Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

I loved that the main character was trans, especially in a time when it was illegal (this is not a spoiler - it's revealed very early on in the book). We need more books like this (especially now) where trans characters are seen as normal, even in a time when it was criminalized. They have always been part of every population, and they always will be. They also deserve to be loved like all people do.

The story unraveled at a good pace and the romance developed organically. It was perfect. So often, romances are rushed to get to the sex scenes, or they are sappy and unappealing. This one was well done. Also really liked the relationship between Justin and his sister.

Book was effective at gathering all the trauma that took place before the characters were even introduced and helping them work through their personal tragedies, bringing them to closure, and helping them move beyond the healing.

Content Warnings

erika_winters's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I think this is the first time I’ve ever read a historical romance (as far as my memory is concerned), and I loved reading a story centered around a transgender woman named Viola (love the Twelfth Night reference here). Alexis Hall skillfully crafted this book where being trans was not a main source of conflict, but something celebrated and loved. I appreciated all the characters close to Viola, like her sister-in-law Louise, for example, care for Viola and never question her identity. The romance between Viola and Gracewood is beautiful and so well-written; the friends to lovers motif really created a layer of understanding and affection between the two as they grappled with their identities, PTSD, and for Gracewood, a disability that he has to come to come to terms with in a society that he feels will judge him. Viola is not the only character coming to terms with her gendered society; Gracewood is too in all of his personal struggles with drug and alcohol addiction from PTSD from Waterloo, and the harsh upbringing with a callous father who taught him a suffocating model of masculinity that he feels stuffed into. Overall, it is through each other that they find their strengths and discuss their weaknesses, which made this an effective romance, in my opinion! AND all the queer representation really made my heart happy; so, come for the regency romance, stay for the queer joy!

Content Warnings

amaliabalash's review against another edition

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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

I really enjoyed this, though I suppose I’d like it a little more if it were a little less vulgar. Not less smutty, that’s the genre obviously, but the language caught me off guard and took me out a bit.

Content Warnings

shae_purcell's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? N/A

5.0

Content Warnings

jamie_cruz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

Content Warnings

kato_goldacker's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Friends to lovers slow-burn with good Trans Representation.

Recommend for Bridgerton Fans
(go to end for conclusion)

Loved it. When I found this one I knew I had to read it simply because it is exactly what I wanted.
Alexis Hall has some really beautiful writing and ways of describing things, as well as the ability to spark inspiration or thought with the way he puts things. This had a lot of inspiring, beautiful lines and romantic, soft, yearning moments that I really enjoyed, I marked a lot of parts in this book. Hall did a great job with writing a relatable trans character, too.

I did feel that, overall in its execution it’s not a masterpiece of a book, as I still felt like some things were perhaps missing or too simple. I also wasn’t always entirely sure about the pace of the book, I would call it a slow-burn romance, which I liked, but it did change pace a bit later. I don’t think it’s extraordinary story-writing or anything -generally I felt like there were things missing for me to make it a GREAT book, but I couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was. Depth, the feeling of a more detailedly thought-through plot / story, most likely.

Still, I loved it, and I’m so happy there’s a book with this story.
The characters were lovely and the playful, intimate and teasing interactions and the yearning and pining between Gracewood and Viola were really fun to read.
I’m also really happy we got a bit of spicy/intimate scenes, which I think is great seeing trans characters nicely represented in.

I don’t think you always need an absolutely great story with a unique plot that wasn’t ever written before. Popular tropes can still be enjoyable, and I don’t think it’s necessary to have an entirely period-accurate representation in every LGBTQIA+ novel, especially since -some people argue- it can be nice for us to have something simple, cheesy and stereotypical for once too, just like there’s tons of (non-LGBTQIA+) straight fiction like that.

Conclusion
So I’d say, if you’re not looking for a terribly original storyline but for a happy, hopelessly romantic, historical friends to lovers slow-burn, featuring good and positive trans representation, you will really like this.

About Triggers
I put all from this list I think are (briefly) in the book,
Of course it is for yourself to know but I just need to say I didn’t find this much triggering, even though I am quite sensitive to a lot of those. If drug use is really triggering for you it might be a different thing, for me it is mainly violence related as well as any sexual abuse or transphobia related ones, but I was mostly fine reading this and, despite containing all of those listed triggers, I found this was book that still felt light.

Content Warnings

kelisabeth's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

reading_rainbow_rachel's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful 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? No

5.0

A heartbreakingly beautiful story of the love two people have for one another. With characters that have so much love for each other but are working on loving themselves unapologetically while working out how they identify themselves outside of how society defines them in so many ways.

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