Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall

20 reviews

aimzthereader's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative lighthearted relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

I LOVED this book and felt sooo seen by it . This book represents a lot of the bisexual experience, the good and the bad. I love that the author was not afraid to call out a lot of shit that lgbtqia+ community has to deal with . 

I loved the writing style. I loved the plot especially the setting of it being on the Great bake which is the Great British bake off 100%. It was I reretibg to hear about the competition while having a romance happen at the same time. This id also a story of friendship. The power of standing up for yourself and being your true self and being fine with that and making others realize they need to be accepting and respectful. 

The daughter in this is also super cute and that’s a great storyline of seeing Rosaline as a single mother and all the experiences that go along with that. 
 
There were many many moments where I found myself snapping/clapping along at this book, nodding my head and smiling and also getting mad at certain characters. This book also made me watch the great British bake off and I highly recommend that for a
Multimedia experience. 

I will read many more books by Alexis hall because to me this book was perfection . 

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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Rating: 5/5 stars

Rosaline Palmer, a bisexual single mother, hopes that a spot on reality competition show Bake Expectations will be just the change her life needs. But she isn’t counting on the two handsome men that may just throw all her life choices into question…

For some reason, I deeply procrastinated reading this book. Even though I kept telling myself to get to it, I managed to put it off over and over again, until finally the second book in the series came out and I decided I absolutely had to get to this one. And, once again, I am over here questioning all of my choices in life because I waited so long but I LOVE THIS BOOK. It was absolutely hilarious, and charming, and covered deep topics while still being lighthearted. The characters were all fantastic, and I already cannot wait to revisit this world in the next book.

I’m normally not one for a love triangle, but the set-up here makes a lot of sense and really helps to drive the larger plot themes and enable Rosaline’s eventual self-discovery. And her eventual choice is, without exaggeration, now in my top five all-time favorite book boyfriends—I truly may never stop thinking about him, or about this entire story.

I could go on, but really, the bottom line is don’t be like me and procrastinate—go read this book now!

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: love triangles; bisexual representation; baking competitions

CW: Sexual assault; biphobia; some discussion of anxiety/mental illness.

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amberinpieces's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing 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? Yes

4.5


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thefatpaperback's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.0


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eamily's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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


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karolinaz's review against another edition

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

1.5


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rey_therese07's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

3.5


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melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging 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? Yes

4.0

Okay I LOVE Rosaline and her bi-self! How cute is she with her daughter and her baking competition and her self-sufficiency!? I just love that. This book was so good! A part in the middle made me incredibly angry! This has a lot of biphobia in it which is infuriating, but I loved the way Rosaline handled herself!  Fun read!

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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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

5.0

After adoring Boyfriend Material, when I saw that this was written by the same person, well, I had to give it a try! And it was wonderful. Full of Hall's trademark wit, Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake takes the reader on a whirlwind adventure. Rosaline, a single mother, is a contestant on a BBC baking competition that is heavily based on the Great British Bake Off. On her way to the competition (which is, of course, in a town that doesn't get reliable rail service), she and another competitor end up stranded at a random rail stop. And she lies to Alvin, trying to make him think that she's more awesome than she really is. It totally backfires, of course. And then there's Harry. Who's a highly skilled laborer - electrician - and still somehow calls women "love." Rosaline lets him have it, and it sticks. Over the course of the competition, Alvin and Harry compete for the prize and for Rosaline's hand. Except.....

One of them turns out to be a right bastard and the other one a truly nice guy. Read to find out who she end up with, and how bad one shows himself to be a right bastard. 

This book was laugh-out-loud funny, and kept me awake too late more than once, since I had to know how it ended. 

Update: 2022-08-25: This was an excellent re-read. I noticed so much that I missed during the first read. There's a lot of discussion about class, which this American reader still doesn't quite get, but it was informative and interesting. It was also very cool to see the well-written evidence of what was going to happen between Rosaline and her two guys, as I noticed how they had completely different interactions with Rosaline and how those interactions telegraphed how their various relationships would play out. 

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.0

Four for now. Might bump it up later. I need to think.

Rep: bisexual single parent female MC, one love interest has social anxiety, lesbian female side character, BIPOC side character (I think south Asian to be specific will follow up), sister of love interest is married to her wife.

CWs: Alcohol consumption, discussion of abortion and reasons why MC did not choose it, biphobia, cursing (including a child cursing), emotional abuse/parental neglect, gaslighting, mental illness (anxiety/social anxiety), past pregnancy, sexual assault, sexual content (graphic and several scenes), toxic relationship, misogyny.
 

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