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fallin_stars's review
emotional
hopeful
slow-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
4.25
shannon_ross's review
3.0
Admittedly a bit too "young" for me (would've been perfect when I was 16) but still an endearing story. Lovely light read.
pixiedust_'s review
3.0
It’s a cute book with a concept of “academic rivals to lovers”, “rich boy x poor girl” and the interracial relationship trope. Maybe it was good, but I didn’t really like the main character that much. I pitied her because of what she was going through at home and school. Honestly, Marnie was the best person in the book, because she wasn’t as unlikable as everybody else. So were the kids who Eden babysat. Also, I genuinely just found the story pretty forgettable, because I think it could’ve been done better.
jp1920's review
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
alannar2422's review
5.0
Best book ever. Really recommend for romance lovers that keeps you hooked till' the end. :)
chandlerainsley's review
2.0
cesspool of misfortune porn with a zesty twist
the good
As you can see, I'm trying something new here with my little tagline summary teaser. And I really feel like it sums the whole book up.
This book is almost completely devoid of good. At most, we can call the not-bad components the "meh components." The characters are okay, the plot is thoroughly average, etc.
the bad
I lied earlier, there is no zesty twist. This book is predictable. You can read the synopsis provided by the publisher and know exactly what is going to happen.
What could have really changed my general malaise towards this book would be some sort of emotional component. It was not at all believable to me that Eden fell for her academic arch nemesis without questioning it for more than just a fucking day. Or that she feels the need to go after someone for hurting her when she spends literally the whole book not caring about her high school peers??? Makes no sense, where is the logic and/or emotion behind these decisions????
I bumped an extra star bc of diversity and like I did read it quickly so it wasn't that bad? You probably should skip this.
the good
As you can see, I'm trying something new here with my little tagline summary teaser. And I really feel like it sums the whole book up.
This book is almost completely devoid of good. At most, we can call the not-bad components the "meh components." The characters are okay, the plot is thoroughly average, etc.
the bad
I lied earlier, there is no zesty twist. This book is predictable. You can read the synopsis provided by the publisher and know exactly what is going to happen.
What could have really changed my general malaise towards this book would be some sort of emotional component. It was not at all believable to me that Eden fell for her academic arch nemesis without questioning it for more than just a fucking day. Or that she feels the need to go after someone for hurting her when she spends literally the whole book not caring about her high school peers??? Makes no sense, where is the logic and/or emotion behind these decisions????
I bumped an extra star bc of diversity and like I did read it quickly so it wasn't that bad? You probably should skip this.
catiinha's review against another edition
3.0
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Actual Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars
*I was provided a copy by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
I wanted to like this book so much. This book has a gorgeous cover, which caught my eye right away, but also has an interesting blurb. Reading the blurb I knew this book could be amazing because of the things it dealt with, especially now that everyone is talking about the importance of diversity in books again, but in the end it was just a big disappointment to me. Don’t get me wrong, I did like the diversity aspect in this book. I did like that it featured an interracial couple, an Indian main character from a traditional Indian family, a girl who didn’t have a perfect life and lived in a trailer and an autistic character. I really liked that this book included these things but for me most of them were not that well done.
My main problem with this book were the characters and their relationships. I didn’t like most of the characters in this book. Eden, the main character whose perspective we follow, was one of those girls who just want to go away to college and leave the past behind. She doesn’t have the easiest life. Eden live in a trailer park, being judge for that, has shitty biological parents and keeps away from everyone so people can’t disappoint her again. With all of this it’s understandable why she wants to leave so fast. While I had a few problems with her I have to say that I loved to see her babysitting Kurt and Marta and I especially loved that her love for Kurt made her want to study something that she knows will be helpful for him and for people with the same problems as him. I loved that and I loved that she actually wanted to be a special education teacher to help him. I also loved Kurt, Marta and even Raj. Let’s just say that the kids were one of the best parts of this book. I didn’t like Ash at all. I really wanted to try to understand his side of the story and the problems of living in a traditional Indian family but in the end he ended up being an entitled little brat that couldn’t take responsibilities for what he did and that would blame and attack Eden for things she wasn’t guilty of doing. I also didn’t understand their relationship at all. Eden and Ash went from being enemies for 3 years to being a couples in about 2 or 3 weeks. How did that happen?? I still can’t understand because there was nothing in that book that would tell me that they liked each other. I also can’t understand why they liked each other because we barely saw them talking. They also didn’t have any chemistry at all so their relationship didn’t work for me. Another relationship that didn’t work for me was Eden and Mundy’s friendship. I can see why it would be important for Eden to get a friend in this book but their friendship was just too fast and, once again, I can’t even understand why they were hanging out. Also, Mundy was too weird and I really didn’t like her. The only relationship I really liked was Eden’s relationship with her stepmom Marnie. I really liked how close they were and how Eden would talk to Marnie when she needed it. I also really liked how Marnie would be supportive of Eden most of the times.
Another thing I didn’t like in this book was the story itself and how some things were handle. In the end I think this book would have been way better if the things were handled differently. The racism problem was one of my main issues in this book because it wasn’t done that well. Basically almost everyone in this book was a racist. I know racism is still a big problem in the world but not in the way it was described and handled in this book.
Overall, this book was a huge disappointment to me. I normally like forbidden romances but this one was just not that good and I really didn’t like it. With this book having so many diverse elements I was expecting it to be amazing but this is one of those where the diversity is not handled that well which can ruin a book. Also, the characters didn’t help at all since I didn’t like most of them. With this being said, I can’t really recommend this book but if you want to give it a try go on at your own risk.
Actual Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars
*I was provided a copy by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
I wanted to like this book so much. This book has a gorgeous cover, which caught my eye right away, but also has an interesting blurb. Reading the blurb I knew this book could be amazing because of the things it dealt with, especially now that everyone is talking about the importance of diversity in books again, but in the end it was just a big disappointment to me. Don’t get me wrong, I did like the diversity aspect in this book. I did like that it featured an interracial couple, an Indian main character from a traditional Indian family, a girl who didn’t have a perfect life and lived in a trailer and an autistic character. I really liked that this book included these things but for me most of them were not that well done.
My main problem with this book were the characters and their relationships. I didn’t like most of the characters in this book. Eden, the main character whose perspective we follow, was one of those girls who just want to go away to college and leave the past behind. She doesn’t have the easiest life. Eden live in a trailer park, being judge for that, has shitty biological parents and keeps away from everyone so people can’t disappoint her again. With all of this it’s understandable why she wants to leave so fast. While I had a few problems with her I have to say that I loved to see her babysitting Kurt and Marta and I especially loved that her love for Kurt made her want to study something that she knows will be helpful for him and for people with the same problems as him. I loved that and I loved that she actually wanted to be a special education teacher to help him. I also loved Kurt, Marta and even Raj. Let’s just say that the kids were one of the best parts of this book. I didn’t like Ash at all. I really wanted to try to understand his side of the story and the problems of living in a traditional Indian family but in the end he ended up being an entitled little brat that couldn’t take responsibilities for what he did and that would blame and attack Eden for things she wasn’t guilty of doing. I also didn’t understand their relationship at all. Eden and Ash went from being enemies for 3 years to being a couples in about 2 or 3 weeks. How did that happen?? I still can’t understand because there was nothing in that book that would tell me that they liked each other. I also can’t understand why they liked each other because we barely saw them talking. They also didn’t have any chemistry at all so their relationship didn’t work for me. Another relationship that didn’t work for me was Eden and Mundy’s friendship. I can see why it would be important for Eden to get a friend in this book but their friendship was just too fast and, once again, I can’t even understand why they were hanging out. Also, Mundy was too weird and I really didn’t like her. The only relationship I really liked was Eden’s relationship with her stepmom Marnie. I really liked how close they were and how Eden would talk to Marnie when she needed it. I also really liked how Marnie would be supportive of Eden most of the times.
Another thing I didn’t like in this book was the story itself and how some things were handle. In the end I think this book would have been way better if the things were handled differently. The racism problem was one of my main issues in this book because it wasn’t done that well. Basically almost everyone in this book was a racist. I know racism is still a big problem in the world but not in the way it was described and handled in this book.
Overall, this book was a huge disappointment to me. I normally like forbidden romances but this one was just not that good and I really didn’t like it. With this book having so many diverse elements I was expecting it to be amazing but this is one of those where the diversity is not handled that well which can ruin a book. Also, the characters didn’t help at all since I didn’t like most of them. With this being said, I can’t really recommend this book but if you want to give it a try go on at your own risk.
kimching232's review
4.0
Actual Rating: 4.5
Oh my goodness, this book definitely took me by surprise in such an amazing way! I have to honest, I didn't think much of this book when I first requested it because I have been having a bad streak with smart/high GPA main characters lately, but this one definitely salvaged that trope for me. I'll try to get into what I want to say quickly, but no promises!
Okay so most people are probably tired of the old cliché where the couple hates each other at first and then gets into a relationship with each other but I've always loved the tension that love/hate relationships brought. I just didn't know how much I've missed them before reading this book, and this book definitely brought back my desire to read such books. Another old cliché in this book is where the characters have to hide their relationship because the parents and friends don't approve. I thought that I was tired of this, but for a time this has been avoided since it has become cliché, and I think I kind of missed it. So yeah, definite plus points for this book!
When I finished like 10% of this book, I immediately knew that I was going to love it. It made me feel so giddy, and I couldn't help but smile while I was reading the book, even though I was in public and people probably thought that I was crazy. It just made me feel light and fluffy, and all the amazing things that I look for in a contemporary romance novel, and I just freaking loved it!
I really connected with the main character and the story. There were also a couple of times where I got teary eyed because I just felt everything the main character was feeling. I definitely got the frustrations on her part, and I was really able to put myself in her shoes. In some ways, I felt like we were very similar, and in some ways the opposite. I really admire Julia Day's ability to just make the reader feel every emotion that the main character is going through.
For a fluffy contemporary book, this book was sure filled with drama. A lot of things happened throughout the novel, and although I consider this book fluffy, there were some hardcore stuff going on with the main character's family. In my opinion, that aspect was not delved into much, which I kind of preferred because I'm tired of the cliché.
I really admire Eden because she's such a strong, independent woman. She stands on her own two feet and is not afraid to voice out her opinions. She went through a lot but she never complains. To add to that, she takes matters into her own hands and makes the best out of the situation that she's in. She worked hard for what she wanted and never expected help from anyone. I really think that Eden is someone to look up to, and I feel like I actually already do. I just felt like I should be more like her and start taking matters into my own hands.
This novel definitely made me feel all the feels, and that's both the good feels and the bad feels. I don't know if I'm making sense, but that made sense in my head haha! Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I think I really missed the old clichés, and it's also a way for me to break from the new clichés. I recommend this book for those who love relationships that start with the couple hating each other, because I promise you, feels!
Oh my goodness, this book definitely took me by surprise in such an amazing way! I have to honest, I didn't think much of this book when I first requested it because I have been having a bad streak with smart/high GPA main characters lately, but this one definitely salvaged that trope for me. I'll try to get into what I want to say quickly, but no promises!
Okay so most people are probably tired of the old cliché where the couple hates each other at first and then gets into a relationship with each other but I've always loved the tension that love/hate relationships brought. I just didn't know how much I've missed them before reading this book, and this book definitely brought back my desire to read such books. Another old cliché in this book is where the characters have to hide their relationship because the parents and friends don't approve. I thought that I was tired of this, but for a time this has been avoided since it has become cliché, and I think I kind of missed it. So yeah, definite plus points for this book!
When I finished like 10% of this book, I immediately knew that I was going to love it. It made me feel so giddy, and I couldn't help but smile while I was reading the book, even though I was in public and people probably thought that I was crazy. It just made me feel light and fluffy, and all the amazing things that I look for in a contemporary romance novel, and I just freaking loved it!
I really connected with the main character and the story. There were also a couple of times where I got teary eyed because I just felt everything the main character was feeling. I definitely got the frustrations on her part, and I was really able to put myself in her shoes. In some ways, I felt like we were very similar, and in some ways the opposite. I really admire Julia Day's ability to just make the reader feel every emotion that the main character is going through.
For a fluffy contemporary book, this book was sure filled with drama. A lot of things happened throughout the novel, and although I consider this book fluffy, there were some hardcore stuff going on with the main character's family. In my opinion, that aspect was not delved into much, which I kind of preferred because I'm tired of the cliché.
I really admire Eden because she's such a strong, independent woman. She stands on her own two feet and is not afraid to voice out her opinions. She went through a lot but she never complains. To add to that, she takes matters into her own hands and makes the best out of the situation that she's in. She worked hard for what she wanted and never expected help from anyone. I really think that Eden is someone to look up to, and I feel like I actually already do. I just felt like I should be more like her and start taking matters into my own hands.
This novel definitely made me feel all the feels, and that's both the good feels and the bad feels. I don't know if I'm making sense, but that made sense in my head haha! Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I think I really missed the old clichés, and it's also a way for me to break from the new clichés. I recommend this book for those who love relationships that start with the couple hating each other, because I promise you, feels!