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jelkebooks's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
After quite enjoying the first two books in the series I have been so excited to read this one. Especially because this book is the one in the series I have seen the most glowing reviews for. However, this book just REALLY didn't work for me. I mean, it isn't a terrible book. It was quite a quick read, it had its fun moments, but there was one BIG element I just hated.
That is our female main character. I really despised her. For most of the book I thought she was fine enough but there were some parts to her that gave me an ick. For example I thought it was odd how she kept saying in her inner monologue that she would be there for Cal's recovery if he wanted her there, but then she keeps pushing him away again and again. Not a single part of her actions showed me she even wanted him to feel better. It seemed like she rather enjoyed punishing him instead. However, it wasn't too bad, but then the third act conflict happened and her actions are abismal. I don't want to say too much because of spoilers but basically the whole third act conflict is Alana getting mad at Cal for a situation she completely made up in her head, and punishing him over and over again even when she has multiple things pointing to the truth. Her actions in that part of the book just made me DESPISE her so much, and put those early actions that gave me a slight ick in a way more negative light. So yeah, I hated her personally but also nothing in this book actually convinced me that Alana actually loved Cal.
Cal was a fine enough character. I found him a bit blant but in a better book it wouldn't bother me so much. His journey throughout the book wasn't my complete favourite. Even though the ultimate message of the book is that you can only kick your addiction if YOU wanted to do it for you, the way things went down still gave me the vibe of "love can heal everything". I don't know. It just seemed really odd, and a bit off to me. Like I said this book doesn't fully give off that message but it does come a bit too close to comfort for me personally.
It's also a small town romance, which I typically love but I HATED the townspeople in this as well. I just think they felt like they came straight out of a bad cartoon. The way they all just dunked on Cal and pretended like he was the most evil person to ever exist because he *checks notes* dumped his girlfriend at the height of his battle with addiction. It just seemed so odd to me. I'm not saying they should have treated him like a hero. I get why they were apprehensive of him because they are so protective of Alana but the extends these people went to just felt evil, and not real. I kept thinking he must have done something else that was WAY worse, but that reveal just never came.
The romance was also just really lackluster to me. They had some cute moments, especially when Alana's daughter was involved. However, the only basis for their feelings is the fact that they were in love with each other several years ago. We don't get any flashbacks to see them fall in love. We don't get any developement present day. It just felt extremely lackluster. Add to that my previous complaints about feeling like Alana has a deep hatred for Cal instead of loving him, I just didn't buy it AT ALL.
That is our female main character. I really despised her. For most of the book I thought she was fine enough but there were some parts to her that gave me an ick. For example I thought it was odd how she kept saying in her inner monologue that she would be there for Cal's recovery if he wanted her there, but then she keeps pushing him away again and again. Not a single part of her actions showed me she even wanted him to feel better. It seemed like she rather enjoyed punishing him instead. However, it wasn't too bad, but then the third act conflict happened and her actions are abismal. I don't want to say too much because of spoilers but basically the whole third act conflict is Alana getting mad at Cal for a situation she completely made up in her head, and punishing him over and over again even when she has multiple things pointing to the truth. Her actions in that part of the book just made me DESPISE her so much, and put those early actions that gave me a slight ick in a way more negative light. So yeah, I hated her personally but also nothing in this book actually convinced me that Alana actually loved Cal.
Cal was a fine enough character. I found him a bit blant but in a better book it wouldn't bother me so much. His journey throughout the book wasn't my complete favourite. Even though the ultimate message of the book is that you can only kick your addiction if YOU wanted to do it for you, the way things went down still gave me the vibe of "love can heal everything". I don't know. It just seemed really odd, and a bit off to me. Like I said this book doesn't fully give off that message but it does come a bit too close to comfort for me personally.
It's also a small town romance, which I typically love but I HATED the townspeople in this as well. I just think they felt like they came straight out of a bad cartoon. The way they all just dunked on Cal and pretended like he was the most evil person to ever exist because he *checks notes* dumped his girlfriend at the height of his battle with addiction. It just seemed so odd to me. I'm not saying they should have treated him like a hero. I get why they were apprehensive of him because they are so protective of Alana but the extends these people went to just felt evil, and not real. I kept thinking he must have done something else that was WAY worse, but that reveal just never came.
The romance was also just really lackluster to me. They had some cute moments, especially when Alana's daughter was involved. However, the only basis for their feelings is the fact that they were in love with each other several years ago. We don't get any flashbacks to see them fall in love. We don't get any developement present day. It just felt extremely lackluster. Add to that my previous complaints about feeling like Alana has a deep hatred for Cal instead of loving him, I just didn't buy it AT ALL.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Grief
Minor: Miscarriage
melissa08's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Cal was my favourite brother in books 1 and 2 and I really thought for the first 300 pages that he had been done dirty in this book!
Up to page 300, the plot felt lacking, the ex and town were insufferable and it was making me dislike the book. Glad I pushed through to the end as I enjoyed Cal’s character development/ redemption and how well addiction was represented. The book also rounded off the series well.
Cami and Cal probably ended up being my two favourite characters of the book.
Cal was my favourite brother in books 1 and 2 and I really thought for the first 300 pages that he had been done dirty in this book!
Up to page 300, the plot felt lacking, the ex and town were insufferable and it was making me dislike the book. Glad I pushed through to the end as I enjoyed Cal’s character development/ redemption and how well addiction was represented. The book also rounded off the series well.
Cami and Cal probably ended up being my two favourite characters of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Vomit, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
h_robins's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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 Cami she was so cute and sweet and funny. The banter btwn Cal and Lana was great.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
sunflowers101's review against another edition
4.5
This book was so hard to read at times because of how intense it made me feel when Cal drank. I think this is a pretty accurate representation of how when a relationship is good, it's great, but when it's bad, it's devastating. The spice was hot, the banter was good, the anguish was intense, and I loved feeling all the feelings. I loved the relationship between Cal, Lana, and her daughter in the end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse
ohsunnyaa's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- 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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism
maxinesf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug abuse
chelsea_jh's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism
Moderate: Child abuse and Mental illness
Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
imcalledjo's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this book!
Really interesting topics covered
Really interesting topics covered
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use
liaantje's review
The MMC is Just succes an ass, and a high functioning alcoholische. This Girl deserved better
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death of parent
yannalovesbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
Wow. Um I don’t even know what to say really except that this book really has changed my life. It’s definitely my top book of the year easily.
The themes of this book are difficult and are actually ones that I hold really close to me personally. I feel like the whole book was just emotional whiplash but in the best way possible. The whole time reading I felt like my heart was clenched and quite literally in the hands of the beautiful characters in not just this story, but the whole series as a whole.
Cal’s journey was definitely the most emotional of the 3 brothers and one that had me rooting for him the whole time. He goes through so many ups and so many downs which mimic the real life journey of many addicts, and to watch it all unfold throughout the book with the love and support of his family and the love of his life Lana was beautiful.
Lana was such an amazing fmc and definitely one of a kind. Straight from the opening of the book I knew she would make me laugh a lot. But on top of that, she also was resilient despite everything she had to go through and was going through throughout the course of the story. I loved little Cami so so much I can’t even describe it. Watching Lana and Cal and Cami all unfold together on the pages really made my heart melt. I loved them so much.
With this, the Kane brothers’ stories come to an end. A very very emotional end for me personally. This series really has a special place in my heart beyond words can describe.
Thank you Lauren Asher 💗
The themes of this book are difficult and are actually ones that I hold really close to me personally. I feel like the whole book was just emotional whiplash but in the best way possible. The whole time reading I felt like my heart was clenched and quite literally in the hands of the beautiful characters in not just this story, but the whole series as a whole.
Cal’s journey was definitely the most emotional of the 3 brothers and one that had me rooting for him the whole time. He goes through so many ups and so many downs which mimic the real life journey of many addicts, and to watch it all unfold throughout the book with the love and support of his family and the love of his life Lana was beautiful.
Lana was such an amazing fmc and definitely one of a kind. Straight from the opening of the book I knew she would make me laugh a lot. But on top of that, she also was resilient despite everything she had to go through and was going through throughout the course of the story. I loved little Cami so so much I can’t even describe it. Watching Lana and Cal and Cami all unfold together on the pages really made my heart melt. I loved them so much.
With this, the Kane brothers’ stories come to an end. A very very emotional end for me personally. This series really has a special place in my heart beyond words can describe.
Thank you Lauren Asher 💗
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism
Minor: Drug use and Panic attacks/disorders