There is a reasonable amount of friction between the two characters but there is quite a lot of time spent on each of their seperate development and growth and not nearly as much as might be expected in a romance on the actual relationship and its evolution. It is interesting that Gibson chose to make Clare a romance author who can't even command respect from her mother given her choice of subject matter despite the fact that her rather over the top prose has made Sebastian hot and bothered. The story doesn't follow the traditional arc of a romance but it also doesn't work as anything other than a romance novel and so this deviation from the conventional, instead of being a strength, ends up weakening the story and leaving the eventual resolution feel a bit rushed. It is also a tad wearying that the character who is unable to sustain the concept of "friends with benefits" is Clare, causing Sebastian to panic until he realizes that he too needs more than to stay the cliched commitment-phobic male. Romance fans will likely not be ambivalent about this one, either hating it for its tepid relationship or loving it for its ability to show major change and growth in the main characters independent of each other. Personally I'm rather wishy-washy about it, appreciating the attempt but ultimately finding that the attempt created flaws that wouldn't otherwise have been as evident.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Review: I'm in No Mood for Love by Rachel Gibson
There is a reasonable amount of friction between the two characters but there is quite a lot of time spent on each of their seperate development and growth and not nearly as much as might be expected in a romance on the actual relationship and its evolution. It is interesting that Gibson chose to make Clare a romance author who can't even command respect from her mother given her choice of subject matter despite the fact that her rather over the top prose has made Sebastian hot and bothered. The story doesn't follow the traditional arc of a romance but it also doesn't work as anything other than a romance novel and so this deviation from the conventional, instead of being a strength, ends up weakening the story and leaving the eventual resolution feel a bit rushed. It is also a tad wearying that the character who is unable to sustain the concept of "friends with benefits" is Clare, causing Sebastian to panic until he realizes that he too needs more than to stay the cliched commitment-phobic male. Romance fans will likely not be ambivalent about this one, either hating it for its tepid relationship or loving it for its ability to show major change and growth in the main characters independent of each other. Personally I'm rather wishy-washy about it, appreciating the attempt but ultimately finding that the attempt created flaws that wouldn't otherwise have been as evident.
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