Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsAre rich people really that different from "normal" people?
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 13, 2021
Some light spoilers to beware:
The pros about this book:
- Kristen Ashley makes the places she writes about accessible and if you don't want to move there you want to visit. She should get a commission from all these places.
- When you're engaged in the story you are fully engaged. You get a lot of good information and rarely are you taken off track by some missing detail. I will often time stay up all night just to finish the books that grab me.
- You seemingly learn the secret codes of being a woman that you didn't get in real life.
- She doesn't do the triangle thing and doesn't drag on the will they won't they thing. You get to experience an actual relationship.
- Personal bias here, I like the strong alphish men and she does that well.
Cons' in particular to this book:
- It took a long time for me to like Chloe and it can still go the other way very easily.
- I could never get a good handle on how old these people were. They skewed older than they were said to be, though, upon reflection some of the stuff was pretty childish.
- Chloe and her family, the entire familys' communications skills suck. You are given a picture of a close knit family, but one argument amongst the kids disrupts the entire family? Please.
- The divorce of the parents after a blissful 20 years or more seems to have also caused some odd drama which led into the argument amongst the kids. Kids, who up until now talked all the time and shared just about everything but this argument is trying to find out from the brother what's going on and he lashes back and then brings the other sister is to gang up on the anger against Chloe. It seemed off.
- Chloe and I guess the family description of Chloe as the heart of the family. Always there to help whenever asked and not asked. However, when she was 12 (I exagerate for effect) she went to Paris for 3 years, because she needed a break. She had affairs with men and at least one unknowingly on her part married man. She made a decision, seemingly, that she would bring the drama to all relationships. She comes back because of family changes and it seems to help/not help again her family and friends but that didn't really come across as clearly and it should have.
- The father and mother, both famous and rich with their own set up special skills, seemingly sat the kids down to tell them about the divorce, and I think a little bit about why. The parents are divorced, the mother has a new/old beau fiancé and the father, who cheated, is friendly and still involved with everyone, but lonely. He lives close enough to Chloe that they have dinners occasionally. They don't talk about the divorce in any detail. She's hired an investigator to get more information and gets a lot and later in the story she's scheming to find a way to bring her father and the woman he had an affair with together. UPDATE: Just found out who the woman is and she's a sucky character from "The Burgs". I this isn't true and it's the second person after the affair, like Judge's father Jaimie, that he ends up with.
Another comment about the lack of communication is that there seems to be a lot of assumptions of what's going on in other peoples lives but no one really asking what's up. Though the one time a question like this comes up it starts a stupid argument, which highlights there are some huge communication issues in this family.
- My biggest question and it goes back to my first point that this family doesn't communicate -- I don't understand why she has to scheme and why she couldn't just, as an adult, talk to her father about what happened and why she doesn't openly help his out.
- My biggest issue about Chloe is how selfish she is even though you're told she's not and it's all about the other people, everything always comes back to her.
- The climatic moment where she finally breaks from all the pressure and the betrayal, of sorts, and it's in front of Judge, who then sweeps her away to his home. She provided the drama she's already promised was her's to give. It's over the top and all about her and in my opinion a stupid reason to break down and need the cocoon love scene.
- Judge's biggest moment, she's there for him and she's doing the supporting thing, which is great, but then her family shows up and while on the surface this is fantastic, Judge now has more family support. She breaks down and cries because they came and now his moment and support is her getting all this attention and she's passed around her family for hugs and support and sibling forgiveness.
My questions about rich people is something I asked throughout this book because, Chloe when to Paris for 3 year, when she was 12 or maybe 18 or 19, on her own. Had affair's or relationships. She comes back and starts up a charity foundation kind of thing that ties in with a bunch of designers and fashion houses and stuff like that and I think she's only 24. She can do a global marketing plan lickity split and can analyze any data like a seasoned pro who's in their 30's. Is this normal for a rich person? To me all these accomplishments and self awareness that she seems to have seems more for an older person that for a 12 year old.
Bottom line: this was an OK book. It's not one of my favorites. I'll probably read the second one and will be on the look out fro the Rhy's book.
