BereniceFrench > Recent Status Updates

It's childhood crush to lovers on both sides it seems, which I love! But it's not laid out for us subtly enough ... it's all tell from inner monologues in first POV in the first 5%, and heavy on the physical attraction. Not quite insta lust, but not subtle enough for me. We'll see how it unfolds!

This is depressing. And i don't see how a love story can come out of this nightmare captive/torture road trip.

It's really boring ... and really not an arranged marriage since they are still not married, nothing is forced, and they are essentially dating to figure out their compatibility. I might DNF ...

This is all about lust/sexual attraction ... disappointing.

This is immature ... and the writing am quality isn't great. I really don't dig 1st past tense POV.

I don't like the tone, it's pretty immature. And the repeated "little one" accompanied by forehead kisses are just weird as adults.

Listening to audio and I don't love the female narrator ... she sounds like she has too much saliva and I can hear her breaths.

Oh come on! She CANNOT be serious with this self sacrificing bullshit.

I'm really starting to be over the self sacrificing pinning here ... and also the delusional denial that he isn't her mate.

Ok so if Bride/Mate's world was inspired by the Psy-changelling series, then is the Southwest pack DarkRiver and the Northwest pack SnowDancer? It HAS to be. Koen is a version of Hawke, and Serena is a good version of Sienna with her burning death sentence disease (which I still maintain is because Koen is rejecting her). The age gap is there too. And Bride kinda fit with the different species living in the pack.

Ok, she is dying because her Mate rejected her, right? If so, I like that angst, and i'm hoping gore a good major grovel.

Not sure i like the back and forth timeline... it takes me out of the story.

Ok, it's not bad so far even if a bit remote in tone ... but the inaccuracies of the infant's abilities are annoying me a lot! First, he was VERY independent as a 6 month old, and sleeping a lot or occupying himself. And now he is a 10 month old that says mama, yes, car, and lala for the MC. And he walks with assistance. That's VERY advanced ...

It's definitely an odd and remote tone. All those 3rd POV are probably not helping. And there is really no romance in there, the MCs aren't spending any real time together, it's all miscommunication and rehashing assumptions in their heads ...

It's a bit of an odd tone ... probably the 3rd person POV coupled with the pretty remote characters. The first sex scene was repeated from Webb POV (3rd) after we lived it from Roanna POV ... I hate that, it's lazy, we should be able to get the other person feelings from one POV when a scene is written properly. I don't like to get the same scene twice from different POV.

I like this much better than the first one! But it was worth reading the first one for a richer context and background into the whole group. The pinning angst on Maya's part hurts just right. And I can tell Conor is so into her but keeps himself back so much ... Can't wait for him to break!
Not in love with the narration because the woman narrator doesn't do male voices great and they all sound the same to me.

Ok, now it's picking up and I'm more into it. Rue is still very hesitant and clinical, but that's ok, it's her personality. Eli does make up for it in intensity and devotion. And the external plot is finally developing, which is helping grabbing my attention!

It's difficult to get into, they are so remote and clinical ...

So it's mostly mis/non-communication which bothers me. The dub-con was fine and expected in this context. But now it extremely violent as well: repeated graphic torture. I just don't see how we can get a love story out of this ...

Not in love so far ... it's a lot of telling instead of showing for all the background information, and a lot of repetition. Plus the POV back and forth is a bit fast.

Nice slow burn where their relationship and intimacy is build in front of our eyes. I enjoy it so far and I'm looking forward to see how the huge class difference is solved!

Switched to audio, it's just as bad. It might be worse in audio actually (don't care for the breathless voice). I might seriously DNF, which is crazy because I've loved all other MS books I've read and I LOVE survival and childhood friends to lovers stories. This is just all tell (in rambling "insightful" internal monologues), no show. It's a no burn, not a slow burn.

I feel absolutely no connection between Emily and Tuck, and Charlie is STILL here and Emily's boyfriend! That's way too long into the book, and because there is absolutely no cheating hinted at, it makes it a no burn, not a slow burn. Even the beginning part with Tuck and Emily as teenagers, I didn't feel their connection, so I can't even rely on that.

This is boring ... I cannot connect with the characters, even with the first person POV, it feels detached. We are told of everything and feeling, not shown. The "action" is mild or useless maybe, doesn't bring any tension or resolution, or advancement of anything.

There are too many descriptions interrupting dialogue and just the flow of the story for me to really get into it ... also: how can she be clueless and how long is that going to last?? That's gonna annoy me if the Secret identity lasts too long ...

Not a big fan of this set-up ... I don't like to be told of relationship development, I want to feel it. Why don't we get their 1st month together? Did they even get to know each other? Clearly they haven't addressed their big age gap or even the fact that he was her MD. Why have taboo elements if it's not explored?

OMG the fabricated OTT drama! It would work better if she was 18, not 30!

This is very insta for an "I've loved you forever" trope ... they don't talk at all, it's all about physical attraction. And the smut came on super fast and intense without a lot of build-up, it's not satisfying. I needed them to build up their Intimacy more.

Ok so we got to the first sex scene and I feel the same as in the Soulmate Equation: it feels vague and underwhelming. I think it's because it's purely descriptive from one POV with no interactions or dialogue. We don't get the other POV even implied by words or gestures. It feels very remote. Are all CLo sewx scene like that? I don't like it. It brings no connection.

Just got to their first sex scene and it was underwhelming for such soulmates. We are told it was life changing for both of them, but I didn't feel it ... I felt like the scene was rushed and somewhat vague. And although it's 2/3 into the book, it felt like it came on fast. I guess I wanted more pinning/tension build up.