Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Kiss Quotient

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

31 reviews

hayleyvem's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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

3.5

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just_jess02's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring tense 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? Yes

3.75

This was not at all what I expected. Usually the emotional aspects of romance novels feel like a formality to connect the erotic moments to me. This book is 90% emotional and mental descriptions with about 10% smut. I surprisingly really enjoyed it! The author did a fantastic job weaving tension through the story and keeping me engaged. I was able to empathize with most of the characters and really connect with the nuances of the relationships. While I strongly resonated with Stella on a personal level and enjoyed the representation of her POV, there was something about the depiction of her character that bothered me… I just can’t quite figure out what.
Definitely worth the read if you’re looking for something casual and short. It’s not very spicy but it is very hot.
🌶️1.5/5

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

1.5

This book started out so well and was on the way to being a four-star read, but alas, did not work for me in the end. I enjoyed the autistic representation (written by an autistic author), Michael’s family and the portrayal of Vietnamese culture, and Stella. I loved her — she’s such a complex and unique character and had a great character arc. Hated the rest, lol. The story was way too formulaic and this is coming from someone who loves the predictable nature of romance novels and finds it comforting. Stella and Michael’s attraction seemed almost purely physical; I wanted to see a stronger emotional connection, more substance. I was uncomfortable with the way that sex work and sex workers were portrayed at several points. I don’t think the topic of sexual assault was handled very well or really unpacked properly by Stella. Michael says his mother dying would ‘free’ him, framing sick/disabled people as burdens on their family (granted I have no experience with the American healthcare system but surely that’s the real issue here).

Mostly, though, it was Michael who ruined the book for me. He’s pushy, domineering, overly possessive, and can’t take no for an answer. He literally stalks Stella and follows her home, repeatedly goes after her and presses his romantic attentions on her after she turns him down and tells him to leave her alone MULTIPLE TIMES. That’s not sexy; it’s creepy and scary. Yet when another man won’t take no for an answer, he’s angry even though it’s a very similar kind of behaviour as his own. One is portrayed as wrong and the other OK purely based on who is perpetrating the behaviour. Make it make sense. Not only that but after being sexually assaulted which is obviously very upsetting for Stella, does he offer her support or comfort? No, he feels the need to ‘mark her as his’ as if she’s his property. She initially tells him no to kissing after such a traumatic event and is clearly uncomfortable with it but does he respect that? Of course not, he forces her into it anyway and then fucks her because HE needs it! Fuck Stella’s needs, I guess.

Of course, he knew she didn’t really want him to leave her alone because he knows better. Same with the sex scenes: he overrides her own wishes (that she states to him clearly) and pushes her into doing things she dislikes and feels uncomfortable with because he apparently knows better than her about her own body. He tells her to dress and do her hair how he likes it rather than how she prefers. She can’t even eat what she wants without him trying to control it. He knows she has a hard time in loud/social situations and she tells him she’d rather go home because she’s tired, but he forces her to go to his large, boisterous family’s house anyway. He’s just forever violating her boundaries even (and especially) when she says she’s uncomfortable with doing something. Yeah, he says all the right things about respecting her consent, but his actions and thoughts don’t line up so it just feels manipulative and patronising. He may be teaching her how to be in a relationship but it’s certainly not a healthy one. The controlling behaviour, questionable consent, and complete disregard for Stella’s agency really put me off and made me feel uneasy.

There were also a few things that bothered me in terms of writing. Michael is described as looking like a specific celebrity, which is not only a lazy way to describe someone but just something I despise, especially in romance. Much of Michael’s inner monologue comes off as immature with dude-bro style casual misogyny (e.g. ‘the only reason a woman should wear a pencil skirt is to show off her ass’). The book is laden with gender essentialism and bizarre lines such as ‘a natural talent for fucking’ (LMAO) and ‘she had the kind of nipples men and babies dreamed about’ (what??). The dirty talk was... not good.

I can’t believe this book got recommended to me as having a kind, gentle hero and good consent. I am genuinely baffled. If that is what you want then this book is not it.

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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

3.5

Writing: 3.5⭐️/5

The writing shined at certain moments and at others, it felt forced and trope-driven. The dialogue suffered at moments as well, reading more like strained conversations than natural communication. That being said, some moments were very well written and kept me engaged until the end.

Characters: 3.75⭐️/5

I loved the inclusion of a woman with autism as the main love interest. The slow reveal of her autism felt nice as well, as the readers become comfortable with her “quirks” rather than just as a woman with autism. I think, while the main characters were intriguing, they did lack a bit of human quality to make them fully believable.

Plot: 3.5⭐️/5

The plot was fun, as long as you don’t think too hard about certain aspects. I felt the backstory of Michael’s dad was both withheld for far too long and also less significant than all the foreshadowing seemed to imply it would be. I did, however, love the handling of the fake dating trope, even if it started from a slightly ridiculous spot.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of romance novels with a bit of heat
Those looking for a romance novel with a unique narrator

Content Warnings?

Sexual content, ableism, sexual harassment, toxic relationship, toxic friendship,

Post-Reading Rating: 4⭐️/5

Very fun to read.

Final Rating: 3.5⭐️/5

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helfire124's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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andreapepsii's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is like a warm (sexy) hug. MCs are so sweet and heartwarming and Stella’s character is nice to see in books as well. I really appreciate it!
I do want to say though that I was disappointed with the third act of the book, compared to the rest of the book the pacing seemed to be completely off and the emotional pay offs were either getting to you too late or they were dragged out for what felt like an eternity, even when the end was predictable. But oh well. Will read it again if I need a cozy read

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cnricochet's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

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shindanker's review

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funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

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sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

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

I had a pretty good time reading this overall but I just don't think the book had too much impact on me outside of the autism representation.

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.

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jazzseeks's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

I am not a fan of contemporary romance usually but this is certainly the best one I've ever read. What I really loved was how relatable the Main Character was as a woman with Autism and how much <Michael loved her for the ways she was unique and not inspite of who she is>. I found the romance believable, funny, and deeply enjoyable. <Michaels family is lovely.> The only things I didn't like were how horrible a lot of the tertiary characters were such as the parents, the coworkers, the ex clients. Those parts were painful to get through and didn't always feel vital to the story or characters development. Also Helen Hoang is really pro-capitalist and I'm never into that though I enjoyed flipping the trope so that the Woman had the money.

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