Hey everyone, welcome or welcome back to my blog! Today I’m introducing a new series to my blog where I give authors a “second” chance and read another one of their books to see if I might actually like their writing, just with a different story. This post is definitely inspired by Booksandlala so it’s not an original idea but I loved seeing her give other authors another chance so I thought I’d give it a go myself and I definitely think I’ve got a good mix of romance authors here!
Theme: ROMANCE
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🍂 alice oseman 🍂
what I’ve read from them before:
- Heartstopper Vol 1 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
- Heartstopper Vol 2 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Heartstopper Vol 3 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
- Heartstopper Vol 4 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- This Winter | ⭐⭐⭐.5
- Nick and Charlie | ⭐⭐⭐
- I Was Born For This | ⭐⭐⭐
Okay, so this clearly isn’t a second chance because I’ve read the Heartstopper series and the other novellas involving Nick and charlie and I’ve loved each volume, but for this post, I’m focusing on Alice Oseman’s novels!
the second try:
Solitaire by Alice Oseman | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is such a difficult book to talk about so I’m going to quickly link my full review here & my immediate thoughts from goodreads here. I really wasn’t sure what I was going to rate this. Initially, I was going to give this a 2 star rating just because I found it difficult to read. But, upon reflection, I really think this was a well-written book about an angry teenage girl with depression so I appreciated it for that reason.
I think that Tori (the main character) is a very difficult character to read from the perspective of and that’s why it took me quite a while (okay, so it was only 2 days, but I had to take a lot of breaks!) to read this. I think that I was so used to Heartstopper and seeing characters from different perspectives and very much with the pastel coloured glasses on. So, I definitely wasn’t prepared for how full-force this was going to be, especially with mental illness. Overall, this was really different to Heartstopper (especially the first 3 volumes) but, I will absolutely be reading more from Alice Oseman in the future, but this time I’ll be more prepared! I also think it’s worth mentioning that Solitaire was first published in 2014 so the whole “not like other girls” vibe was pretty common around that time too.
I think I’ll probably read Radio Silence next and I already have Loveless on my tbr so I really hope I enjoy them!
🌿 beth o’leary 🌿
what I’ve read from them before:
- The Flatshare | ⭐⭐⭐.75
the second try:
The No Show by Beth O’leary | ⭐⭐⭐.25
Like Solitaire, I really struggled with my rating for this one. I read The Flatshare back in 2019 and really liked the idea but found the guy’s perspective too robotic and it took me until almost the halfway point for me to start enjoying the story!
I had a similar problem with The No Show, it took me until roughly 50/60% to really get into the story. I liked the characters well enough but couldn’t really see the point of the book until I figured out what was going on and then a flip was switched in my mind and I was absolutely loving it! I only gave this a 3.25 stars but I’ll be honest, I have already bought a copy to gift to my mum for Mothers Day because I cannot stop thinking about this book. I do think it takes some time to get into it, but that might just be Beth O’Leary’s writing style! I don’t know if I’ll go back and read her backlist but, I will definitely keep an eye out if any of her other books catch my eye in the future!
🌼 elle kennedy 🌼
what I’ve read from them before:
- The Deal | ⭐⭐⭐
- The Mistake | ⭐⭐⭐
- The Chase | ⭐⭐⭐
- The Risk | ⭐⭐⭐
- The Play | ⭐⭐⭐
I have also read quite a few of Elle Kennedy’s popular backlist books but I’ve only ever rated her books 3 stars so I’m going to give her books another go and this time I’m reading a m/m romance!
the second try:
Him by Elle Kennedy | ⭐⭐.75
This is such a shame but I couldn’t even give this a full 3 stars! I was really hoping with this post that I’d enjoy all of the books I read but, this really wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. I know that Elle Kennedy’s books sort of thrive off of miscommunication and drama but, I really wish there’d been just a bit more time, at least towards the end, for the main couple to really talk to each other instead of just bonking in their cabin at every chance. This wasn’t mindblowing at all, but I will say that it was refreshing to read a stereotypical easy NA romance book with a m/m romance. I did enjoy the main characters so I do think that even though I didn’t love this first book, I will continue the series so maybe I can get some more closure for their relationship and so hopefully they’ll have the conversations that I felt were missing from this book.
🍃 tessa bailey 🍃
what I’ve read from them before:
- Fix Her Up | ⭐⭐⭐.75
I just re-read my review for Fix Her Up which I read way back in 20119 when I definitely wasn’t a consistent romance reader and I was so surprised to see that I almost gave this a 4 star rating because I really didn’t have a good memory of this one! I think mostly I was just underwhelmed and unimpressed by Fix Her Up so I’m intrigued to see what I think of Tools of Engagement!
the second try:
Tools of Engagement by Tessa Bailey | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I haven’t read much by Tessa Bailey before this and it was a while ago that I read Fix Her Up so I don’t have a whole lot to compare her books to. But, I will say right off the back, that I just plain enjoyed this one more. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the family dynamics in the book which gave me something to focus on other than the romance. I love reading romance but, I don’t usually want to focus on the relationship for 100% of the book and I think Tessa Bailey created a really good balance between romance and other here!
The ending was a bit too cheesy for me, but I typically hate romance endings anyway, so no one is really surprised here. I really did enjoy this one and I loved how Tessa Bailey wrote all of the tropes! I will definitely be reading more from her in the future, but I might read her future releases instead of delving into her backlist!.
- It Happened One Summer | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Hook, Line, And Sinker | ⭐⭐⭐.5
Do you often give an author a second chance?
Have you read from any of these authors before?
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After giving Tessa Bailey books average or low ratings, I decided to give her one last try with It Happened One Summer, and I’m so glad I did, because I really enjoyed it! And what’s great is that it led to me continuing on with Hook, Line, and Sinker, which was one of my few 5 star reads this year! So even though I don’t give authors a second chance that often, maybe I should!
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I have only read Oseman’s RADIO SILENCE and despite having a couple issues with it, I really enjoyed it. I’d guess it’s more similar to Solitaire than her other works that you’ve read.
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