"Woman are not objects with the best before a day," my voice is louder than unusual. "I refuse to be pressured into a loveless relationship for the sake of societal norms."
Status: read
Edition: ebook
My Reading Dates: 4 July - 13 July
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult, Fiction
Theme: self-healing
Pages: 322
Pace: medium
POV: singular (except the epilogue) - first person - present tense
You are who you are in life, and you either live that time trying to bend yourself to make other people happy or you don't.
I first read this book in March of this year, and re-read recently when I was sent an updated version by the author. But most of my original thoughts stayed pretty much the same.
My Thoughts
Writing style felt very much like 19th or 20th century writing, except with more modern words. The writing was also quite emotional, which I am not really used to reading. A person would just *appear* and suddenly everything would just be so so much better. I understand that it is certainly the case sometimes, but pretty much every single character had some sort of deep sentimental meaning to Vesta. It also had a cartoon ish and flat feeling at the start, but I quickly got used to it.
The plot was rushed in immediately, and everything was explained right away, and because of that, I felt very bored from the beginning. I just didn't feel compelled to continue, I still forced myself to.
Everything was very convenient, especially with the meeting of Hunter, and then the next day, when Vesta just happened to be at the restaurant when Hunter needed a witness.
The characters, like I already mentioned, seemed very flat, but also changes moods every two pages. Some didn't have a steady personality, while most of the other characters were re-writes of other characters, but with a different backstory.
Nevertheless, one bonus is that the book felt very short, despite having a number of events take place.
↝2.5 stars
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OLD REVIEW
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My Ratings: 2.5/5⭐
Genre: Contemporary romance
Things I like about this book:
- I learned some new facts (medical things, dress styles ect.) from this book
- The setting of Italy, London and New York
- The MC (Vesta)'s character development
Things I don't like about this book:
- The whole book felt a bit flat. I couldn't really believe in the relationship between Vesta and Hunter.
- Hunter's life seems to be so perfect. I would probably enjoy this book more if he had some problems and that Vesta decided to stay regardless. Again, tying in with the last point
- The whole plot seemed a bit rushed and jumpy. Very jumpy. It didn't seem realistic. The plot wasn't seamless, and u could clearly see that this was a debut novel
- How quickly Hunter seemed to fall in love with Vesta, despite the few times he had seen her. Again, the whole seemed very rushed.
Conclusion
This is definitely not the best debut I have read, but i don't regret reading it. The whole book felt a bit rushed for my taste, but that might just be for me.
- Thank you Laura Golightly for sending me an ARC for an honest review!