mooncraftbujo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Spoiler
The relationship in this book is SO uncomfortable. I have no issue with age gap relationships but the fact that Beau has known Bailey since she was younger than 18 and he is 13 years older than her is super uncomfortable. The fact that she's a virgin is completely unnecessary and adds nothing to the story other than even more discomfort.You can do the whole fake-relationship trope without needing a barely-legal virgin and a 35 year old man as the two parties, especially when it's mentioned numerous times in the book that it's a bit dodgy. Acknowledging its awkwardness doesn't excuse the point that it's completely unnecessary and adds nothing to the story.
Moderate: Bullying, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Minor: Pregnancy
ashleyreads713's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol
ms_brie3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Grief
rachelmginger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Physical abuse
carla20's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content
dkgreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
readingduckling's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism
Minor: War
kat7794's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
kailawalton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
torilovesheas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The best part of this was Beau and Bailey as people and how they navigate a relationship when they don’t *really* know what they want to do with their lives. The time they spend with each other is sweet and I felt like that fit as a couple. Truly the best parts of the story are the intimate moments between Beau and Bailey where they’re just talking or making memories together. The age gap + virgin FMC worked for me in this one because Bailey’s reasons for remaining a virgin make sense and it never feels like her virginity is fetishized. (And she really doesn’t give a shit about it, tbh). Bailey is tougher than she seemed in earlier appearances and Beau is a bit softer than I was imagining which I loved! I love that we get to see the areas they compliment each other because it made their relationship believable in a set-up that was a bit non-sensical.
Which leads me to what didn’t work for me. There really was no reason why a fake relationship needed to be here and the reasons behind the fake engagement were very thin. In the grand scheme of things, this would have worked just fine as an age gap between a bartending town pariah and the big shot town hero without a buzzword trope thrown in. I need a trope like that to make sense and it didn’t here. There weren’t stakes high enough to warrant an entire engagement.
And as a final little grievance, if you’re going to have a character that very clearly needs therapy (in this case, due to PTSD from war), having them be totally anti-therapy isn’t going to work for me. And it’s probably largely personal because…living with and loving someone that suffers from PTSD isn’t going to be fixed by a happy relationship.
I am sad the series is at an end and I’m glad to know we’ll be Chestnut Springs adjacent in the next series! (Which I’m really excited for).
Thank you to Elsie for an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own!
Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: War and Violence