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funshine3's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity and Pregnancy
freya_r's review against another edition
1.0
I truly believe I must have read a different book to all these 4 and 5 star reviews. This book fell flat in every way I’d have loved for it to succeed.
The main issue for me was how implausible and unbelievable the whole story seemed. The FMC studied nursing in Italy and then gave that up in the UK to become an actress after being a carer for her grandmother? Why wouldn’t she work as a nurse in the UK whilst auditioning? How can she afford a flat in London on her own working part time as a waitress on weekends and 2 night shifts at Zara? How can she look in someone’s eyes and see pain (which is mentioned every time she looks at the MMC)? I really struggled to enjoy this book because on almost every page I just had more questions.
The formatting of this book really grated on me as well. I really dislike books that do not use speech marks (“”) to denote speech, instead using apostrophes (‘’). It is such a minor thing but when speech is hidden in paragraphs using the apostrophe rather than using a new line for new speech, it makes it so much more difficult to read.
There were so many problems for the all the main characters in this book as well. There was parental suicide, abandonment, affairs, parents lying to you, death of family, unwanted attraction, and I could go on. With how many issues were crammed into the book it just found the FMC to be disingenuous and so difficult to relate to.
I was really excited when I bought this book as I had seen so many good reviews about it, but I struggled to finish it and would not recommend it to anyone. The story didn’t flow (likely due to the characters being in a new part of the world every few chapters) and all the characters seemed very surface level with no deeper substance, with only their problems being what we know about them. Really disappointing.
The main issue for me was how implausible and unbelievable the whole story seemed. The FMC studied nursing in Italy and then gave that up in the UK to become an actress after being a carer for her grandmother? Why wouldn’t she work as a nurse in the UK whilst auditioning? How can she afford a flat in London on her own working part time as a waitress on weekends and 2 night shifts at Zara? How can she look in someone’s eyes and see pain (which is mentioned every time she looks at the MMC)? I really struggled to enjoy this book because on almost every page I just had more questions.
The formatting of this book really grated on me as well. I really dislike books that do not use speech marks (“”) to denote speech, instead using apostrophes (‘’). It is such a minor thing but when speech is hidden in paragraphs using the apostrophe rather than using a new line for new speech, it makes it so much more difficult to read.
There were so many problems for the all the main characters in this book as well. There was parental suicide, abandonment, affairs, parents lying to you, death of family, unwanted attraction, and I could go on. With how many issues were crammed into the book it just found the FMC to be disingenuous and so difficult to relate to.
I was really excited when I bought this book as I had seen so many good reviews about it, but I struggled to finish it and would not recommend it to anyone. The story didn’t flow (likely due to the characters being in a new part of the world every few chapters) and all the characters seemed very surface level with no deeper substance, with only their problems being what we know about them. Really disappointing.
jessicarb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
3.5
leahjade_98's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
melreadsthings's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Listened to the audiobook, not sure about the narration.
fictionalmusings's review against another edition
funny
fast-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
3.5
tellasdantes's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to the author, publishers and Netgalley allowing me to read this title in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 2.5 stars
I wish I could have liked this book. The premise was so good ... I was so interested at the beginning but lord it dragged on. It looked me WEEKS to get through this, where I went back and forth between enjoying some chapters and then others sending me into such a slump that I debated dnfing ... which now I look back and I should have just accepted my defeat.
The best part of this entire book was the fmc's best friend, Clara. She was fun to read about, and then I'd go back to the insta-love romance and the back and forth between the parents and the cousins and ugh. Just stop .. please write more of Clara and less of how the fmc has issues with both her parents lying to her.
The romance was okay. Kind of mediocre compared to other romances that I've read in the years. I wanted to give it a chance after reading other reviews but it seems they all hit the nail on the head. The chemistry was a little dry, drier than me reading those "spicy" scenes.
Rating: 2.5 stars
I wish I could have liked this book. The premise was so good ... I was so interested at the beginning but lord it dragged on. It looked me WEEKS to get through this, where I went back and forth between enjoying some chapters and then others sending me into such a slump that I debated dnfing ... which now I look back and I should have just accepted my defeat.
The best part of this entire book was the fmc's best friend, Clara. She was fun to read about, and then I'd go back to the insta-love romance and the back and forth between the parents and the cousins and ugh. Just stop .. please write more of Clara and less of how the fmc has issues with both her parents lying to her.
The romance was okay. Kind of mediocre compared to other romances that I've read in the years. I wanted to give it a chance after reading other reviews but it seems they all hit the nail on the head. The chemistry was a little dry, drier than me reading those "spicy" scenes.
pink_alex's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I might have had too high hopes for this one.
Francesca is a struggling actress who meets Jae-seung in his uncles coffee shop. Both kind of feel an instant connection. What she doesn’t know at the moment is that he is a famous but struggling K-Pop idol with major family issues. Francesca on the other hand has some family issues as well after her mother abondened her when she was a child and she slowly starts to discover the story behind that.
After Jae-seung breaks down on stage Francesca takes him to Sicily and from there on they start searching for her mother.
I liked the character and how they started to unravel their issues. I also liked their connection but the story just felt to much. There were just too many aspects combined.
Francesca is a struggling actress who meets Jae-seung in his uncles coffee shop. Both kind of feel an instant connection. What she doesn’t know at the moment is that he is a famous but struggling K-Pop idol with major family issues. Francesca on the other hand has some family issues as well after her mother abondened her when she was a child and she slowly starts to discover the story behind that.
After Jae-seung breaks down on stage Francesca takes him to Sicily and from there on they start searching for her mother.
I liked the character and how they started to unravel their issues. I also liked their connection but the story just felt to much. There were just too many aspects combined.
boooo's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
This book hooked me in the beginning but unfortunately I didn’t feel connected to the characters. The first time they met it was so awkward, rushed and unrealistic. It just didn’t make sense to me. It was very much a “fast burn romance “ in my opinion. I enjoyed everything but the romance part of this book which ironic since it is a romance book.
amystokely's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was a full 5⭐️ for me and it was the sweetest forbidden romance and friends to lovers story with a little bit of light mystery woven into it. The characters were so lovable and I was giggling and kicking my feet through the whole thing - I’d definitely recommend for any romance lovers!