Once I Consider You is a second likelihood romance that, whereas pleasing, would have benefited from a third individual vs 1st individual POV. I loved the within look into the movie trade it supplied, however discovered the storyline of the vengeful ex a little bit tiring and overdone.
Kaliya Wilson has all the time dreamed of being a film producer, however is caught working the entrance desk at a studio, discovering it tough to get her foot within the door. When her ex, Danny Prescott, reveals up for a gathering in the future it’s a blast from her previous.
Kaliya and Danny met at movie faculty in New York after they have been youthful. Danny was a little bit bit older than Kaliya and she or he helped him make his thesis movie, however when issues bought critical between them Danny appeared to panic and, afraid of abandonment, Kaliya roughly ghosted him.
Now the studio that Kaliya works for is producing Danny’s newest movie. Danny is the son of an Oscar successful director, so he didn’t discover it as tough to interrupt into the trade as Kaliya has. When he sees her working a entrance desk job he seems like her expertise is being wasted and gives to make her the director’s assistant on his upcoming movie.
There’s a scene I actually appreciated the place Kaliya calls bullshit on Danny’s astonishment that she hasn’t gotten additional in her profession (they’re on the telephone on this scene):
I roll my head on my shoulders and sit up straighter in mattress. “I’m not such as you, Danny,” I say. “I’m not ready to not take it personally once I’m repeatedly ignored and disrespected by the individuals in positions to both assist or harm my profession. It’s a privilege to not care how these in energy understand and deal with you. And as a lot as I desperately need to simply present up and ‘do me,’ that’s a privilege too—one other one I don’t have.”
Danny’s privilege comes from his household legacy, and I appreciated that the ebook acknowledged that.
Regardless of his standing, when Kaliya reveals up at work she finds out a studio government’s niece has taken her job and Danny has needed to bump her to a PA position.
It’s moments like this within the ebook once I wished we had Danny’s perspective.
Kaliya is blindsided by this transformation and whereas Danny later explains and apologizes, it felt like a fairly large slight for me, because the reader, to bounce again from, as a result of I’ve solely Kaliya’s expertise and perspective. If we had seen the interior battle Danny fought on her behalf earlier on, it could have smoothed issues over for me.
Kaliya was trustworthy with Danny about how tough and generally heartbreaking being dismissed and discounted within the movie trade has been for her. When she reveals up at work solely to seek out out her job is gone (and she or he’s already stop her final one), she is totally stunned, and so was I.
When Danny texts her again with a frantic “engaged on it,” it felt like such a betrayal given what she simply shared with him. I felt her humiliation and concern vicariously. For me this was such an enormous fuck up on Danny’s finish that as a reader I misplaced loads belief in him, despite the fact that he did ultimately make issues proper. As a result of I didn’t see Danny getting blindsided or see his response to the information or see him advocate for Kaliya, it was laborious to let go of his betrayal.
This sample of sudden bewilderment and sudden ache for Kaliya continues with Danny’s ex and a producer on the movie, actress Celine Michele. Initially Kaliya (and the reader) suppose that Danny and Celine are nonetheless an influence couple.
gentle spoiler ahoy
After we ultimately study that there’s already a variety of stress between Celine and Danny and that he’s navigating a spot of working with an ex who can be partially financing his movie, it makes extra sense. I believe it could have been extra satisfying to study this stuff, from Danny’s perspective sooner than need to forgive him (once more).
I didn’t love the Celine angle very a lot. I’m bored with the “stunning however imply ex girlfriend” trope in romance, and Celine’s petty cruelties to Kaliya actually didn’t have to occur to maneuver the story alongside. There may be definitely some realism in having a well-known and wealthy actress treating the crew of a movie like rubbish, however in some respects it simply detracted from the principle battle. A number of the challenge is that as a personality, Celine isn’t way more than a imply, fairly wealthy woman. She’s a caricature, not likely an individual.
What Kaliya doesn’t know (and I didn’t know as a result of I didn’t get Danny’s POV) is that after they have been in faculty a part of the explanation Danny pulled away from her is that he was struggling to navigate his grief surrounding his father’s demise and the help his mom wanted. Kaliya, for her half, runs away the second she thinks she may very well be deserted. There was loads of emotional battle and progress to work with right here, with out the inclusion of Celine being jealous, though the answer to most of it was simply Danny lastly telling us issues.
I did get pleasure from that this was a celeb romance that didn’t focus solely on actors. We get to see the work that goes into preproduction of a movie, from scouting to casting, and it was actually fascinating and totally different.
Total, I actually did get pleasure from the principle battle and progress each Kaliya and Danny want to be able to come collectively and I discovered their growth actually satisfying. I believe the novel would have benefited from Danny’s POV and Celine may go, however that is nonetheless an pleasing second likelihood romance and a brand new tackle the superstar trope.