One of the hardest things to do as a book blogger is to read an entire (670 page) book and give it a low-star review, especially when nearly half of Goodreads readers gave it the full 5 stars. Be warned, dear readers, I have an unpopular opinion ahead. Please don’t grab your torches and pitchforks.
Wait for It was the first Mariana Zapata book I have picked up. I knew about her high ratings, her hardcore fans, and her slow-burn romance style. All of these elements factored into me choosing to read Wait for It, as it had been sitting on my TBR list for around a year. I needed a break from my current read and was looking for something I was bound to love. Unfortunately, Wait for It didn’t do it for me, as much as I wanted it to. I waited for it…I waited for the story to get rolling, I waited for the writing to get better, and I felt like it took until the last pages of this long book to improve incrementally.
Wait for It features the life of Diana, a young woman who inherited her nephews after the death of their parents, one being Diana’s brother. Diana is finally getting her life sorted out after such an unexpected and heartbreaking disruption, by moving into a new neighborhood. When Diana hears a fight happening outside of her new home, she decides to help out and break it up. The ungrateful recipient of Diana’s help is the younger brother of Diana’s new neighbor, Dallas. Eventually, Diana and Dallas develop a friendship, which eventually grows into a deeper relationship.
As another reviewer (Crazy World of a Book Lover) said:
“I was hoping for a slow burn romance and not a slow story.”
Regrettably, this describes my thoughts toward this novel all too perfectly. Slow burn lovers are my jam when reading romance. I love suspense and anticipation. However, I didn’t feel enough of a connection between the couple to enjoy any of the typical longing or anticipation. Diana and Dallas instead teetered back and forth between awkwardness and friendship for the majority of the novel. It wasn’t until 79% of the way through this arduous undertaking that the first spark lit between the pair with the minor act of hair being brushed behind an ear. For a YA novel, this may be more applicable, but the main characters of this story were 29 and 41 years old respectively. I didn’t mind the age gap, because my husband and I share the same gap between us. Preferably, this novel could have featured more of a mature romance than the timid tenderness these characters shared.
The other flaws within the story also included the over-description of mundane tasks. As a reader, I don’t care to read a full description of doing laundry or other hum-drum daily tasks. I do those things daily myself. I read to escape the ordinary. I need more of a plot, something to look forward to, mini-cliffhangers, action. These additions make books worth reading; without them they become tedious. I found myself zoning out and thinking of more exciting things. Books should fully engross my mind, and this one wasn’t able to.
Not to mention, the exaggerated use of nicknames became a little annoying by the halfway point, and overbearing by the end of the story. There are only so many times a character can say “Goo”, “Professor”, or “Butt-face”. It all felt a little childish for an almost 30-year-old character raising two children.
The overall writing within needed fine-tuning and trimming. Sentences like the following were all too common and detracted from the reading experience:
“While I made a quick dinner of frozen taquitos and a bag of frozen corn in the microwave, the eleven year old showered.”
Sadly, I’ve been able to nail down the prevalent negatives of this story and only have a few positive components to outline. I really enjoyed Diana’s ability to parent her brother’s sons in this story. Overall, I thought she was quite an encouraging role model and rose to the occasion to become a parent when she didn’t have to.
Dallas was a great book boyfriend with many admirable characteristics. He was moral, strong, and steady. He cared deeply for those around him and I couldn’t help but love him along with Diana.
The last 20% of the book was immensely more interesting and enjoyable than the larger part of the story because Diana and Dallas were finally finished hemming and hawing around each other. There were some sweet moments between the two characters, but after such little chemistry, the ending felt a bit rushed with a need to cram their romance into the final pages.
Nevertheless, after some time, I would like to read Mariana Zapata’s newest release, Dear Aaron. I am anxious to see if she has been able to hone her craft and write a more appealing story for my personal tastes.
Don’t let my lack of enjoyment of this novel deter you from reading. Mariana’s writing has garnered over 8000 five-star reviews with this book alone. My opinions are obviously grouped with a low majority. Unfortunately, after reading nearly 700 pages and feeling underwhelmed, I thought my honest opinion needed to be thrown into the fray.
Ashes Books & Bobs 