The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
prasi's review
I really wanted to love this book. I've been watching Abbie's YouTube videos for some time now and I was very excited when I was finally able to pick this up.Â
But ultimately it was fluffed up disability porn.Â
Yes, representation for disabled characters in literature is important and I have no problem with any writer adding disabled characters to their story or writing about characters who struggle with their disability. But if you're going to do that just please do some research first and make use of sensitivity readers.Â
I had several issues with this book, including Weston's consent issues, some of the thoughts and comments made about disability or the general attitude the characters have about disability, and the overwhelmingly obvious use of disability as nothing more than a plot device.Â
What frustrated me the most about this book is that after Tessa becomes temporarily blind she spends the entire book looking for ways to escape her blindness. And that in and of itself isn't unrealistic. Plenty of disabled people, especially just after becoming disabled, are angry or depressed about what has happened to them.Â
But that was never really portrayed beyond a surface level in this book. It was all 'I'm angry/sad I've lost my sight' and then immediately moved on to the next topic. There was never any real depth or exploration (or heaven forbid, character development) regarding Tessa and her disability. She never learned to exist with her disability despite not actually knowing herself if her blindness was temporary. We did, obviously, because the synopsis told us that before we started reading the book. But Tessa doesn't.Â
There's almost this omission of what life is like as someone recently disabled. If Abbie had researched this aspect of the book more instead of putting all of the time into the romance, we could have seen Tessa wrestling with feelings of inadequacy and then learning that being disabled doesn't mean she has to miss out on all of the things she loves. We could have learned about Tessa's medical appointments, working with a Speech-Language Pathologist or beginning to learn Braille. Or she could have addressed accessibility issues like how difficult it can be to get additional accommodation, learning about the blind community, learning to use screen readers or beginning the process of getting a guide dog. There is SO much richness and depth in blind culture and this book completely sidestepped all of that to focus on a mediocre romance.
And speaking of romance, the male love interest in this book, Weston, is such a jerk. I love me a good enemies to lovers romance. But in this case it's really more forced-assistant/bully to lovers, and pardon the pun but it's really like Tessa is completely blind to Weston's crappy attitude.Â
Which, I get being angry. Weston had recently also become disabled and often makes degrading remarks about himself because of his disability. And ya know, I've been there. I get that so much.Â
But that doesn't excuse saying degrading things about other people and their disabilities. And it was like Tessa just didn't even notice when he said some sideways complement colored insult to her. She just got smitten with him. It felt like Weston was written a bit too forcibly like a brooding, angsty, loner boy, except the soft inner-shell part that's all sweet and caring was never fully fleshed out. And there was no real transition or growth to make it believable.Â
Add to that all of the consent issues with Weston - from asking for consent and then not waiting for an answer, coming on to Tessa suddenly, and all of this while she can't see him to know what it is that he's doing... it's just yucky.Â
And the cherry on top is the fact that all of this is written through a Christian proselyte viewpoint. The fact that religion is not mentioned anywhere in the synopsis, anywhere in YouTube videos talking about this book, and it's laid on SO THICK makes it really feel like proselytism.Â
I'm really sad this book wasn't a good fit for me. I wanted to love it so much. I adore ooey-gooey cute first romance stories. But this was not that.Â
But ultimately it was fluffed up disability porn.Â
Yes, representation for disabled characters in literature is important and I have no problem with any writer adding disabled characters to their story or writing about characters who struggle with their disability. But if you're going to do that just please do some research first and make use of sensitivity readers.Â
I had several issues with this book, including Weston's consent issues, some of the thoughts and comments made about disability or the general attitude the characters have about disability, and the overwhelmingly obvious use of disability as nothing more than a plot device.Â
What frustrated me the most about this book is that after Tessa becomes temporarily blind she spends the entire book looking for ways to escape her blindness. And that in and of itself isn't unrealistic. Plenty of disabled people, especially just after becoming disabled, are angry or depressed about what has happened to them.Â
But that was never really portrayed beyond a surface level in this book. It was all 'I'm angry/sad I've lost my sight' and then immediately moved on to the next topic. There was never any real depth or exploration (or heaven forbid, character development) regarding Tessa and her disability. She never learned to exist with her disability despite not actually knowing herself if her blindness was temporary. We did, obviously, because the synopsis told us that before we started reading the book. But Tessa doesn't.Â
There's almost this omission of what life is like as someone recently disabled. If Abbie had researched this aspect of the book more instead of putting all of the time into the romance, we could have seen Tessa wrestling with feelings of inadequacy and then learning that being disabled doesn't mean she has to miss out on all of the things she loves. We could have learned about Tessa's medical appointments, working with a Speech-Language Pathologist or beginning to learn Braille. Or she could have addressed accessibility issues like how difficult it can be to get additional accommodation, learning about the blind community, learning to use screen readers or beginning the process of getting a guide dog. There is SO much richness and depth in blind culture and this book completely sidestepped all of that to focus on a mediocre romance.
And speaking of romance, the male love interest in this book, Weston, is such a jerk. I love me a good enemies to lovers romance. But in this case it's really more forced-assistant/bully to lovers, and pardon the pun but it's really like Tessa is completely blind to Weston's crappy attitude.Â
Which, I get being angry. Weston had recently also become disabled and often makes degrading remarks about himself because of his disability. And ya know, I've been there. I get that so much.Â
But that doesn't excuse saying degrading things about other people and their disabilities. And it was like Tessa just didn't even notice when he said some sideways complement colored insult to her. She just got smitten with him. It felt like Weston was written a bit too forcibly like a brooding, angsty, loner boy, except the soft inner-shell part that's all sweet and caring was never fully fleshed out. And there was no real transition or growth to make it believable.Â
Add to that all of the consent issues with Weston - from asking for consent and then not waiting for an answer, coming on to Tessa suddenly, and all of this while she can't see him to know what it is that he's doing... it's just yucky.Â
And the cherry on top is the fact that all of this is written through a Christian proselyte viewpoint. The fact that religion is not mentioned anywhere in the synopsis, anywhere in YouTube videos talking about this book, and it's laid on SO THICK makes it really feel like proselytism.Â
I'm really sad this book wasn't a good fit for me. I wanted to love it so much. I adore ooey-gooey cute first romance stories. But this was not that.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Car accident, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic friendship, Ableism, and Injury/Injury detail
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