Scan barcode
reminiscences's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
peachani's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Gun violence and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Classism
lesbegays's review
weirdly enough, this has made me more confident calling talia hibbert a favorite author, since i can trust that i’ll still enjoy even her worst works.
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Medical content, Dementia, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
zabeishumanish'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
4.5
The book is absolutely stellar.
These characters are remarkable well developed. At some points in the story the plot was weak for me, but the sheer vibrancy of every character on the page makes me want to entirely ignore that. Plot drawbacks that stand out are; not knowing why Theo felt comfortable pursuing Jen despite being so worried about her experience with workplace sexual harassment, Jen never meeting the sister Theo talks about constantly, information about Jen history with a panic disorder, and more backstory for everything surrounding the stalker situation. These are mostly small concerns and entirely overshadowed by the amazing cast.
This is primarily a duel POV romance, with POV from the love interests. There are also three partial chapters from the perspectives of different side characters. I think I would normally find a break from story flow like that off putting, but I loved them. The first is Jen’s best friend Aria in over protective friend mode. When I read the section in her POV it felt like both a glimpse into Jen’s life that she would rather keep hidden and a potential way to introduce the POV of the next character in the series. When I got to the next side character POV though I got that these sections were designed to bring depth to the story and show the differences in human experience. The second side characters POV was Jen’s grandmother, who is suffering dementia like memory problems. The writing in the section made me cry as the familial love shown through earnest confusion and doubts. The third side characters POV was a lesser villain in the book. While hinted at earlier in the book, her internal monologue reveals her to be incredibly racist, which was jarring given the diversity of the book’s cast. The writing was artful, in all three cases, but especially with the racists perspective. The section made her both more distasteful and villainous while simultaneously a human with human worries, concerns, and feelings. There was so much marvelously more depth to the book that I was expecting from a romance. I’ve loved Talia’s more current romcom-y romance, but I adored how this book hit me in all the feels.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Fatphobia, Racism, Sexism, and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy
krisrow's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual harassment
caseythereader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
zombiezami's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Like others have said, the power imbalance is pretty uncomfortable, especially since Theodore is so controlling and doesn’t listen to what Jennifer wants, even about basic things, like not calling her Jenny. I just kept thinking about how easily an abusive person could and would take these same actions. I get that Theodore is supposed to be hot or whatever,
I wasn’t expecting the stalker plotline. It felt like more of a distraction than anything else, especially since
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, Fatphobia, Blood, and Medical content
Minor: Cancer, Racism, and Vomit
Sexual harassment