All tagged 3rd Person POV
I should’ve listened to my instincts that a book titled, Gentlemen Prefer Nerds wouldn’t work for me.
However, I was compelled to hit the “request” button on Net Galley when I saw that,
- It was published by Carina Press, the massively cool e-publisher that’s doing a lot of creative things both in what they’re publishing and their marketing and DRM-free books;
- It promised a heist/caper sort of scenario and I am a giant sucker for heists and/or capers; and
- It’s set in Australia.
Unfortunately, those positives didn’t cancel out the numerous problems I had with the premise and characters in this novel.
The basic plot of Gentlemen Prefer Nerds is that nerdy (more on that later) girl gemologist Maddie Maloney is charged with caring for a pricey diamond known as The Rose (she also discovered the diamond in a mine in Western Australia). As part of her effort to find a nice man, she ends up being conned by a jewel thief known as The Chameleon into allowing him access to the stone, which is then—shocker!—stolen. Maddie is, obviously, suspected for the crime and winds up hooking up with a mysterious English dude who promises to help her recover the diamond and helps her escape from the police while they pursue the thief.
Okay, so the premise is pretty silly—but I’m often okay with silly premises!
Overhyped, Underwhelming.
SPoLaFS has some really great marketing—the cover, the plot summary, all of that. I was thinking this would be Before Sunrise in novel form, but on an airplane (if you’re looking for a Before Sunrise-type read, check out Graffiti Moon, which I highly recommend). Because, you know, Before Sunrise is amazing.
Unfortunately, fairly or unfairly, those expectations weren’t met for me. And, to frustrate me further, there is a very sizable storyline about Hadley, the main character, and her father (a straight up cheater, who ran off with a woman he met while serving as a visiting instructor in England) that did not sit well with me and was far too tidily wrapped up.