Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

50 reviews

idrilcelebrindal's review against another edition

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lighthearted 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

2.25

This book was fine. Nothing special, and way too long. Main character had a lot of internalized misogyny that drove me crazy. When the love interest gets groped and she thinks it’s wildly funny it was so painful. Sexual assault/harassment isn’t okay just because it’s a man who is targeted.  

The handling of FASD (fetal alcohol) was incredibly bad. It should’ve been left out entirely. 

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garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25


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stilken's review against another edition

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

0.25


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lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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emotional 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

A good old Slow burn romance is my favorite trope, so I was so excited to pick this up, and it did not disappoint. I absolutely adored Vanessa and Aiden’s relationship. Trauma is heavily mentioned in the novel, so be sure to check trigger warnings before reading!!

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mels_reading_log's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

This is a grumpy/sunshine, fake marriage, slow burn, sports romance novel. Both of the main characters have childhood trauma and trust issues to work through. I really enjoyed the transformation of Aiden, as he opened up and became more comfortable with Vanessa.

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frantically's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Guys, I'm SO conflicted on this book!!

Was this book particularly good? No, not really. Was it absolutely addicting to listen to? Yes. Spent two days doing nothing else.

I love Aiden. What. A. Man. The quiet way he shows Van he loves her 😭😭 the way he stands up for her 😭😭 really had me sobbing ngl

Can't stand Van. She was so fun at first but then it just turned really pick-me and if there's one thing I HATE it's pick-me's.

Still, the relationship was so cute! Yes it was technically very slow burn but we all knew they were gonna end up together in the end and it made all the pre-relationship situations so much cuter for me.

Some other stuff I had issues with:
– Van's family gives major Cinderella vibes but not retelling vibes, Cinderella vibes straight out of the fairytale. Completely two-dimensional. Oh and why are they assholes? Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, of course
– Aiden is groped/sexually harassed in front of Van and she laughs about it for like ten minutes. Ew.
– Van gets into sports! Theoretically fun but she only does it after Aiden's manager says she's fat. And there's so much focus on her losing weight, it became a bit uncomfortable

So – why did I even like this? I don't know. I like Aiden. I like puppies. I like "I loved you from the start". The writing is good.

Will read more Zapata books, trying to find a book as great as Lukov was xoxo

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juliaaaaaa's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

great trope but badly executed. look, i love a slow burn, but i was expecting more chemistry tension and build up, it didn't give me butterflies until the last chapter

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darcerenity's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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emmariana97's review against another edition

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no one: 

vanessa: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. i counted instead of punching his stupid god awful sexy face. his huge face set on behemoth square shoulders large enough to send people flying, his rippling ham thighs with huge gigantic ginormous colossal humongous muscles i didn't even know existed. i felt like such a huge asshole for not smiling back at him, even though he'd called me an annoying nag. he kept walking with his thunderous steps shaking the literal foundations of the building, his leviathan pectorals bouncing largely and hugely

TIMES I NEARLY DNF'D THIS
-her bffl is being abused by her shitty bf and doesn't want to tell mc. but rather than try to, idk, help her, vanessa's only response is that she's a duplicitous two faced liar that can't be trusted

-when van gets groped by christian it's (rightly!!) portrayed as a crime. when aidan gets groped by a stranger van thinks it's the funniest thing in the world. make it make sense PLEASE

-the canadians in this keep using "eh" instead of "yes". has this author ever met a canadian
-mc dresses up as a minion and goku for halloween because she hates when women dress slutty. she also yells at aidan for not knowing anime. mariana zapata i need you to be so serious with me rn

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libellumartinae's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I am not going to lie, I do feel a bit cheated by this book. it had so much potential and I was utterly thriving at the tropes used alongside the banter that we were first shown between the characters and although Aiden did not fully buy me over, I enjoyed Vanessa. Then the second part started and oh gods... it just felt too cheesy. Although this was supposedly a romance to me it just felt too swift especially as it created a kind of detachment between the two narrative parts of the book, that had me feeling utterly disappointed in my expectations.

I also feel like the fmc's backstory at some point was ridiculous instead of being hopeful and inspiring, especially as it lacked depth. I do feel like Aiden's own explanation behind his behavior of not being 'made for relationship' was extremely shallow and never deepened.

I also dreaded the involvement of themes of domestic violence, especially when they were just treated poorly and without an explanation that went longer than a few lines. especially when Aiden, himself, seemed a victim of domestic violence so it'd have been interesting to see something.

finally, another huge flaw, at least according to me, of this book is the fact that the harassment that Aiden faces from his fans is just ridiculed while it could have made for a good plot line, but instead Vanessa - a woman that supposedly like/love him - just ridicules him although he is clearly at unease.

I am honestly so very saddened by the disappointment of this book as it had, in the first, part all the cards to be genuinely interesting and wholesome but I felt like the romance wasn't just very good and neither the whole side characters and backstory.

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