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h o l l i s 's Reviews > Twice in a Blue Moon
Twice in a Blue Moon
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h o l l i s 's review
bookshelves: 2019-reads, arc, baa-baa-black-sheep, contemporary, ebook, family-focused, finished-in-october-2019, grief-or-loss, meh, not-a-bunch-of-twenty-somethings, second-chances, romance, women-s-fic, zzzz-snooze
Oct 07, 2019
bookshelves: 2019-reads, arc, baa-baa-black-sheep, contemporary, ebook, family-focused, finished-in-october-2019, grief-or-loss, meh, not-a-bunch-of-twenty-somethings, second-chances, romance, women-s-fic, zzzz-snooze
It's happened. I've finally rated a CLo book two stars (we won't count BEAUTIFUL BASTARD in this tally because reasons).
I don't really know where this trend of having a chunk, or even half, of a contemporary set in the past (aka making it YA) started but.. I don't want it, or like it. Is this because these books now qualify as women's fiction? Unsure. That said, if you want to write a YA romance, go for it. Flashbacks, fine. But not full, long, chapters of it. It's just not for me. Likewise, and in a related vein, second-chance romances aren't my favourite. But I thought CLo could make it work for me. And sometimes it felt like it could've, like it was almost there but, overwhelmingly, it didn't.
This story is about finding that one-true-love twice in a lifetime. And it's also about twice the betrayals.
I didn't like the hero because, let's be honest, he only served a purpose to the plot and as result had no real personality besides muscles. I only liked the heroine when she was confronted with said hero after said betrayal, and after fourteen years of time passing, and let him have it. She stood up for herself, she addressed the elephant in the room, and I rooted for her (we were all rooting for you!). Every other time she was just.. fine, I guess. But her family was made up of mostly frustrating concepts, and while she did have one good friend, she didn't get half as much page time as she deserved — and that's probably because so much page time was given over to the script of the movie that took up the focus of the story. And the catalyst for getting these two leads back together.
There just wasn't a lot to love here. Like many of CLo’s recent books, the heat factor is tame, they seem to only insert humour for every other release (so, this wasn't one that was funny), and nothing about it left any kind of impression. The whole thing felt kinda basic, pretty muted, and just.. standard.
Like another recent release by another favourite author, I think I'm getting off this train. Or at least the ARC list. I'd much rather wait for reviews, and borrow from my library, then be posting early about my disappointment or not knowing if it's even one I’ll want to read in the end.
** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
I don't really know where this trend of having a chunk, or even half, of a contemporary set in the past (aka making it YA) started but.. I don't want it, or like it. Is this because these books now qualify as women's fiction? Unsure. That said, if you want to write a YA romance, go for it. Flashbacks, fine. But not full, long, chapters of it. It's just not for me. Likewise, and in a related vein, second-chance romances aren't my favourite. But I thought CLo could make it work for me. And sometimes it felt like it could've, like it was almost there but, overwhelmingly, it didn't.
This story is about finding that one-true-love twice in a lifetime. And it's also about twice the betrayals.
I didn't like the hero because, let's be honest, he only served a purpose to the plot and as result had no real personality besides muscles. I only liked the heroine when she was confronted with said hero after said betrayal, and after fourteen years of time passing, and let him have it. She stood up for herself, she addressed the elephant in the room, and I rooted for her (we were all rooting for you!). Every other time she was just.. fine, I guess. But her family was made up of mostly frustrating concepts, and while she did have one good friend, she didn't get half as much page time as she deserved — and that's probably because so much page time was given over to the script of the movie that took up the focus of the story. And the catalyst for getting these two leads back together.
There just wasn't a lot to love here. Like many of CLo’s recent books, the heat factor is tame, they seem to only insert humour for every other release (so, this wasn't one that was funny), and nothing about it left any kind of impression. The whole thing felt kinda basic, pretty muted, and just.. standard.
Like another recent release by another favourite author, I think I'm getting off this train. Or at least the ARC list. I'd much rather wait for reviews, and borrow from my library, then be posting early about my disappointment or not knowing if it's even one I’ll want to read in the end.
** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
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Reading Progress
August 17, 2019
– Shelved
August 17, 2019
– Shelved as:
to-read
October 7, 2019
–
Started Reading
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
2019-reads
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
arc
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
baa-baa-black-sheep
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
contemporary
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
ebook
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
family-focused
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
finished-in-october-2019
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
grief-or-loss
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
meh
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
not-a-bunch-of-twenty-somethings
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
second-chances
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
romance
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
women-s-fic
October 7, 2019
– Shelved as:
zzzz-snooze
October 7, 2019
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-33 of 33 (33 new)
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message 1:
by
Carrie
(new)
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rated it 4 stars
Oct 07, 2019 12:02PM
Nnooooooo!!!
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Carrie wrote: "Nnooooooo!!!"hello I am The Worst.
Oh boy, I year you! I’m opposite of you not a big fan of flashbacks, so having one half of the story set in the past is acceptable. I often like the YA part better than the present, but I know exactly what you mean. It’s like authors can’t decide what to write.
Corina wrote: "Oh boy, I year you! I’m opposite of you not a big fan of flashbacks, so having one half of the story set in the past is acceptable. I often like the YA part better than the present, but I know exac..."definitely trying to grab two audiences, I think, and satisfy both sides. which is fine, I guess, but there's going to be some of us that just fall to the wayside.
Oh no. I don't long past sections AT ALL. Ugh.
I like these things so it might work, might!!!!
tara wrote: "I like these things so it might work, might!!!!"ooh, I hope it works for you!!
Bookphenomena (Micky) wrote: "Oh no. I don't long past sections AT ALL. Ugh."# you've lost.. that loving feeling. wOOOOoAAAoww that lovvingggg feeling.. you've lost that LOVIIIING feeling and it's gone.. gone.. gone.. wooAAAAOOOhhhh.. #
it's me, I've lost it. : (
I love second chance and flashbacks, but the may one I read where they did this did not give air to the current relationship... So I feel ya
Hollis...sending the sedative now.
Hollis wrote: ooh, I hope it works for you!!"Thank you. So sorry it wasn't up your alley :(
Darn. I didn't enjoy Love and Other Words cos of the alternating YA chapters. I'm just not a YA fan. I'm not a fan of too many flashbacks anyway. Looks like this one's not gonna be a winner either. What happened to the great writers of the Beautiful series? (OK, Beautiful Bastard wasn't my fav, either). But they've changed their style in their last few books, which is great for some.... but I much prefer their former style. Keep hoping they'll write more books like their older ones. Clearly this one isn't going to be it :(
Melissa | Slow Readers Blog wrote: "I love you"EXCUSE ME I LOVE YOU MORE
Sam (AMNReader) wrote: "I love second chance and flashbacks, but the may one I read where they did this did not give air to the current relationship... So I feel ya"I think I know the one you're talking about.
Bookphenomena (Micky) wrote: "Hollis...sending the sedative now."I've got my veins all tapped and ready.
Jan wrote: "Darn. I didn't enjoy Love and Other Words cos of the alternating YA chapters. I'm just not a YA fan. I'm not a fan of too many flashbacks anyway. Looks like this one's not gonna be a winner either...."I remember it working better in LOVE AND OTHER WORDS but maybe that's because I cared more about that story in general vs this one.
I've been mostly happy with their new style (ROOMIES & Josh & Hazel being prime examples) but everything has been.. good? ish?
yeah, you have to wonder if they are hearing the response from so many readers who want the sexier contemporaries. or if they do and just don't want to do it anymore? hard to say.
Hollis wrote: "yeah, you have to wonder if they are hearing the response from so many readers who want the sexier contemporaries. or if they do and just don't want to do it anymore? hard to say."I imagine they've got many new readers who like the kind of fluffier stuff they're doing now. For me the Beautiful series had more depth and character development. Yeah I don't mind the sexy stuff - I quite enjoy it if it's not OTT. But that's not really why I liked those books so much, or only partly. For me the characters were more interesting - they felt like actual grown-ups with interesting lives. The characs in the newer books feel forgettable - in fact I've already forgotten them. I couldn't name one. But who could forget Will Sumner? Or Max? OMG, I miss those books.
But yeah, maybe they just aren't interested in writing those kinda books any more, and if the newer style ones are selling well....
Hello Hollis,I appreciate your honesty, opinion and review. I wish more people wrote them. Is the type of book you talking about, like some of the following titles by Nicholas Sparks, such as "The Notebook", "The Longest Ride", "Every Breath" and others I'm sure? Would you please further explain your perspective?
If so, while I have the upmost respect for your opinion and can see why you feel that way [a primary way of understanding my own opinion is by understanding another's different one], I actually like this style. There's something about being on a similar path of someone one respects that is comforting and inspiring to me. Knowing the saying "there's nothing new under the sun" is true and discovering examples of it I find encouraging.
I've not read this title, and I'm sure there are many ways to apply this technic incorrectly, but I've enjoyed Nicholas's approach to it. If you've not read them I recommend you give them a shot before writing off the niche.
In addition, I've actually recommended this style to authors who have a great story, with a clear 3 acts, so to speak, but doesn't have the length of a novel. I think it's a great way to include additional layers and perspectives to a story and message one is trying to express.
What do you think?
Jan wrote: "Hollis wrote: "yeah, you have to wonder if they are hearing the response from so many readers who want the sexier contemporaries. or if they do and just don't want to do it anymore? hard to say."..."
I'm going to reread some of these Jan. I actually liked Beautiful Bastard, I don't think I would now...But Will remains in my memory as one of my favorite heroes
Omg yes! I am not a fan of YA in the least, and it felt like all of the relationship development was in the YA chapters. Disappointing.
Dude, same. What the heck? This was...not so great.
Tiff wrote: "Dude, same. What the heck? This was...not so great."it wasn'ttttt. sad.
Jem wrote: "Omg yes! I am not a fan of YA in the least, and it felt like all of the relationship development was in the YA chapters. Disappointing."so sorry this didn't work for you! I even like (and love) YA but still..
Sam (AMNReader) wrote: "I'm going to reread some of these Jan. I actually liked Beautiful Bastard, I don't think I would now...But Will remains in my memory as one of my favorite heroes"OMG I still love Will Sumner. Every now and then I reread the whole series, even Beautiful Bastard, which was my least fav. Some of the individual books had aspects I didn't enjoy, but overall they were really engrossing with believable characters you cared about.
At this stage, I'm not going down the Twice In a Blue Moon path. The mixed reviews, the VERY EXPENSIVE KINDLE PRICE and my poor experience with their recent books are all contributing factors.
I really dislike the YA flashbacks books too. I'm always getting frustrated ugh
I was just ranting that the first full 1/3 of the book is the flash back. 118 freaking pages of a lackluster vacation in London. And I don’t care that it was legal, the sex scenes creeped me out. How can they possibly reconcile properly in 2/3 of the book, when there needs to be all that plot and character development all over again??
Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ wrote: "I really dislike the YA flashbacks books too. I'm always getting frustrated ugh"trying to bank on two markets, I guess? or maybe this is what people think women's fiction is? I don't knowwww.
Lindsey the Reader wrote: "I was just ranting that the first full 1/3 of the book is the flash back. 118 freaking pages of a lackluster vacation in London. And I don’t care that it was legal, the sex scenes creeped me out. H..."LINDSEY, YES. I can't believe that a connection, no matter how long it lasted, so long ago, can make up for any kind of present-day/decades later framework. but I also really struggle with second chance tropes, too, so that doesn't help? but then also we used up all that page time that could've been given to relaying a foundation to.. a screenplay? sorry, nope.
So. I’m only 13 pages in and 😬🤨. Sam is creepy.
An actual review - mine just boiled down to “nobody was real and everyone was stupid.” I should just link to your review cause A+ explaining why I couldn’t stand this. (Nana wasn’t stupid.)
Flo wrote: "An actual review - mine just boiled down to “nobody was real and everyone was stupid.” I should just link to your review cause A+ explaining why I couldn’t stand this. (Nana wasn’t stupid.)"hahaha noooo yours is so succinct and perfect.
