Sam's Reading: A Work in Progress

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So Much More

So Much More - Kim Holden, Amy Donnelly, Monica Stockbridge I don't even know how to shelve this.
3 POVs up till the end, when a 4th gets added. I have, historically, I thought, liked Kim Holden's writing but in this book I found it as meh. I want to be VERY fair. This book is meant to be angsty, it lays it all out in the prologue. Unfortunately I am currently reading [b:My Absolute Darling|33572350|My Absolute Darling|Gabriel Tallent|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498911183s/33572350.jpg|54375969] which is incredibly heavy and engaging, controversial, and critically acclaimed. In sum, it's fucking fantastic thus far, and as I said in my status update made So Much More feel trite.

I don't think this was a romance.I don't think this was a love story. And I don't think it was heartbreaking. There were a few things that grated on me to the point of absurdity. It tried to do too much. Explain the past, give us the present, and redeem fucking everyone. Doing this in a book this short with three main characters shortchanged a shitload.

I don't even really feel like putting effort into this review, I'm not pissed or enthused. It was just...okay, and there are more than one unnecessary developments/plot lines: a detailed description from Faith's mother of her sexual abuse as a teen (which she doesn't realize was), pregnancy, and rape. It's not that I don't think this should ever be in romance/whatever this was, it just was so jarringly out of place.

There was also the time that Miranda backed over her son. And just....whatever.

And I guess...at the risk of sounding extreme...one of the "unforgivable, evil" things Miranda did was have an abortion as a result of a pregnancy from the hero (Seamus) without telling him that she was having the procedure. As a characterization, there's all sorts of things that could go along with this. It could've served many purposes. They were married. Miranda doesn't love her children, she's a terrible mother for much of the book. That was enough. To add the abortion reveal was a big fat whatever for me because even if she's an awful mother and hurts her husband her choosing what to do for herself & her body is really up to her. Full stop. That doesn't really pitch the scales for me...AT ALL. But it makes me consider the author. Miranda couldn't be considered psychologically healthy and yet was unequivocally judged in the tone of the book in Seamus's perfection as a parent for her decision to have an abortion. I'm not down with it.

So Much Whatever.

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