Member Reviews
Thank you NetGalley for the audio ARC of this for my honest review.
First sign I am not going to enjoy a book is when it takes me over a month to listen to and by the halfway point I was listening on 3x speed. This book felt way too long for a whole lot of nothing to occur.
I also did not let the characters, except Landon (kind of) and Peter. Otherwise Helena was so unbelievably immature to the point where she acted more like the 12 yr old sister than the 12 yr old sister. Even right at the start, she was really disrespectful about her soon to be new family members, giving them all childish nicknames and making fun of them. Also Amelia's POV was insanely difficult for me to listen to.
I feelclike the first half of the book there was a lot crammed in but it was all the same thing over and over.
I really wanted to like this but it unfortunately fell very flat for me.
This story is a modern retelling of Shakespeares “a midnight summer dream.” The story has a lot of potential but the characters are very similar. I listened to the audio version and it was very hard to differentiate the characters sometimes. I also thought the audio narrator’s voice was a poor choice for this book. I might have liked it so much more if it wasn’t so monotone. I thought the ending was the best part but I really struggled to finish this book and almost didn’t several times.
This modern re-telling of A Midsummer Night's Dream is predictable but still enjoyable. It is a perfect beach read for summer, with cute moments and connections. Some of the characters are a bit one dimensional but for a romcom it is almost to be expected!
I liked this book because I loved how different Helena and Amelia are. One has their life completely planned and the other one is a "Let's see what happens" mentality. There is humor in this book and a lot of family and friend drama that just made me smile. I don't remember Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night Dream, but this book was enjoyable without that fun aspect for me!
Modern re-telling of Shakespeare. A family wedding weekend full of complexities. Fun story, but at times I got bored and pushed up play speed.
Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC audio of this upcoming new release
This one was a bit unrealistic for me. There’s no way this plot would actually happen and “too good to be true”. It was long and redundant. There were some likable characters and enjoyed the multiple POVs.
I received an advanced audiobook to listen to (thanks NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction!) and it was an easy breezy listen. However, the story and its characters fell a little bit flat. There scenarios and drama felt repetitive, but the story did have heart! The summery location was a plus too.
For the audio, the narrator felt a little too stiff or robotic to me. I prefer a more casual/conversational narrator.
ah what a satisfying ending. It wasn't exactly what I thought it would be but I was pleasantly surprised by it. It had just enough romance but I would have liked just a little more about the family dynamics
I really had very high hopes for this book, but it really became hard to get through. Very predictable from the get-go and it did not get better from there. Super bland writing and no exciting or interesting moments from the beginning to the end. The only reason I finished was because I wanted to give an honest review on NetGalley, but had I checked this out from the public library, I would have DNF’d the book.
Right off the bat “It’s all relative” reminds me of “The Unhoneymooners” by Christina Lauren. I didn’t love “The Unhoneymooners” but I do love stories surrounding chaos at a wedding!
At first I thought the narrator’s voice felt too… robotic? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but as the first few chapters progressed I really enjoyed the personality and emotion she put into her narration. Another part of her narration that I thoroughly enjoyed was her speed. I often speed audiobooks up to at least 1.5x, but “It’s All Relative” was perfect at 1x speed!
As far as substance, I really liked Helena, Emory, Gage, and Peter, where I had conflicted opinions on Amelia and Landon which ended in liking them, disliked Nora and had zero opinions on Steve. The book was good! Not great, but good. I thought the descriptive scenes were very strong, I could perfectly envision them sailing and searching in the forest for the bird. It was a little corny but who doesn’t love a corny love story every now and then! 3/5 stars
I have never read A Midsummer Night’s Dream but I requested this ARC based on the synopsis and found it to be an enjoyable read.
I’m more of a romance reader and this is definitely more women’s fiction but I enjoyed it. The tension of merging two families is always tough even if the children are mostly grown. Even as a Type-A person myself, I struggled a bit with Amelia’s character but her growth through the book made me like her in the end. Helena was more likeable in the beginning but she also had some growing to do. I had no idea how the romances that were obviously headed somewhere different would play out without things feeling extremely quick but it worked. Overall, this is a sweet story about a found family and realizing how to overcome differences with a touch of romance.
I also love when stories have romance with older characters and even though the parents’ relationship was definitely in the background, that was a sweet addition.
I received an advanced copy of this audiobook from NetGalley. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.
Content Notes: Kisses
My first book from Net Galley yay!
(although… this book is out, but still!)
I like the premise of this book and the cover is very cute. I think it’s good for the summer and if you like lighthearted romance novels, you will enjoy this. However, the book itself was very mid. Some of the main characters were annoying at times, the story dragged, the “drama” felt unnecessary, and it reminded me of the movie “Anyone But You” that recently came out. (Which I did not like at all)
Just not my cup of tea.
I will also add that I listened to the audiobook. I do love multi-POV books but it would’ve added to the experience had there been different narrators for each of the characters. I will say, the narrator was good. I just listen to a lot of audiobooks so I would have liked a bit more variety in the narrators.
I really enjoyed this audio book by Rachel Magee. It's All Relative is about a blended family, but the "children" are all adults. As they struggle to face the realities of life and be honest with one another they truly learn what family is about. I loved the immediate twist at the beginning of the story and how it worked itself out throughout. It was a fun summer listen as its set on the beach during summer vacation. A great clean romance!
This was my first Rachel Magee book and it will not be my last. From the first time we meet each character to the way each story line is wrapped up, I loved every moment.
We first meet Helena & her teacher best friend Landon as Helena prepares to spend her mother’s wedding weekend with ‘The Perfects’ on a remote Florida island. Helena ropes Landon into joining her for moral support but when they arrive to The Maddox home in Florida, Landon quickly finds out the biggest surprise of the weekend may be his own.
Enter Helena’s soon to be step-sister and Landon’s “one that got away”.
I went into this read somewhat blind which had been my favourite way to read Advanced Reader Copies as of late and it was one wonderful surprise after another.
This storyline has 4 points of view & each one adds value and perspective to the storyline of 4 individuals to who together and find the pieces of themselves that they once thought lost.
It’s a 10/10 and now I can’t wait to read more from Rachel.
Disclaimer: I received both the Advanced Reader and Listener copies from Netgalley. I both listened and real the book and found myself preferring to read the book and develop the sound of each character in my own mind.
All thoughts and expressions in this review are my own.
Thank you to Netgalley and TNZ Fiction for the opportunity.
Thank you to NetGalley for the audio arc for this one! It is the modern retelling of Midsummer Night's Dream. It is a very predictable RomCom but in a good way. I enjoyed the characters -- except for Helena at times and the bird. I thought the narrator did a great job. This would make a great beach read. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys RomComs.
Many thanks to Netgalley, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and the author, for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A modern Shakespearean comedy retelling!! The story starts with a wedding! does it though? maybe!
Anyways we have Helena whose mom Nora is getting married to the love of her life Steve who is widower with 3 kids (2 adults - Amelia and Peter and an almost teenager Emery) aka the perfects as dubbed by Helena. Amelia is engaged to Gage and has a picture perfect life with vice like control over everything, while Helena is exact opposite with everything messy and a little late. Helena begs Landon her best friend to go with her for the wedding as a buffer from the perfects, little did she know, Landon's Mia, his perfect ex to whose measure no one has reached is no one other than her almost step sister Amelia perfect. What ensues is as you can expect, drama that starts off as a spark and leads to an explosion to a happy ending.
The Shakespearean nuances of Midsummer's Night Dream was well played and the story flowed really well. The narrator's did a great job ensuring the same and adding their own flair to the story. It was a bit hard to get into with Helena being a little irritating (very understandably) in the beginning. But as the story progressed, it got better and better. The fund family, friendship and camaraderie was beautiful. The book left a sweet lingering taste in my mouth!
This was a fun summer, what one might call a "beach read." The characters are relatable, and there is a lot of drama as these families prepare for a wedding that will unite them. It's got a love rectangle rather than triangle, and there are a lot of funny moments and cutesy parts. It wasn't the most amazing writing ever, but it was definitely cute. A fun quick read that's very people-centered.
Audiobooks usually grab me right away and this one just really didn't grab me. It fell kind of flat. I should have given it more of a chance but it just wasn't for me.
Having a hard time rating this book because the concept was there and some of the characters were interesting and some I couldn't stand.
I thought the premise was really good and refreshing. I love the cover- super eye catching and I definitely would have picked it up in a store. I did however struggle with the audiobook as the narrator had a very dull voice that felt like AI. I think I would have had more success reading for myself but ended up DNF-ing the audiobook. I did like the idea, but just not so much the execution