dnf - stopped after 50%
going into this book, i wanted to like it. i was a little skeptical about the whole relationship taking place over three books (taking slow burn to a new level), and i’m sadden to say i’m not a fan.
starting off with the plot, i do feel like it has the potential to be great. i mean, being tricked into a marriage? then it turning into a marriage of convince? yeah that could be SO good — but i don’t think this author did it well, at all. although the main character, Josephine, gets five million dollars out the deal, i don’t think she was truly benefitted in any other way. and not to mention that she had to deal with her Matthew (we’ll get to that in a minute). i will say that i liked the setting of the book, which is Italy. although whenever i hear of a book taking place in Italy, i think of Mafia books, this was a nice change in pace. i also did like how we got to experience Italy through the eyes of Josephine.
moving onto the characters — they are the main issues i had with this book. starting with Josephine, i kinda felt like she was a pick-me girl? throughout the book, we’re constantly reminded about how she “doesn’t dress up” “hates makeup” “prefers the simple life”… which i completely understand. however, she took it to a new extreme of complaining. i also didn’t like her stupid little saying. she doesn’t curse, so instead she says the stupidest shit like “plundering potatoes”. like what? i will say that i like that she isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and stands up to Matthew and his family. that’s about the only quality i liked about her. now onto Matthew, i. hated. him. first, he was so cold — it’s not even funny. i get being a “grumpy male character” but he just took it to a new level. also, he is downright disrespectful towards Josephine. like the poor girl is doing you a favor and you treat her like this? all he cares about is his washed up, selfish girlfriend, Lalia, and his company. i normally like the whole “grumpy billionaire” trope, but this one was just completely unlikable for me (sorry not sorry). moving onto Matthew’s family, hated them. Natalie was the only good one out of the whole family. Matthew’s parents were assholes to Josephine and you could SO TELL she was just a tool to them. as for Natalie, i appreciate her niceness towards Josephine — and i think she helped out a lot. onto Josephine’s family… eh. they did nothing for me. i thought her older sister, Madi, was annoying as hell. but i liked the Grandfather and Tommy. and finally, Matthew’s wacked out girlfriend, Lalia. this girl was so fucking mean i wanted to smack her with a bat.
now, the writing style. first off, there were times that i saw the author using text abbreviations? what? it’s suppose to be a proper book, not a wattpad written book. also, i hated how the author felt the need to use all caps when showing that the characters were yelling. like, just say “*blank* yelled”. the need for the caps was not necessary. it was annoying beyond belief. i also felt like while reading, many important conversations were skipped over or shortened. it was annoying to read.
overall, this book has the potential to be great. however, i think it needs to be rewritten better and it also needs to be sped up more.