Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Can't Resist Her

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Can't Resist Her by Kianna Alexander

5 reviews

tjminus's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Content Warnings

lochanreads's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Oh how I wanted to love this book! I went into it with all the bias, all the excitement because queer black women's romances are my serotonin. So I felt really let down when this book ended up being such a disappointment. To its credit, I loved the premise and the conflict that the narrative was built on but I really struggled with the execution of the storytelling. The author obesses too much on minor details, making parts of the story feel extremely banal and as well as that, the dialogue was very cringe. In places, I felt like it had a natural flow but then it would lose that naturalness and start to feel contrived. But to end on a positive, this book has some really sizzling spicy scenes, which gave the story much needed excitement. Despite the excruciating sappy and clichéd epilogue, which I honestly could've done without, I love how this book celebrates women's love and how much it appreciates Black women.

Content Warnings

bladelikesbooks's review

Go to review page

emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

‘Can’t Resist Her’ is a sapphic romance. The book is written in third person and alternates between Aiko and Summer’s POVs giving clear breaks when it switches POVs. Summer (MC) is an educator who runs a preservation society and Aiko (MC) is an architect at Abernathy Creative Development. The main conflict of the book is, in short, gentrification. Aiko’s company is in charge of the demolition of a public school and the building of a new complex, while Summer, is leading protests against it.

I don’t usually read romance, this is my first adult romance actually and I did enjoy it but romance definitely isn’t a preferred genre. The two MCs are both queer (obviously) but Summer never specified if she’s into just women or men too and Aiko describes herself as a lesbian but doesn’t actually use the word which really did annoy me. The only time the word lesbian was used was to describe a bar and I wish authors would use the word more for their lesbian characters because it’s not a bad word.

Regardless of that, the story was pretty fast paced, it’s a second chance romance and there’s some smut too. There is also a third act breakup but it’s not just thrown in, it does make complete sense and it was needed to progress the story so I didn’t mind it. I listened to the audio to read this and I really liked the narrator! If you do listen to the narration, I’d definitely be careful who you’re around when you do bc it does get quite saucy.

Quotes I liked:

“That night at the dance has been burned into my memory for all these years. I still remember every moment: the way you looked in that dress, the way your lips felt.” (Pg. 37)

“There are so many roots to the tree of anger that sometimes the branches shatter before they bear.” (Pg. 224)

“It became clear that no matter how long she lingered here, pain would remain her constant companion.” (Pg. 96)

Rep - Black (BGC & MC & SC); Butch/Stem (MC & SC); F/F Relationship (MC & BGC); Hip replacement/cane user (BGC); Japanese (MC); Lesbian (MC); Peripheral Arterial Disease (SC); Sapphic (MC & SC); They/Them (BGC)

BGC (Background Character); SC (Side Character); MC (Main Character)

Tropes - Second chance romance; Third act break up; Time skip

TWs/CWs - Alcohol; Death of a loved one (past); Displacement; Drug use (weed); Gentrification; Grief; Homophobia; Hurricane; Illness; Jim Crow; Medication; Sexual content; WW2

Content Warnings

notabookseller's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Thanks to NetGalley and Montlake Publishing for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Can’t Resist Her is now available for purchase and at your local libraries.

Summer and Aiko had a Cinderella-esque meet-cute at their senior prom but quickly lost contact with each other (pretty easy when only one of them knew who the other was); over a decade later they find each other again and decide to pursue a relationship with their respective one who got away. However, in a Shakespearean turn of events, they quickly find themselves on opposite sides of the major redevelopment plan for their own alma mater.

I absolutely adore the premise of this story and its execution; seeing how Summer and Aiko’s dual relationships with each other play out simultaneously is very entertaining to watch and incredibly well written; one minute, they’re thirsting after each other in the middle of a bar and the next they’re facing off live on the local news. These women are funny and complex and you can’t help but root for them.

One thing that didn’t sit right with me throughout the story was the overt descriptions of literally every food item that appeared in the book. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good food moment, but in this particular book it just felt so forced and out of place and I just could not look past it. Aiko does this with both food and buildings, but she works in architecture so when she has moments describing the buildings they visit and why they are the way they are it makes sense and it feels much more natural (and it happens far less frequently). This doesn’t take anything away from the story at all, but it doesn’t add much to it either; instead it just affects the reading experience.

Another moment I had an issue with was the introduction of the relationship conflict and doubt outside of the whole Romeo + Juliet-ness of the situation; it was like someone exhaled and somehow that knocked down an entire sandcastle. Come on, have a little faith in your girlfriend, she deserves better than that. However, when it was time to call people out, people were *called out* and I loved it.

All in all, this was a fun, romantic, spicy sapphic read perfect for anytime of year (although, Summer and Aiko’s relationship could melt an igloo).

Content Warnings

nerdysread's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Thank you NetGalley and Montlake for sending me an e-arc of this book.

Okay I really, really liked this book. The characters are pretty good, they both have their ideals and principles. The subjects of legacy and gentrifications are also main topics of this book.

Thé romance? Pretty good. Sometimes I felt like somethings where a bit rushed, but it’s a short book. So it’s totally normal. They have good chemistry, they’re cute and deserve each other.

Bonus point for the spicy scenes. But malus point because they never wore protection

Also, are they rich? Because they always eat out

Content Warnings

More...