Scan barcode
A review by miss_anizceta
Until You Come Back Home by Cristiana Marques
2.0
ARC received in exchange of an honest review
Title: Until You Come Back Home
Author: Cristiana Marques
Rating: 2/5
Prepare your pans, measuring cups, and heart! Spoiler: We get a free recipe and as someone who loves baked goods, I would definitely try it if only I have an oven.
This debut novel by Cristiana Marques is a cute and simple story of love, friendship, and second chances. It's about best friends, Madeleine and Carter, who were left in the aftermath of their teenage choices but with a stroke of destiny, have been able to meet again and finally given another shot, to be honest with themselves and their relationship.
I'm not sure how to start knowing I just rated this book for 2 stars! I guess I didn't like the book as much as I hope I would. I was attracted to the fact it's about two best friends who are obviously in denial. Like Barchie here!
The plot was interesting enough (I said so!). But here goes...
Characters
We are introduced to the two main characters: Madeleine, a fantastic baker, and rising author; and Carter, an architect, Madeleine's best friend to whom she left without a goodbye (there was a letter though) in Portugal years ago. Then the supporting mains, Sasha and Holly, both of whom are part of the LGBTQ community.
The characters are likable enough. But Sasha stood out for me because she's independent and strong.
Carter is dreamy!
Plot and Review
The plot is simple, and at first, I thought it'll only focus on Madeleine and Carter, but to my surprise, we were also given POVs of Sasha and Holly.
With best friends, having intimate, romantic feelings is a major turning point. It has the power to turn your relationship into a beautiful beginning or sadly, it could be the end of your friendship. There goes the drama, the deflection, using other people as a rebound so you'll forget, and lies. It's a roller-coaster! This is how it happened for Madeleine and Carter.
The flashbacks were a helpful foundation so we can understand the how and the why. It's great that we get to see what happened in the past and present times.
I just wish the enemies part were explored more than Madeleine and Carter quickly reconnecting. Reading it, it seemed too fast and too easy. I hated that Holly intervened when Carter tried to contact Madeleine, mainly because this scenario had been used many times. But this was the turning point and without it then we wouldn't be here.
There were noticeable grammar errors like capitalization, I'm not sure why English and Portuguese wasn't capitalized, especially since they're proper nouns. There's also a spelling mistake on hipotesis. It should be hypothesis since the story is written in English. It's understandable since this is just an ARC but it would need to be proofread and edited. The writing style was easy to understand but would need to work on consistency, flow, transition, and word choice.
Unfortunately for me, there's a lack of character development and story build-up. Although it shows the past and present times, it wasn't enough for me to connect with any characters nor did I feel excited to read the next chapter. The pacing was quite fast and therefore it missed out on the chance to connect with the characters and how the story progressed as a whole.
I think Until You Come Back Home was more told than shown to which was a big no for me.
However, all in all, the story has potential. Considering this to be a debut novel, it was an okay read. It was simple, sweet as promised, and ends in a cliff-hanger! I would love to give the sequel a chance. Recommending it to those who are in for an easy, quick read.
Title: Until You Come Back Home
Author: Cristiana Marques
Rating: 2/5
Prepare your pans, measuring cups, and heart! Spoiler: We get a free recipe and as someone who loves baked goods, I would definitely try it if only I have an oven.
This debut novel by Cristiana Marques is a cute and simple story of love, friendship, and second chances. It's about best friends, Madeleine and Carter, who were left in the aftermath of their teenage choices but with a stroke of destiny, have been able to meet again and finally given another shot, to be honest with themselves and their relationship.
I'm not sure how to start knowing I just rated this book for 2 stars! I guess I didn't like the book as much as I hope I would. I was attracted to the fact it's about two best friends who are obviously in denial. Like Barchie here!
The plot was interesting enough (I said so!). But here goes...
Spoiler
Characters
We are introduced to the two main characters: Madeleine, a fantastic baker, and rising author; and Carter, an architect, Madeleine's best friend to whom she left without a goodbye (there was a letter though) in Portugal years ago. Then the supporting mains, Sasha and Holly, both of whom are part of the LGBTQ community.
The characters are likable enough. But Sasha stood out for me because she's independent and strong.
Carter is dreamy!
Plot and Review
The plot is simple, and at first, I thought it'll only focus on Madeleine and Carter, but to my surprise, we were also given POVs of Sasha and Holly.
With best friends, having intimate, romantic feelings is a major turning point. It has the power to turn your relationship into a beautiful beginning or sadly, it could be the end of your friendship. There goes the drama, the deflection, using other people as a rebound so you'll forget, and lies. It's a roller-coaster! This is how it happened for Madeleine and Carter.
The flashbacks were a helpful foundation so we can understand the how and the why. It's great that we get to see what happened in the past and present times.
I just wish the enemies part were explored more than Madeleine and Carter quickly reconnecting. Reading it, it seemed too fast and too easy. I hated that Holly intervened when Carter tried to contact Madeleine, mainly because this scenario had been used many times. But this was the turning point and without it then we wouldn't be here.
There were noticeable grammar errors like capitalization, I'm not sure why English and Portuguese wasn't capitalized, especially since they're proper nouns. There's also a spelling mistake on hipotesis. It should be hypothesis since the story is written in English. It's understandable since this is just an ARC but it would need to be proofread and edited. The writing style was easy to understand but would need to work on consistency, flow, transition, and word choice.
Unfortunately for me, there's a lack of character development and story build-up. Although it shows the past and present times, it wasn't enough for me to connect with any characters nor did I feel excited to read the next chapter. The pacing was quite fast and therefore it missed out on the chance to connect with the characters and how the story progressed as a whole.
I think Until You Come Back Home was more told than shown to which was a big no for me.
However, all in all, the story has potential. Considering this to be a debut novel, it was an okay read. It was simple, sweet as promised, and ends in a cliff-hanger! I would love to give the sequel a chance. Recommending it to those who are in for an easy, quick read.