book at a time - it makes my search for reviews of a particular book so much easier. I also love the partitions into spoiler free and indepth reviews!!
I had the same thoughts! With the language, the way Lucy was described almost seemed infantalizing which was a dynamic that kinda weirded me out. And like you said the beats of the story felt off. Idk i think I just might prefer hate to love stories that explore the emotional connection a little more before the physical relationship develops
A line I will never forget because it absolutely shocked me was when Lucy said she wished he had a cleft lip so that he wouldn't be so handsome (somewhere along these lines, I don't remember the exact quote). It honestly pissed me off. Along with other issues, it was absolutely unnecessary and inappropriate
I enjoyed this book so much but I also agree with everything you said. I thought I was being picky with the slit wrists thing and I'm to know I wasn't. Sally Thorne really likes the petite woman tall big man thing because she has it in her second book too.
I agree with your review. I had high hopes for this one based on the title and description, but it felt super rushed and the writing style wasn't the best. I was definitely expecting more.
I totally agree. I read this a few days ago. 1) Main characters annoyed me especially Lucy 2) Writing wasn't great 3) Kiss happened WAY TOO SOON! I quit reading this book halfway through. I don't understand the hype.
I LOVED this book! I literally glazed over everything you didnt like (not on purpose) haha i was focused more on the storyline and not on the writing style of the descriptions 😅
My bf is 5’9” and he can pick me up. I’m not a tiny person lol. Yeah strength has nothing to do with height. Thank you for this review! Probably will skip this one for now, at least until I have read some more romance as I’m new to the genre and don’t want this weird.... feeling I think I would get from reading this.
Slit wrists, really?? I'm shocked that made it through any early reader feedback. My first thought about the female's smallness was possibly it being positioned as a source of self consciousness or vulnerability. That doesn't sound like that's the case, here. Sounds like "big strong man" and "tiny delicate woman". Boring. I might not have been as bothered if I'd read it myself, uncritically... But there's not a chance now! LOL
Thanks Sam, I am loving your review style for these adult contemporary romances. Look forward to more. Really appreciate how in depth you go about the writing.
I relate so much to this. I think it is too overhyped. I would prefer something like a slow burn. The first kiss just left me immensely dissapointed. I could not finish because how unrelatable everything was.
Yay I can skip this, thank you for your detailed review-amazing as always. Would love to hear what you think about The Wicked King once you finish it :)
I DNFed the book, watched the movie instead, and ended up hating the movie 🤷🏻♀️ this story was definitely not for me. I agree with you, there were so many things out of sequence/order that felt wrong and confusing. It was enemies to lovers for the first few chapters then it dramatically derailed for the rest of the story.
I read this a long time ago and liked it.. I don't think I realized the flaws that you pointed out, and I see it now! I'm not sure if I would have liked it as much if that were the case.
The movie has Lucy Hale and the dude from The Duff?? Not my choice of man for the fit guy... But, still totally gonna watch the movie. I think they'll do a good job. And without the inner dialogue, the story should be more... appropriate. xD
I admire you for reading this critically. Honestly, for me all romance novels are trash (like junk food), so I when I read them I turn off my brain. I didn't notice any of the issues you pointed out :D
that's kind of why I struggled with the rating. I enjoyed this well enough while reading it but when looking at the problems in retrospect, that's when things started to annoy me
I had to dnf this book. I could not handle it. I agree that it felt rushed and scenes happened way to early! I may have liked it if it had been slowed down. It also felt immaturely written to me. I'm glad I'm not the only who didn't enjoy it. It was so hyped and it felt like something I woukd enjoy, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish it.
Hi Sam! Do you have a video of hate to love trope recs? I'm tryna find a good book to read (genre is whatever for me rn I'm open) that has this trope I dunno man I'm just in the mood for it lol any recs?
@@minoriteabooks2665 No, and I’ve had less time to read because of school. 😪 But I did find a smut book I liked called Only for a Night by Naima Simone. It’s not exactly enemies to lovers, more like long lost lovers meet again.
@@elizabethb7550 oh man thats so sad but same, work work work work we hate it here. So I did find a historical fiction romance (channel everyone's Bridgerton obsession) that is enemies (sort of) to lovers, more like hate to love and I quite liked it called It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas
I really hated this book! The female main character was super immature and annoying. The male main character was so rigid, and I really didn’t get what he liked in her. I think my time with contemporary romances is officially over. I thought it was just my age, but you really hit on all the points that annoyed me about this book.
Agree
i really wanted this to be a true love to hate it was so disappointing. everything was SO RUSHED! the physicality thing about being small and all that was repeated and enforced so many time it started to creep me out. basically yes to everything you said. I'm only half way through this... might dnf tbh
I still found it enjoyable enough to continue but yeah, had my issues with it. Why couldn't we get a real hate to love!
I loved the Hating Game and I didn't notice those negative things you said while reading it, but you are absolutely right. Still, I really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it well enough while reading it as well. It's looking at it more in retrospect that flaws come up for me. I also think I'll really enjoy the movie adaptation.
I was really put off by how he confiscated her cellphone towards the ends. I cannot stand when male characters treat women like children.
omg I didn't even get to a lot of the weird jealousy and yelling at the other guy on her phone?? wtf.
It started reading like a cheesy wattpad novel towards the 2nd half of the book
I completely agree with you. I DNFed it because it was just unrealistic. I didn’t understand how they liked each other very fast because it was unexplained. The attraction happened way too quickly and it felt forced. Relationships don’t happen that quickly especially if they’re after hate. I think I would’ve liked it more if things took their time. Also the girl was unlikable she cared about appearance way too much.
yes I would have preferred more slow burn!
To be fair, this was her debut novel. I actually really enjoyed it. I’ve been reading romance for forever so in comparison to others I’ve read, this was not bad at all. It’s also been nice to see some new ones come out that are getting attention. Honestly, I haven’t been in the habit of reading them critically because a lot of them are like candy - you know they aren’t good for you but it’s fun to have every once in awhile. They’re good palate cleansers between dark fantasy that I also like reading. I actually didn’t like The Unhoneymooners as much for some of the reasons you list for this one! Things didn’t feel very realistic. But I might have been in a more critical mood when I was reading it. Reviews like this are good though because hopefully the genre will just continue to improve. 😊
I was also offended by the disability shaming in this book. One of my best friends in the entire world was born with a cleft lip, and Sally Thorne made fun of that...
I hated the way it started as well. I thought I was the only one!! 🤧
there's so few of us lol
Hey Sam, I just recently discovered your channel and I LOVE that you do so many reviews of just one book at a time - it makes my search for reviews of a particular book so much easier. I also love the partitions into spoiler free and indepth reviews!!
Glad you like them!
I totally agree with your review. Most of the book kinda rubbed me the wrong way. And you explained the problems I had with the romance perfectly.
glad I'm not alone!
I had the same thoughts! With the language, the way Lucy was described almost seemed infantalizing which was a dynamic that kinda weirded me out. And like you said the beats of the story felt off. Idk i think I just might prefer hate to love stories that explore the emotional connection a little more before the physical relationship develops
A line I will never forget because it absolutely shocked me was when Lucy said she wished he had a cleft lip so that he wouldn't be so handsome (somewhere along these lines, I don't remember the exact quote). It honestly pissed me off. Along with other issues, it was absolutely unnecessary and inappropriate
I enjoyed this book so much but I also agree with everything you said. I thought I was being picky with the slit wrists thing and I'm to know I wasn't. Sally Thorne really likes the petite woman tall big man thing because she has it in her second book too.
I agree with your review. I had high hopes for this one based on the title and description, but it felt super rushed and the writing style wasn't the best. I was definitely expecting more.
same! I want a better version of this lol
I totally agree. I read this a few days ago. 1) Main characters annoyed me especially Lucy 2) Writing wasn't great 3) Kiss happened WAY TOO SOON! I quit reading this book halfway through. I don't understand the hype.
I LOVED this book! I literally glazed over everything you didnt like (not on purpose) haha i was focused more on the storyline and not on the writing style of the descriptions 😅
My bf is 5’9” and he can pick me up. I’m not a tiny person lol. Yeah strength has nothing to do with height. Thank you for this review! Probably will skip this one for now, at least until I have read some more romance as I’m new to the genre and don’t want this weird.... feeling I think I would get from reading this.
Slit wrists, really?? I'm shocked that made it through any early reader feedback.
My first thought about the female's smallness was possibly it being positioned as a source of self consciousness or vulnerability. That doesn't sound like that's the case, here. Sounds like "big strong man" and "tiny delicate woman". Boring.
I might not have been as bothered if I'd read it myself, uncritically... But there's not a chance now! LOL
Thanks Sam,
I am loving your review style for these adult contemporary romances. Look forward to more. Really appreciate how in depth you go about the writing.
thank you :)
I relate so much to this. I think it is too overhyped. I would prefer something like a slow burn. The first kiss just left me immensely dissapointed. I could not finish because how unrelatable everything was.
Yay I can skip this, thank you for your detailed review-amazing as always. Would love to hear what you think about The Wicked King once you finish it :)
I'm hoping to make that one a fall read :)
I DNFed this book, I couldn’t continue even though I tried to push through but after 12 chapters.
Wow slit wrists really? Not cool at all.
YES! I'm like WHO OKAY'D THIS?!
I DNFed the book, watched the movie instead, and ended up hating the movie 🤷🏻♀️ this story was definitely not for me. I agree with you, there were so many things out of sequence/order that felt wrong and confusing. It was enemies to lovers for the first few chapters then it dramatically derailed for the rest of the story.
Okay I wasn't planning on picking this up anyway but now I definitely won't be haha, amazing review as always :)
Have you done a video about your favourite hate-to-love stories? It's a trope I love but I feel like there are plenty of books that do it so badly.
It's weird how I looked online and saw so many good things about this book and on RUclips there's alot of bad reviews on it lol
I didn't like the book, but I do think the movie is going to be good. The cast seems pretty good
I read this a long time ago and liked it.. I don't think I realized the flaws that you pointed out, and I see it now! I'm not sure if I would have liked it as much if that were the case.
I agree with uh..everything happened toooo fast!!! Dnfed this book 😶
The movie has Lucy Hale and the dude from The Duff?? Not my choice of man for the fit guy... But, still totally gonna watch the movie. I think they'll do a good job. And without the inner dialogue, the story should be more... appropriate. xD
I admire you for reading this critically. Honestly, for me all romance novels are trash (like junk food), so I when I read them I turn off my brain. I didn't notice any of the issues you pointed out :D
that's kind of why I struggled with the rating. I enjoyed this well enough while reading it but when looking at the problems in retrospect, that's when things started to annoy me
Loved how you smile at the thumbnail after a bad rating. Anyway, I am on the same page. 😂
I had to dnf this book. I could not handle it. I agree that it felt rushed and scenes happened way to early! I may have liked it if it had been slowed down. It also felt immaturely written to me. I'm glad I'm not the only who didn't enjoy it. It was so hyped and it felt like something I woukd enjoy, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish it.
. . . This is why I don't read contemporary (straight) romances
Hi Sam! Do you have a video of hate to love trope recs? I'm tryna find a good book to read (genre is whatever for me rn I'm open) that has this trope I dunno man I'm just in the mood for it lol any recs?
The whole books sounds like complete garbage from the title to every single rubbish chliché.
Are there any enemies to lovers books that you recommend?
Man same I'm here for more of this trope recs! Did you find any?
@@minoriteabooks2665 No, and I’ve had less time to read because of school. 😪 But I did find a smut book I liked called Only for a Night by Naima Simone. It’s not exactly enemies to lovers, more like long lost lovers meet again.
@@elizabethb7550 oh man thats so sad but same, work work work work we hate it here. So I did find a historical fiction romance (channel everyone's Bridgerton obsession) that is enemies (sort of) to lovers, more like hate to love and I quite liked it called It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas
@@elizabethb7550 also thanks for the rec, will check it out!
this book was garbage, couldn't finish it