Hi everyone! I used to be a former Goodreads lover. Who has decided to move to BookLikes due to the recent changes to the GR site: that is, the decision of the management to delete reviews that talk about bad author behaviour.
It is important that we know of bad author behaviour and actions. We buy their books. I want to know whether Author A has decided to harass Reviewer A or encouraged fans to stalk Reviewer B.
I want to know this, the same way I wanted to know that a well known sporting good company had been using child labour in the production of some of its products. The same way the WHOLE WORLD wanted to know.
It is irrelevant that the author writes well, or that the said sporting good company produces good quality sporting goods. Our ethics and morals MATTER!
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Now to discuss my reading habits:
I am very picky when it comes to books. I am a feminist and I think that shows in my reading list.
There are many things that bug me to death. But I'll always make an exception if the boy-girl standard is reversed. Dear world, that is MY double standard. I respect and champion authors who have the guts to do something different.
Firstly, I hate infidelity in novels.
Secondly, I hate it when the heroine is a virgin and the guy is an expert and skilled lover. I hate it when the heroine, for fated reasons, saves herself for someone who has been sowing his oats. It's not only overdone, old-fashioned and pathetic, but it also grosses me out like he is violating something so sacrosanct.
Thirdly, I might enjoy the occasional alpha-hero tendencies, but my true love lies with beta-heroes. Guys who are loving and sweet. Who don't feel the need to push around their women to make themselves feel more manly.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.This could have been a lovely book, if it weren't for the characters.From the start, I disliked the love triangle between Evelina, Nick and Tobias. I normally don't mind love triangles but I hated Evelina's crush on Tobias. I couldn't understand what she found attractive in him.Was it his drinking, gambling or sleeping around ways? The slightest favourable thing about him was his ability to make things. But even that paled a lot next to his fickle character and his character is very fickle, especially in the end.I felt like Evelina was dazzled by his rakish charm and the fact that he had a title that Nick did not.I honestly found her superficial. I won't say that about many heroines, but in this one, although Evelina kept on saying that she didn't care more about her respectability than Nick, I felt the other way. For example, there was a part where Nick gets hurt and they have a conversation where Nick asks her whether she would call a doctor for him, and she says that she would if she thought it would help. Of course it would help, he was bloody bleeding. But she decides to trust her own unknown powers of healing over a doctor's trusted methods.There was one Shakespearean quote that came to mind:"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."Evelina was also very fickle. One moment she was wholly in love with Nick, the other with Tobias. The setting and plot was good. But I felt the love triangle detracted me from enjoying the setting and plot too much.ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing.