Remmel by Lena Grey and Juno Wells

3 Stars

The writing and editing of this novel was super clean, with few if any typos that I caught in the ARC version of this manuscript. The world building was competent. The characterization was good, with the hero being more sympathetic than the heroine. The heroine had terrible relationship and communication skills, and I was not sure that she was going to be able to be one half of a healthy relationship. The development of the romantic relationship was marred by the heroine's habit of not being a clear and honest communicator. The plot and pacing was exciting, with me rapidly turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next. The heroine had a lot of dumb angst in this novel, which was not super enjoyable, but the high stakes redeemed this story somewhat. This story had the Mars Needs Women trope, which I love, and the Refusal to Communicate Honestly trope, which I typically cannot stand. The world building, plot, and pacing were four stars. The characterization and development of the romantic relationship was four stars also. However, I needed to take off one star from the combined score because of the inclusion of the Refusal to Communicate Honestly trope. That meant that the combined score ended up being three stars. This novel ends on a Happy Ever After ending instead of a cliffhanger, so that is a big plus to this novel. I recommend this sci-fi romance to readers who love the sub-genre and are not bothered by the Refusal to Communicate Honestly trope. I enjoyed many elements of this novel, but I will not be buying myself a keeper copy. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Book Link