Skip to main content

All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata Book Review


Reasons For Reading This Book: 

As an active Readheads member I read the chosen book each month. May 2022's choice was All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata. As this was a Snitch's choice I was excited to read it because I have a high track record of liking her choices. I always look forward to a good romance or love story.

Content of the Book:

Following her divorce from a country music star, Aurora De La Torre heads back to where she grew up in Colorado to find herself and reconnect with the live she lived there with her mother. Aurora might not be ready for love quite yet but that doesn't stop her from looking at her handsome landlord, Rhodes. 

What I Liked About This Book: 

The premise of the story was similar to a Nicholas Sparks book/movie. I am not saying that is a good thing or a bad thing. At times it was very predictable, which again is not a bad thing. For some it can be comforting that they can predict the ending or parts of the book. In my experience I enjoyed it being predictable with its hero-complex. I also enjoyed the back and forth between the characters and their long drawn out romantic story line. I liked that the characters were relatable. There was either an interest/hobby or characteristic that I found I could relate to in each character which made me enjoy reading about them. Two things about Aurora that I can relate to is being a talker and not drinking anything before bed to avoid having to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. I definitely enjoyed reading about certain characters more than others. I liked that the theme of music was intertwined throughout the whole book. There were parts where it was the main focus and other times where it was mentioned in a small way. As a reader of romance I liked the inclusion of the subtle hints that Aurora and Rhodes were beginning to see each other as more than landlord and tenant. 

What I Disliked About This Book: 

The length!! There is nothing about a book that annoys me more than a drawn out book. This book would have been even more enjoyable than it was if the author/editor/publisher would have edited out all the unnecessary details and unimportant stories. I tackled this book knowing it was long. Just to sum up how long this book was, even the epilogue was unnecessarily long. No matter how much I started to enjoy the book it was so exhausting how long it took to read this book. I did not really start to enjoy and become interested in the book until I was over 50% in. For me this says a lot. If it takes half of the book to truly bring me into the story then the author didn't set up the beginning well. I was really confused for a majority of the first half of the book. The author was constantly leaving out details that were necessary to understand Aurora's back story and how she ended up at this point in her life. I also did not love Aurora, the narrator, so that played into my opinion and lack on wanting to read the book. I tried really hard to become a fan of Aurora but then she would say or do something that would put me off. A complaint had by some of the Readheads in this books episode was all the nicknames they gave each other. I also found this to be annoying and distasteful. Having a single nickname for someone is fine and manageable, but this was excessive and distracting. 

Would I Recommend This Book?

This is a hard one. I rank this book 3 stars mostly because of the length of the book. I would only recommend this book to certain people and I would warn them of the length beforehand. With that being said the plot is enjoyable so if you are in need of a romance, easy to digest writing style, and long book than this is the one for you. There are much better romance novels out there so I suggest reading those first. I have some better romance novels linked in my past book reviews.


Check out my book reviews for 2021!!


Check out my book reviews for 2020!!

Check out my book reviews for 2019!!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reasonable Dorm Room Cleaning Schedule

Reasonable Dorm Room Cleaning Schedule After my first semester of college I have developed a cleaning routine that I have been able to keep up with. You can read my previous blog post about What I Learned In My First Semester of College . Over the past few months I have experimented and I am confident in the routine that I have created.  Personalize When it comes to personalizing the schedule you could add or take out the different chores. For example I also wash my retainers weekly and monthly my roommate and I decorate the marker board on the outside of our door. We also only clean our mirrors when needed since we have found that they do not seem to become too dirty regularly. Something that I would make sure you sanitize every week would be the surfaces that you are constantly touching. That means light switches, door handles, and your desk. By doing this I managed to avoid getting sick when my roommate and other floor mates go sick. Another task that you could add ...
94 comments
Read more

Bullet Journal Fitness and Workout Spread Ideas

If you want to purchase some of these spreads you can buy the digital bundle from my Etsy shop: Simply Paperless .  I had created six different bullet journal fitness and workout trackers/spreads. These spreads were made in my digital bullet journal using the GoodNotes App.   I highly recommend to use a stylus when using GoodNotes as a digital bullet journal. For this project I used the Adonit Dash 3 Stylus , which I highly recommend. I also recommend the Bargain Depot Stylus 2 Pack  from Amazon. Daily Workout Plan This first spread can be used to plan out what exercises you plan to workout each day of the week. I would recommend this spread for those who are just starting to workout. I did not created the workout that is used as the example for the content of this spread. The workout is from Pintrest Workout Plan .  Workout Tracker This next tracker is in the format of a monthly calendar. In order to track the different workouts...
63 comments
Read more

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Book Review

Reasons For Reading This Book: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus was Jackie's choice for the month of October. Jackie is the host of The Readheads Podcast Book Club. This is a monthly podcast book club that I have been apart of since it was established in 2020. I love getting to hear the thoughts of the hosts each month.  Content of the Book: Elizabeth Zott is a chemist but is much more than meets the eye. She is not only beautiful but also extremely smart, confident, strong, and not afraid to beat to her own drum. Elizabeth is one of the only female chemists working at Hastings Research Institute. She is viewed as different by everyone there. It's there that she meet Nobel-Prize nominated chemist Calvin Evans. Calvin who falls in love with Elizabeth is described as a loner, grudge holder, and extremely brilliant. Fast forward a few years and Elizabeth is now a single-mother working as the host of the most watched cooking show, Supper at Six . With Elizabeth's ways of ...
2 comments
Read more