- Title:
- Some Call It Love
- Author:
- Sarah Peis
- Release:
- September 13, 2021
- Format:
- Audiobook
- Narrator
- Ava Erickson
- Series:
- Sweet Dreams #1
Call it Love may be the first of this type of romance I’ve listened to, based on the cover when I received it as a review copy. It was more adult oriented than I was expecting, to be honest. It has that stupid-ass “green eyes” trope I fucking despise (re-usable template following this).
If you’re reading this, I’m knocking points off of this book for annoying writing. I’m sick of this lazy bullshit of “piercing green eyes” in fiction. Somebody wrote a blog post in 2012 pointing out this issue in fiction, meaning this has been an issue for over a decade. It’s lazy and uninspired. I highly doubt most people give random strangers eye colors a second thought in public, let alone bring it up constantly. Green-eyed people are rare, but that doesn’t make us a goddamn circus exhibit.
And that fucking god-awful first person PoV. Everything devolved into “I did this, I did that, then I did this, and then that.” Who the mother-fuck are these characters narrating everything to?! And then they say shit like “You hardly ever talked about one…” Don’t fucking tell me who the fuck I hardly ever talk about, why the fuck is this character in this book referring to my actions? It’s sloppy, shitty writing.
One other instance of “Abdomen” being referred to as “Stomach”. Your stomach is an internal organ, if a character was stabbed in the stomach, or has their hands on their stomach, they’re beyond fucked. Nobody ever refers to a character resting their hands on their lungs instead of their chest, because that would be idiotic and absurd.
I know this is romance, which should really be classified as a sub-genre of fantasy; ’cause the mechanics in this book are fucking adorable. They claim they’re foul-mouthed, but they’re not a bunch of shit-talking, perverted, sexist, racist, homophobic pigs, like I’ve cum to expect from most mechanics. They’re a bunch of sweethearts who treat what’s-her-name like a little sister. Giving her side-eye after she sleeps with the boss, and teasing her about it in a fun way.
MC and what’s his name are “enemies to lovers”, if you can even call them that. He cums off like a total dickbag at the start, but really softens up and lets down his barriers and turns into a protective teddy bear by the end.
There are 2 sex scenes, but I’d say they were probably the least memorable aspect of the book. I say that because I know there were sex scenes, but all I remember is the after effects of the mechanics giving her side eye and teasing her about it. I can’t comment on how “steamy” or “spicy” they were, as I’m simply into sex scenes for the realism they provide. I’m not into fiction for grannies or children where it fades to black and then moves on.
The narration is easily the worst part of this book, though that first-person shit is a close second. The narrator read everything in this near-monotone, lifeless, emotionless voice. All of the men sounded the same, and she mispronounces the word “caramel“. Carmel is a fucking mountain, not a sweet! The narration did pick up a bit during sex scenes, but that was such a small percentage of the book. I took the following note: “I have never been good at hiding my emotions.” she said in a monotone voice. She sounded outright fucking bored during the chapter intros.
I’ve DNF’ed a lot of books because of shitty narrators, and the only reason I didn’t DNF this one too, is ’cause I started to feel a little bad about it. But it’s mostly because I don’t know how I can qualify as a reviewer, if I DNF everything because the narrators are fucking terrible.
NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.
Note 2: I don’t know if this was a review copy or not, I can’t remember how or where I got it. I’m adding this review copy template just to be on the safe side, but this statement is true for every book I review, regardless of whether or not it was a review copy or a personal copy.