Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Pretending

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Pretending by Holly Bourne

16 reviews

rachel_nut's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Reading the first few pages, it is safe to say that this book intrigued me, a brilliant “hook” to draw the reader in. I will admit that it does “settle down” for the first 100 or so pages, and during that I was not as determined to finish it due to its slow pace. However, it picked up and I found it a struggle to put the book down and finished it in 2 days!

I especially like how there isn’t a good or bad ending, just a “neutral” one. I like how the author explains how falling in love at the end doesn’t mean it’s just “the end”, or that it’s a particularly happy ending, because falling in love isn’t the sole accomplishment women “should strive for”. In fact, falling in love doesn’t determine whether a woman is successful or not, and this, as well as other topics, is explained so well throughout this book. I highly appreciate how well Holly Bourne’s writing conveys the multitude of complex issues that arrive in the package that is the reality of women’s lives.

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sophsreadingbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

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ellamycroft's review against another edition

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3.0

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charlottereadsthings's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Pretending by Holly Bourne sees a woman called April who struggles to trust men after very bad experiences with them. The reader sees several instances where potential partners view her differently when she aska fir accomodations or starts to open up about past situations. This leads April to imafine a version of herself, known as Gretal, who is the polar opposite of herself: sexy, damage free, says and does whatever men want to make them think they have all the power. She takes this to a whole new level when she makes a dating profile inder the name Gretal and manages to secure a date with an unsuspecting man called Joshua. Only things start to go well
Too well.

In the usual way, Holly Bourne expertly crafts an engaging narrative with important socia commentary. Showing through April's job as a charity worker just how widespread sexual violence is in daily life. She tacklea diatresaing topics with care and the way everything was interwoven just had me unable to do anything else but read this book, waiting for the moment where eventually Joshua would learn the truth.

I will be thinkung about this book for a long time.

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crossyc's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This books need a trigger warning, as the lack of one seems a little irresponsible given the subject matter and just how detailed it is about life after sexual assault, abuse and rape.

I wanted to enjoy this, if enjoy is the right word, but I couldn’t accept the character’s thinking.

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larasfavbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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emcguire96's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

4.5

I devoured this book in a day. I loved April and her flaws - it made her human and I loved how she morphed into Gretel in front of my eyes. It was a 5* read until the final couple of chapters. I felt that there was a lot to tie up and it felt like an easy way out kind of ending from the author. Other than that, I loved it! Going to have a look at more Holly Bourne and get reading! Fans of Marian Keyes and Taylor Jenkins Reid’s more romance focused novels will love this!

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ccassidy98's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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margarida_pf's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lucy33's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

ok, 12th and final book of holly bourne's!!!! is it my favourite of her's? idk, i hate pitting books against each other (they're all different wtf how??), struggle enough to give ratings for books. this book had some beautiful passages and simular to How Do You Like Me Now? (HB's other adult novel), contained a lot of my pondering questions - that was nice, made me feel less crazy. the MC was beautifully (perfectly, honestly) written, and it was heartening to see a real human being for a character rather than a fabricated version of the favourite things in a person. (the story literally being about fabricating/pretending to be a perfect person lol.) I really enjoyed how the final paragraph was written was an ambiguous s/o it was such the perfect way to wrap up the story. I loved how the different types of paragraphs were, and some of the shorter chapter paragraphs passages were so beautifully written. the chapter lengths were all perf, some short and long thank you very much, my lovely. overall, the book made me heart yurn and it was utterly gorgeous.

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