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A review by stephdaydreams
Luna and the Lie by Mariana Zapata
5.0
4.5✨
This book make me feel every feeling possible.
It is a gorgeous character driven journey and its female main character (fmc) Luna will remain in my heart forever.
I adored that girl. Luna went through hell yet spent every day giving herself positive affirmation, smiling, and not letting resentment build in her. But she also knew how to value herself, how to set boundaries, and when to walk away. She was brilliant.
Rip was a really intriguing male main character (mmc), I was absolutely into all he had to offer but wish it didn't take so long to really get to know him.
One of my pet peeves in romances is when the mmc suddenly starts to call the fmc "baby." God it's usually an instant strike off the stars. It's simply a massive turn off for me, so imagine my surprise when the term made me swoon instead of cringe as the first "baby girl" popped up. Considering the age difference between our leads, I'd have expected cringe, but it fit. It just fit. It wasn't infantilizing, it just felt right. I smiled every time it popped up. It's still a massive pet peeve, but the use of it in this book will always be the exception.
This would be a perfect 5 stars if the romance had been more overt. I love me a slow-burn, but it shouldn't take the very last bit of the book to confirm the male hero's feelings. Yes, it was obvious he liked her from the start-- but there was still a major lack of romancing until he started his grovel. I absolutely loved the grovel and its aftermath, but I felt let down by how long it took to get to the actual romance.
This doesn't mean there wasn't excellent chemistry-- there 100% was!-- I just wanted it explored more.
Nevertheless, this is firmly Luna's story and that alone deserves 5 stars. She deserves the world. Frankly, she deserves better than her two sisters Thea and Kyra. Knowing how their father still haunts their sister's nightmares-- all the pain he inflicted onto her, the sacrifices she made for them, etc-- I felt it was a true slap in the face that to the end they kept in contact with him. That said, I am so glad Luna has her own found family (and a wonderful sister in Lily!), but also now will soon have her maternal family. That was a wonderful gift from Rip, and it left me with a full heart.
I adored Luna, and I adored this book.
This book make me feel every feeling possible.
It is a gorgeous character driven journey and its female main character (fmc) Luna will remain in my heart forever.
I adored that girl. Luna went through hell yet spent every day giving herself positive affirmation, smiling, and not letting resentment build in her. But she also knew how to value herself, how to set boundaries, and when to walk away. She was brilliant.
Rip was a really intriguing male main character (mmc), I was absolutely into all he had to offer but wish it didn't take so long to really get to know him.
One of my pet peeves in romances is when the mmc suddenly starts to call the fmc "baby." God it's usually an instant strike off the stars. It's simply a massive turn off for me, so imagine my surprise when the term made me swoon instead of cringe as the first "baby girl" popped up. Considering the age difference between our leads, I'd have expected cringe, but it fit. It just fit. It wasn't infantilizing, it just felt right. I smiled every time it popped up. It's still a massive pet peeve, but the use of it in this book will always be the exception.
This would be a perfect 5 stars if the romance had been more overt. I love me a slow-burn, but it shouldn't take the very last bit of the book to confirm the male hero's feelings. Yes, it was obvious he liked her from the start-- but there was still a major lack of romancing until he started his grovel. I absolutely loved the grovel and its aftermath, but I felt let down by how long it took to get to the actual romance.
This doesn't mean there wasn't excellent chemistry-- there 100% was!-- I just wanted it explored more.
Nevertheless, this is firmly Luna's story and that alone deserves 5 stars. She deserves the world. Frankly, she deserves better than her two sisters Thea and Kyra. Knowing how their father still haunts their sister's nightmares-- all the pain he inflicted onto her, the sacrifices she made for them, etc-- I felt it was a true slap in the face that to the end they kept in contact with him. That said, I am so glad Luna has her own found family (and a wonderful sister in Lily!), but also now will soon have her maternal family. That was a wonderful gift from Rip, and it left me with a full heart.
I adored Luna, and I adored this book.