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mary liz's Reviews > If I Live
If I Live (If I Run, #3)
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Hmmmm . . .
I guess, for me, I feel slightly disappointed by this series. It was so hyped-up, but it just kind of fell flat for me.
Lovely Things:
- The realistic characters. Casy and Dylan were smart, sensible, reasonable people for the most part - but they did have FEELINGS. They didn't fit into either stereotypical thriller character archetype: the "I'm a completely clueless jellybean" category or the "I'm so perfect and emotionless that I'm not human" category. :P I liked both of the main characters in this series for the most part! Just, uh, not together. LIKE WHY DID THEY BECOME A COUPLE??
- The intensity. WELL THEN. To say the death toll went up considerably in this book is an understatement. It was so intense. I had difficulty putting this book (or the first two in the series) down. Looooots of intense things.
- The themes. It dealt with some real issues in this series. Hard things. Like abuse, grief, suicide, PTSD, etc. Yet for all the hard topics this series addressed, there was always an undercurrent of hope. A light at the end of the tunnel. A hand pointing to Jesus. It's clear that the author had no intention of making her books "empty" thrillers, but instead poignant explorations of real-life issues.
Not-So-Lovely Things:
- The romance. UM AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO COULDN'T STAND THIS?? It felt like it came out of nowhere, to be honest. Almost like the author felt they HAD to become a couple at the end of the second book because there were two main characters of the opposite gender. (Because heaven forbid if they *gasp* are just friends!) I didn't see that much chemistry between them. It felt like a whirlwind of emotions with WAY too much kissing (though not described) and too much talk about "feeling empty" without the other person. It was SO RUSHED and SO BORING. (view spoiler) Honestly, I think I've just become really cynical about romance the more I read about it. Romantic thrillers bother me. xD
- I just . . . didn't connect emotionally. I don't know. The characters were good, the plot was good, but I never felt that INVESTED in the characters emotionally. I DON'T KNOW. I'm a tough critic sometimes. I guess thriller books never really get me invested in characters all that much . . .
So did I like it? Yeah, I did. But did it knock my socks off like it seemed to do to everyone else? HAHA NOPE. I'm a very finicky bookdragon sometimes. *apologetic smile* I think my favorite thing about this series, ultimately, is how aesthetic the covers are. xD
3 stars
I guess, for me, I feel slightly disappointed by this series. It was so hyped-up, but it just kind of fell flat for me.
Lovely Things:
- The realistic characters. Casy and Dylan were smart, sensible, reasonable people for the most part - but they did have FEELINGS. They didn't fit into either stereotypical thriller character archetype: the "I'm a completely clueless jellybean" category or the "I'm so perfect and emotionless that I'm not human" category. :P I liked both of the main characters in this series for the most part! Just, uh, not together. LIKE WHY DID THEY BECOME A COUPLE??
- The intensity. WELL THEN. To say the death toll went up considerably in this book is an understatement. It was so intense. I had difficulty putting this book (or the first two in the series) down. Looooots of intense things.
- The themes. It dealt with some real issues in this series. Hard things. Like abuse, grief, suicide, PTSD, etc. Yet for all the hard topics this series addressed, there was always an undercurrent of hope. A light at the end of the tunnel. A hand pointing to Jesus. It's clear that the author had no intention of making her books "empty" thrillers, but instead poignant explorations of real-life issues.
Not-So-Lovely Things:
- The romance. UM AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO COULDN'T STAND THIS?? It felt like it came out of nowhere, to be honest. Almost like the author felt they HAD to become a couple at the end of the second book because there were two main characters of the opposite gender. (Because heaven forbid if they *gasp* are just friends!) I didn't see that much chemistry between them. It felt like a whirlwind of emotions with WAY too much kissing (though not described) and too much talk about "feeling empty" without the other person. It was SO RUSHED and SO BORING. (view spoiler) Honestly, I think I've just become really cynical about romance the more I read about it. Romantic thrillers bother me. xD
- I just . . . didn't connect emotionally. I don't know. The characters were good, the plot was good, but I never felt that INVESTED in the characters emotionally. I DON'T KNOW. I'm a tough critic sometimes. I guess thriller books never really get me invested in characters all that much . . .
So did I like it? Yeah, I did. But did it knock my socks off like it seemed to do to everyone else? HAHA NOPE. I'm a very finicky bookdragon sometimes. *apologetic smile* I think my favorite thing about this series, ultimately, is how aesthetic the covers are. xD
3 stars
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mary liz
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rated it 3 stars
Apr 02, 2018 04:37PM
Also, I love how I ended up accidentally reading this when it was "Mystery and Thriller Week" on Goodreads. #totallyplanned :P
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JonathanT wrote: "SAME ON THE ROMANCE THOUGH. For me, the rest of the awesome parts were enough to make me sorta brush over that... but yeah, I definitely agree. They should’ve just stayed friends."HAHA IKR. I just kept getting annoyed so much about the romance that I hard time liking the last two books of the series as much. :P
^ Definitely agree: especially that one part at the end (spoilers). I loved the rest of it enough to airbrush that, but....IT FELT VERY INSTA-LOVE-Y. Shall we say. XD
Faith/Florid Sword wrote: "^ Definitely agree: especially that one part at the end (spoilers). I loved the rest of it enough to airbrush that, but....IT FELT VERY INSTA-LOVE-Y. Shall we say. XD""Very insta-love-y" is the perfect way to describe it. xD
1. If there are spoiler tags I'm all like LEMME AT IT2. They got married? In the story? In three days? NO WAY. *needs to read* (cos, I've never seen this before) :P
lisa elis wrote: "1. If there are spoiler tags I'm all like LEMME AT IT2. They got married? In the story? In three days? NO WAY. *needs to read* (cos, I've never seen this before) :P"
LISA YOU READ IT?? *shakes head* There's a reason they were kept hidden. xD
Ha, yeahhhhh. It was interesting. :P
m a r y l i z wrote: "lisa elis wrote: "1. If there are spoiler tags I'm all like LEMME AT IT2. They got married? In the story? In three days? NO WAY. *needs to read* (cos, I've never seen this before) :P"
LISA YOU RE..."
I always read the spoilers xD actually, if a review has spoilers, I'm 10 times more likely to read it than otherwise lol
I read all the spoilers. I always read all the spoilers. :-P
lisa elis wrote: "m a r y l i z wrote: "lisa elis wrote: "1. If there are spoiler tags I'm all like LEMME AT IT2. They got married? In the story? In three days? NO WAY. *needs to read* (cos, I've never seen this be..."
*facepalm* xD
Katie wrote: "I read all the spoilers. I always read all the spoilers. :-P"Oh goodness . . . you and Lisa. What WILL I do with you? ;)
m a r y l i z wrote: "Katie wrote: "I read all the spoilers. I always read all the spoilers. :-P"Oh goodness . . . you and Lisa. What WILL I do with you? ;)"
Oh, you don't have to do anything ;-) We're very comfortable with our spoiler-filled life . . . :-P
Katie wrote: "m a r y l i z wrote: "Katie wrote: "I read all the spoilers. I always read all the spoilers. :-P"Oh goodness . . . you and Lisa. What WILL I do with you? ;)"
Oh, you don't have to do anything ;-..."
Hehe! Feel free to have all the spoilers you want, so long as you don't share them with me. ;P
m a r y l i z wrote: "Katie wrote: "m a r y l i z wrote: "Katie wrote: "I read all the spoilers. I always read all the spoilers. :-P"Oh goodness . . . you and Lisa. What WILL I do with you? ;)"
Oh, you don't have to ..."
Oh, certainly ;-) Our lips are sealed!
Katie wrote: "m a r y l i z wrote: "Katie wrote: "m a r y l i z wrote: "Katie wrote: "I read all the spoilers. I always read all the spoilers. :-P"Oh goodness . . . you and Lisa. What WILL I do with you? ;)"
..."
*grins and winks*
I'm resisting the urge to read your spoilery review. XD
Tracey wrote: "I'm resisting the urge to read your spoilery review. XD"RESIST THE TEMPTATION. xD
I feel like the romance could have been done so much better. I could see the two of them together, but way farther down the road. Way slower. A slow burn would have made this so much better. The overly fast pacing of the romantic pairing ruined the ship for me TBH.
