Scan barcode
A review by anyaemilie
The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava
3.5
Thank you to Berkley for the ARC
Oh man. I REALLY wanted to like this book more. It has all the makings of a really good romcom (and yes, it's actually funny!!!), but there were a few too many things that I didn't like about it and that kind of made the whole experience a little...bleh for me.
First off, the writing/editing throughout is a little clunky. I know this is an ARC, but I also know that most of the major editing has been done at this point. There were a few too many places where there were odd word choices and some phrases that just weren't even correct, and it was distracting.
Second, the sheer number of times Ember's orthopedic flats are mentioned 💀 You'd think they sponsored the book or something. I get it, they're probably comfortable, but I think we were nearing double digit mentions by the time I stopped counting.
Third, the constant lying! I get why, at the beginning, Ember lies about a few things: getting a job as an Indigenous person means the cards are stacked against her, so honestly good for her for gaming the system and using it to her advantage. But then as the story progressed she just. Kept lying?? And so many times I couldn't even see a reason for her to need to lie. Especially when it involved Danuwoa. At so many times over the course of the book he had already shown that he wasn't the kind of guy who cared about material things or honestly ANY of the things that Ember chose to lie about, and yet he was the person she lied to the most. It honestly got out of control and took a lot of the enjoyment away from reading the book for me. There were enough other conflicts happening (secret dating, asshole coworkers, learning a new job) that Ember's constant lying just seemed like an unnecessary addition to all of that.
I don't want this review to be completely negative, though, so I will mention the things I liked: the chemistry and relationship between Ember and Danuwoa was really good. It was palpable, and even though it was very love at first sight, it was believable and not weird (to me). The "forbidden romance" aspect of it was also fun since, as coworkers, they were not allowed to be together (although that rule was never fully explained and seemed a little flimsy).
I also really liked Ember's relationship with her bff/roommate Joanna. They had a really fun dynamic together, and were definitely written like they'd been best friends for a long time. Ember's relationship with her auntie was also very sweet, and I also liked the dynamics between Ember and Sage, even though they had a rough relationship.
Also Danuwoa's relationship with his little sister was super sweet, and I wish she had been in the book a little more often.
To summarize all of that, the characters were all really well developed and I liked their dynamics with each other and with Ember. They felt like fully realized people and all had their own personalities outside of being supporting characters in Ember's story.
Overall, I'm disappointed I didn't like this more since it's, as far as I know, the only romance book by a Native author that's published by a major publisher. I wouldn't expect it to be perfect, especially coming from a first-time author, but there were just too many negatives for me to fully enjoy the book. I do look forward to whatever the author writes next and I hope she has a successful career, because the potential is definitely there. This one just didn't do it for me.
Oh man. I REALLY wanted to like this book more. It has all the makings of a really good romcom (and yes, it's actually funny!!!), but there were a few too many things that I didn't like about it and that kind of made the whole experience a little...bleh for me.
First off, the writing/editing throughout is a little clunky. I know this is an ARC, but I also know that most of the major editing has been done at this point. There were a few too many places where there were odd word choices and some phrases that just weren't even correct, and it was distracting.
Second, the sheer number of times Ember's orthopedic flats are mentioned 💀 You'd think they sponsored the book or something. I get it, they're probably comfortable, but I think we were nearing double digit mentions by the time I stopped counting.
Third, the constant lying! I get why, at the beginning, Ember lies about a few things: getting a job as an Indigenous person means the cards are stacked against her, so honestly good for her for gaming the system and using it to her advantage. But then as the story progressed she just. Kept lying?? And so many times I couldn't even see a reason for her to need to lie. Especially when it involved Danuwoa. At so many times over the course of the book he had already shown that he wasn't the kind of guy who cared about material things or honestly ANY of the things that Ember chose to lie about, and yet he was the person she lied to the most. It honestly got out of control and took a lot of the enjoyment away from reading the book for me. There were enough other conflicts happening (secret dating, asshole coworkers, learning a new job) that Ember's constant lying just seemed like an unnecessary addition to all of that.
I don't want this review to be completely negative, though, so I will mention the things I liked: the chemistry and relationship between Ember and Danuwoa was really good. It was palpable, and even though it was very love at first sight, it was believable and not weird (to me). The "forbidden romance" aspect of it was also fun since, as coworkers, they were not allowed to be together (although that rule was never fully explained and seemed a little flimsy).
I also really liked Ember's relationship with her bff/roommate Joanna. They had a really fun dynamic together, and were definitely written like they'd been best friends for a long time. Ember's relationship with her auntie was also very sweet, and I also liked the dynamics between Ember and Sage, even though they had a rough relationship.
Also Danuwoa's relationship with his little sister was super sweet, and I wish she had been in the book a little more often.
To summarize all of that, the characters were all really well developed and I liked their dynamics with each other and with Ember. They felt like fully realized people and all had their own personalities outside of being supporting characters in Ember's story.
Overall, I'm disappointed I didn't like this more since it's, as far as I know, the only romance book by a Native author that's published by a major publisher. I wouldn't expect it to be perfect, especially coming from a first-time author, but there were just too many negatives for me to fully enjoy the book. I do look forward to whatever the author writes next and I hope she has a successful career, because the potential is definitely there. This one just didn't do it for me.