I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating ⭐
My initial thoughts that I posted on Goodreads as soon as I had finished the book:
"Ended up skimming the last 30%. This was atrocious and the main character was absolutely so stupid and insufferable. Review to come, maybe. Probably not because I don't want to think about this book anymore."
Yet, here I am. I feel like I have to say a little more at least, because it is an ARC.
So this was billed as Survivor meets The Bachelor. I don't care about either of those shows and have never seen an episode of The Bachelor. I have, however, seen the Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, etc. because I love trashy chaotic messes. I have not seen any episodes of Survivor since the earliest seasons, I think when that Richard Hatch guy played the game how it should be played and everyone got mad at him for doing that and...winning? Still, the premise seemed fun, so I went for it.
On a whim the main character, Orie, applies to be on Survivor. But instead of it being regular Survivor, she is on a dating edition of the show. Magically, her high school crush is also on the show. The teams compete in challenges while speed dating.
The single worst thing about this book is Orie. She is the most stupid, annoying, insufferable character I have ever suffered being inside the head of. The author tried super hard to make her a quirky weirdo who would somehow charm all her challenge partners. For example, her name is just not unique enough, so she wants to be called...Picadilly.
Orie is awful. She has zero social skills at all, and apparently the other characters just loved this about her. We see how rude and selfish she is from the start in her interactions with her sister Lark and it gets worse because of her aforementioned lack of social skills.
It's been a minute since I've read this book, but I usually have no problem remembering major plot points and events. I remember literally nothing from this book except how much I hated the main character.
I have never used netgalley before so please correct me if I am wrong about anything. I have reviewed projects for a small amount of payment and few as free before. I am a person who can't lie about my opinion on a book. Hence I stopped reviewing ARCs. My question is, do you feel like you wasted your time when you read a book which didn't work for you. I am just curious to know.
ReplyDeleteNetGalley is not paid, so reviews that people provide are free of charge. Teachers, librarians, professional reviewers, book bloggers, can request books and publishers approve them if they think the person is good fit for the book. Reviewers can also get auto-approved by a publisher, so they have access to the entire catalog and don't have to wait for approvals. I really like it a lot.
DeleteI never lie about my opinion of a book, as you can see in this review. I review nearly everything from NetGalley, though there have been a couple special circumstances when I let the publisher know I would not be leaving a rating and review.
I don't feel like it's a waste of time, though of course I would rather read books I love. But it also shows me which authors are not for me.
I see ! That's the issue I had with the organization I was reviewing for. I just felt like I didn't like a book in a very long time. "But it also shows me which authors are not for me" I totally get what you are saying. Thanks for replying <3
ReplyDeleteNo problem, I totally get that. I am a major mood reader, and so even though I know I have deadlines and pub dates, if I am not in the mood for a certain kind of book, then I don't force myself to read it. I know that if I force myself to read it, I will end up resenting it because it is not what I want at that time.
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