Indi's Reviews > Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail
Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail (Bright Falls, #2)
by
by
2.5
I wanted to start off with I loved the first book in this series. It was edgy, witty and sexy. Astrid was my favorite character by far and so I was so excited for this installment and hope the author continues the series (as they seem to) but the Astrid in this book, did not seem remotely like the Astrid of the previous story. I'm convinced this was written by someone else.
In all seriousness, I think ultimately Blake has trouble writing different POVs, this Astrid felt too messy and one dimensionally fragile. In addition, she seemed...stupid. In the first book she was clever, slightly beat down, secretly warm and slightly manipulative. Here we get a hyperventilating dummy. All her decisions are desperate and rash. She's not witty and feels a little too much like a combo of more generic, i've read before characters then a unique distinct voice. Speaking of voice, weird phrases like "lapped her p*ssy" on the only real sex scene, really took me out it.
Back to Astrid- There were many chances for her to talk about her forced heterosexual perspective that were missed. She immediately uses sexy language to describe her eventual love interest. I would have liked to see her internally think about it more. I'm happy she didn't have to struggle with her sexuality once they got together, but to go from her twat ex to lusting over a sexy woman I think would have required more then once 7:30am convo with her sis. I would have loved to hear more her perspective as that wall of heteronormality came down and what that was like for her. We hear a little about the sex part, but there are so many other ways in which she was mentally abused by her ex that I would have liked to see healed instead she was constantly punished.
Another issue, is I felt the plot also was all over the place. The whole premise of them "fighting for the show" happened ONCE. If you had put these two characters in a shack in the woods or stranded on a deserted island, it would not have changed anything except for the ending (which i will get it). The side characters and dialogue were lacking and it just felt a little slow overall.
Mild S{POILER
The part at the end that was the *dramatic trauma in the relationship * seemed too steeped in judgey morality I choked. Without giving too much away, some hasty decisions hurt all parties all for a moral judgement that is both preachy and unneeded. A natural happy ending could have been worked out in a way that didn't BURN IT ALL TO THE GROUND. It also forced Blake to throw in some VERY rushed *Happy Ending magic* to tie up the story. It was sloppy and left a bitter taste.
Actual SPOILER
The decision to make Astrid have to apologize in this grand way after ending her mentally abusive engagement in the prior book, felt cruel. Like give this girl a love where she doesn't have to bend over backwards to win them over. Jordan was needy and annoying. Why not let them both be co- designers and work together. Astrid wasn't *stealing* her design she just didn't fully come up with it, they both tweaked and worked on it (think to the textures conversations), Blake makes her into a cartoon villain. Now what? Astrid is going to go...Bake? the thing she's talked about twice in two books and maybe done...once in the last 10 years? like ok. It's so dumb I can't even.
Lastly Meredith sucks. hate that she got off like that.
I wanted to start off with I loved the first book in this series. It was edgy, witty and sexy. Astrid was my favorite character by far and so I was so excited for this installment and hope the author continues the series (as they seem to) but the Astrid in this book, did not seem remotely like the Astrid of the previous story. I'm convinced this was written by someone else.
In all seriousness, I think ultimately Blake has trouble writing different POVs, this Astrid felt too messy and one dimensionally fragile. In addition, she seemed...stupid. In the first book she was clever, slightly beat down, secretly warm and slightly manipulative. Here we get a hyperventilating dummy. All her decisions are desperate and rash. She's not witty and feels a little too much like a combo of more generic, i've read before characters then a unique distinct voice. Speaking of voice, weird phrases like "lapped her p*ssy" on the only real sex scene, really took me out it.
Back to Astrid- There were many chances for her to talk about her forced heterosexual perspective that were missed. She immediately uses sexy language to describe her eventual love interest. I would have liked to see her internally think about it more. I'm happy she didn't have to struggle with her sexuality once they got together, but to go from her twat ex to lusting over a sexy woman I think would have required more then once 7:30am convo with her sis. I would have loved to hear more her perspective as that wall of heteronormality came down and what that was like for her. We hear a little about the sex part, but there are so many other ways in which she was mentally abused by her ex that I would have liked to see healed instead she was constantly punished.
Another issue, is I felt the plot also was all over the place. The whole premise of them "fighting for the show" happened ONCE. If you had put these two characters in a shack in the woods or stranded on a deserted island, it would not have changed anything except for the ending (which i will get it). The side characters and dialogue were lacking and it just felt a little slow overall.
Mild S{POILER
The part at the end that was the *dramatic trauma in the relationship * seemed too steeped in judgey morality I choked. Without giving too much away, some hasty decisions hurt all parties all for a moral judgement that is both preachy and unneeded. A natural happy ending could have been worked out in a way that didn't BURN IT ALL TO THE GROUND. It also forced Blake to throw in some VERY rushed *Happy Ending magic* to tie up the story. It was sloppy and left a bitter taste.
Actual SPOILER
The decision to make Astrid have to apologize in this grand way after ending her mentally abusive engagement in the prior book, felt cruel. Like give this girl a love where she doesn't have to bend over backwards to win them over. Jordan was needy and annoying. Why not let them both be co- designers and work together. Astrid wasn't *stealing* her design she just didn't fully come up with it, they both tweaked and worked on it (think to the textures conversations), Blake makes her into a cartoon villain. Now what? Astrid is going to go...Bake? the thing she's talked about twice in two books and maybe done...once in the last 10 years? like ok. It's so dumb I can't even.
Lastly Meredith sucks. hate that she got off like that.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Finished Reading
December 13, 2022
– Shelved