The Better to See You
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way affected my opinion.
I’m very sad to say that The Better to See You was a DNF for me at 38%.
The Better to See You was the first book I’ve read by Kate SeRine. I also haven’t read many fairytale spinoffs. To be honest, I think I may have benefitted from having read the first, in order for me to get a better and earlier connection with the characters and created world. However, the world building isn’t exactly what made me decide to stop. There were actually a few contributing factors behind my decision.
Firstly, I just could connect with the characters. As I already mentioned above, not having read the first book might be one of the causes of this. But it wasn’t just the main female character, Lavender. It was also Mr Wolf, and everyone else that helped make up this tale. Even the build up of sexual tension didn’t quite cut it for me. It’s like I couldn’t quite find the spark between them, or what about the other—besides physical appearance maybe—they found attractive about each other. Because I just couldn’t gel with it, the whole relationship between the two of them lacked believability for me.
As far as the world building goes, I’ll admit—from I read, Ms SeReine seems to have created a decent world, that is well thought through and has fairly solid foundations. Even the mystery side of it has some credence, because Lavender has valid reasons for ending up where she does, and for needing to try solving the puzzle surrounding the deaths. My biggest complaint here would be how easily she’s accepted by some of the ‘townsfolk’ considering her history.
But that aside, it’s clear from the off that the romance is supposed to be the driving force of this story, and that the mystery is merely the vessel to get the two character to their destination. However, I read on, driven by pure curiosity, hoping that once we got to the pinnacle (read saucy and naked) scene regarding the romance, it would all become clear and I’d finally ‘get’ it. Unfortunately, I still didn’t get it. After all of the lead up to it, and the heat created between the two characters, when we finally get to the scene, it reads almost as rushed, cut somewhat shorter than it should have been to blow the readers minds, and left me feeling pretty sad that it hadn’t succeeded in finally convincing me. That was the point I decided to stop reading. I hate DNFing a book, but this one really just wasn’t for me.
However, that doesn’t mean it won’t suit others—proven by many of the decent reviews it’s received. Mine is but one opinion, so if you’re a fan of fairytale spinoffs, and wolfy romances, then maybe this one will suit you, too.
