Giovanna Fletcher

You're the One That I Want/Giovanna Fletcher Maddy, dressed in white, stands at the back of the church. At the end of the aisle is Rob - the man she's about to marry. Next to Rob is Ben - best man and the best friend any two people ever had. And that's the problem. Because if it wasn't Rob waiting for her at the altar, there's a strong chance it would be Ben. Loyal and sensitive Ben has always kept his feelings to himself, but if he turned round and told Maddy she was making a mistake, would she listen? And would he be right? Best friends since childhood, Maddy, Ben and Rob thought their bond was unbreakable. But love changes everything. Maddy has a choice to make but will she choose wisely? Her heart, and the hearts of the two best men she knows, depend on it...
 
This book managed to build itself up to be quite anticlimactic and was filled with fairly ordinary events instead of a lot of excitement. I enjoyed it, but felt a little let down.
 
Reading this in the US, I really enjoyed all the Britishisms--especially when the three go to university, just because it's different in some ways but similar in others to the American system, and I always enjoy hearing how things are done in other countries. Small details like the chocolate hobnob biscuits I found to be terribly amusing.
 
I also enjoyed watching the three grow up--with scenes like a wedding at elementary school graduation, there's a lot of sweetness to the story and in a way I felt like one of their parents, being able to see them mature.
 
Ben and Maddy both serve as the narrators for this book, and I unfortunately found them to be very similar--at points I could barely distinguish between the two voices. For people with very different lifestyles, ambitions, and points of view, I felt like the author could have done a better job at making their voices more compelling. Maddy, supposedly a siren, was probably the least developed because I really couldn't understand why the boys were in love with her other than out of habit.
 
My biggest issue with this book, however, was the first chapter and how it built up the entire rest of the book. It creates a lot of suspense, but then doesn't deliver, because if it hadn't been for the first chapter, I really wouldn't have found much of a conflict and the book would have just been more sad. I did like the ultimate resolution in one character, but there was a huge missed opportunity for conflict in that a third character knew very little of everything else... The entire book, I was waiting for this conflict, but it never happened.
 
This was enjoyable and I found the growing up of the characters to be very sweet, but it was a lot less conflict filled than the first chapter let on. I did read this in a day though--I was engrossed and kept waiting for a conflict.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
 … (mais)

CW: Description of some medical procedures. Fertility and infertility - test tube babies left to die because they were not male. Man sacrifices himself to let others escape

This is one of those books where I hope the authors are setting the scene for a really good book two. The premise was good but in reality it didn't quite deliver (sorry for the pun). I'm not quite sure why though. I think perhaps the romance element could have been removed and the focus changed to Eve's awakening to the world she lives in and not the carefully crafted one designed to make her a happy broodmare. An amazing dystopic world was created but not explored enough. Again this maybe something that is described more in book two. I'm excited to see where the rebellion plot will take us and will probably follow the series through at some point. Finally, Eve better become a stronger female lead because I'm not down with there being much more of the 'male saves delicate flower' trope.… (mais)

The premise of this book is great: the last woman on Earth being held by an evil corporation trying to profit off her fertility. Sadly, the authors convey prejudices that are intolerable.

1.) Fat shaming/body prejudice: There are two male characters Hartman and Chubs who are mocked for being fat. Even more ridiculously, Eve, the last young woman on Earth, could have been shown as the epitome of female beauty no matter what her body looked like (just like every woman is! Our natural bodies are beautiful exactly as they are!!). But no. On the day Eve is to meet her first Potential mate, she eats only a breakfast of fruit, not a substantial breakfast because we wouldn't want a "bloated tummy" distracting her suitor. Also, in preparation for meeting her suitor, she wears makeup to "accentuate her finer features and diminish her flaws." Seriously!?! Is this the message we're trying to send to young men and women? Even worse, as she puts on her dress, the belt of her dress is fastened "making her waist look tiny." WTF! It's 2019. Why are we promoting a tiny waist as attractive? I feel badly for the author that she is still trapped under these beauty myths, but please stop perpetuating them.

2.) Racism: **Spoiler alert** Diego, Potential suitor #2, is from Peru and is described as "short" with "skin dark and rough...and beady eyes." This character goes on to try and kill our main character. I find it disgusting in a book that is overwhelmingly white that one of the few people of color is described in such a way and then revealed to be a murderer.

3.) Woman as natural mother: this book comes across as hugely pro-life (calling embryos souls). Also, the authors make scientific intervention in pregnancy seem monstrous, which is hurtful and insensitive to couples who depend on scientific intervention in order to be parents. Lastly, the author talks about women who are unable to conceive as "failures" "with flaws" which is ridiculous. Not every woman wants to give birth and not every woman is capable of giving birth; those scenarios do NOT make them failures in any way.

There are several more problems with this book, but I'm heart sick at even having to write this. I would obviously NOT recommend this book to anyone.… (mais)