Independently Published Dear Ava: Enemies-to-lovers Standalone Romance

I liked the plot of this but I hated the writing, I cringed at some of the insults/comebacks too 😭

4,25/5 🔥Ce roman m'a sorti d'une panne de lecture et je l'ai lu très rapidement !Une lecture que j’ai beaucoup aimée : j’ai eu du mal à m’arrêter. Des personnages intrigants, attachants et, je trouve, bien construits. Ava est forte, prête à en découdre avec la vérité de cette nuit dans les bois, mais une certaine fragilité et sensibilité émane d’elle et nous donne juste envie de la rassurer. J’ai beaucoup apprécié les personnages de Knox et Dane, dont la relation fraternelle est très belle et bien exploitée. J’ai aimé que la famille ait une place importante tout le long du récit, celle-ci pouvant vite être mise de côté au profit de la romance.Les thèmes abordés l’étaient de manières plutôt justes, que ce soit le trouble mental de la mère de Knox, le slut-shaming ou encore le questionnement de la victime lorsqu’Ava rappelle le policier l’ayant interrogée, qui suggérait qu’elle était le seule responsable de ce qui lui était arrivé. L’auteure décrit bien la glorification des footballeurs, très connues aux USA, le jeu de la notoriété et de l’argent, au dépend des victimes.Une romance bien menée, à laquelle j’ai vraiment cru, jusqu’au bout. Beaucoup d’émotions tout le long du récit : on passe du rire aux larmes. Je me suis beaucoup attachée à chacun des personnages, l’intrigue est bien rythmée et la fin était douce, comme on l’espère.Les seuls points négatifs pour moi sont le manque général de suspens sur l'admirateur d'Ava (qui est un aspect quasiment pas exploité dans le roman, finalement) et sur son agresseur (qui se devine facilement).Sorti de là, c'était une très bonne lecture, addictive, avec une superbe plume ✨

Couldn't put it down, love the story and the writing! Just upset I've had it on my bookself so long till I came across one of the author's tiktoks the other day and I'm like oh I need to read that!! Check triggers.

Very good story, addictive and great for YA

I bought this book because the reviews were great and "enemies to lovers" sounded like an intriguing genre, but wow this book was not good. I know that as a romance book the bar for story quality and writing is low, but this book somehow collided its forehead with this one-inch-off-the-ground bar and absolutely did not clear it.The set-up of the book was eye-roll worthy and the characters were so one-dimensional in terms of description. The book switches perspectives between the female and male protagonists, and the female's perception and descriptions of herself were weird and unnatural at times to the point where I had to double-check the author was not male. Also, her nickname is "Tulip", which is extremely cringey and not endearing? The male protagonist's actions and thoughts read as creepy which, again, I'm well aware I'm reading a romance book, but normally there's some kind of depth and complexity behind such behaviors, and there was none here. Even the side characters, like Ava's friends, were lacking of any purpose. You could omit them from the book entirely and it would not change the plot one bit. Most importantly, the main characters were also never really "enemies" because he's always loved her and they begin the book as more than acquaintances on friendly speaking terms so if "enemies to lovers" is what you're here for, best be looking somewhere else.I kept reading the book because surely a solid 5-star review on Amazon must mean something, right? Maybe there will be a plot twist, or any kind of plot climax, or something that would make me root for these characters? No. No plot twist whatsoever, you can guess in the first few pages who her ~~secret admirer~~ is.Maybe you're here for the smut. If the sex scenes were of quality or quantity in this book, it would have cleared the aforementioned bar. As you may recall, it did not. There are plenty of other romance books out there that clear this simple bar.Finally, the author says she reads every review. Ilsa, if you're reading this: even if this was a good book, even if I genuinely enjoyed the characters and plot, even if this was my favorite book with my favorite characters, a multi-chapter epilogue describing their happily-ever-after incrementally will never be enjoyable. You get one shot at an epilogue. Then leave it there. If you feel the need to continue, your story is not complete and is too flimsy to hold itself up.