wilybooklover's review against another edition
1.5
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Ableism, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Abandonment, Cancer, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Terminal illness
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Infidelity
shannnne's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism and Classism
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Cancer, and Sexual harassment
kendal_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Abandonment, Ableism, and Cancer
destiny106's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Ableism, Sexual harassment, and Cancer
cheffreckles's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Ableism
serendipity421's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content, Ableism, Abandonment, Cancer, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Drug use, Rape, and Misogyny
Minor: Pedophilia
biloser99's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Sexual harassment
thereadinghammock_mserinv's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Michael's "she can't love me because I'm just like my father" complex got a little annoying for me about halfway through the book. Never once did he actually act like his father, it's only that he thought about doing the things his father did. But who doesn't deal with the occasional intrusive thought when they're stressed?
Overall, it was a good book. I appreciate the autism representation, but can't speak to it's authenticity, as I'm sure it's an extremely personal experience for each individual, and it's not something I have close first hand experience with.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Cancer, and Sexual assault
Minor: Emotional abuse and Ableism
sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The start was cute, then I got about halfway where it was mostly sex and little plot, then the plot returned just for it to be a third act breakup due to miscommunication...
I liked Stella's character and it was refreshing to see an autistic character and a woman in STEM at the centre of a romance. Michael's character just didn't feel right to me, I couldn't figure out if he was a nice guy or a "nice guy". I think the book was trying to play on the idea of if we are like our parents and how there are multiple sides to people but it felt jarring when he suddenly swapped from being a good dude to (in my opinion, unnecessarily) sexualising women. I just felt that, overall, the characters could've been a little more fleshed out.
The middle of the book didn't do much for me, as I'm not a huge smut fan, but you may enjoy this more if you do like smut and sex scenes. In saying this though, the book was not completely sex scenes as some reviews suggest, the storyline itself does basically revolve around sex, so consider if this is something you're interested in.
The end also felt a little rushed to me after the conflict, but I guess that's to be expected when the conflict revolves around miscommunication and all it takes is one conversation to resolve it. I'm also not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope so the conflict just frustrated me.
Overall, this wasn't a bad read but I don't think it impacted me too much. There are parts that are done well which I enjoyed and parts that could be done better or just weren't for me. This is definitely one to check out the blurb and see if it's for you, cause it's not going to be for everyone but I would still be interested in reading some of Helen Hoang's other work, even if just for the women in STEM.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Violence
jazzseeks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Misogyny, Ableism, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Classism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Cancer, Violence, Vomit, Infidelity, Chronic illness, and Stalking
Pressure to have children, pressure to marry, comment about character looking "barely legal" , comment about "having nipples men and babies dream of"