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sydapel's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-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
3.0
To be honest, I find myself Mad About this book. I was having an absolutely great time for 2/3rds of this, even though it was feather light on the romance. "It'll come in full circle at the end, don't worry," I thought. And look, the themes at the heart of this book are really well explored and the friendships feel so strong and well established, you feel everything so deeply. BUT this leaves negative time for the romance between Cal and our main character, so when they do get together it feels so rushed and unearned that it's feels downright unbelievable and really took me out of the story entirely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
margaretrose's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Stalking
madeleine_desiree's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
massivepizzacrust's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really enjoyed Mad About You and I blasted through it. I don't think the "driving each other crazy is just the beginning" is really an accurate cover blurb. Cal supports Harriet at every step, and they mostly work out their misunderstandings very quickly. The tension of the plot is almost entirely about Harriet's past relationships and current friendships, which was refreshing. It wasn't something I was expecting but I found it refreshing. I honestly could have had much more of the Cal and Harriet relationship, I want to spend more time with them because they're so sweet with each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
gemstixs's review against another edition
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.75
Mad (Obsessive) About You (McFarlane’s writing)
this is the second McFarlane book i’ve read and it has converted me into a stan. holy shit. this was fantastic. an incredibly heart wrenching exploration of how toxic relationships hurt us. so much brilliant character work happening here. incredible character dynamics and evolution of dynamics. god. just so good.
this is the second McFarlane book i’ve read and it has converted me into a stan. holy shit. this was fantastic. an incredibly heart wrenching exploration of how toxic relationships hurt us. so much brilliant character work happening here. incredible character dynamics and evolution of dynamics. god. just so good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
leffel's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I will forever and always love anything she writes!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
lynssss's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
beckyremillard's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
3.5
This book is not a romance. Although the description, title, and cover indicate that it’s a romance, it is not. The romance is just barely hidden in there and is such a minor part of the story.
Since I went into this looking for a romance, I’m not really a fan. It was a decent story, but not my cup of tea. If you’re looking for a story about friendship, discovering self and jerk ex-boyfriends kind of getting what’s coming to them (although John didn’t get enough crap for being so manipulative) then try this book. Looking for a book with a lot of romance, look elsewhere.
Seriously, they first kissed at 95%
Since I went into this looking for a romance, I’m not really a fan. It was a decent story, but not my cup of tea. If you’re looking for a story about friendship, discovering self and
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Infidelity
leahfoko's review against another edition
emotional
informative
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
3.5
I feel kind of weird saying I read this book because I skimmed a LOT of it. The first 20% was basically just a description of a really bad breakup, which was not particularly fun to read. Although I did find Jon’s insidious anger/disrespect/emotionally manipulative decisions to be really well done. Does a wonderful job of showing how a self proclaimed “nice guy” is often anything but. So that was very interesting, but I didn’t really want to read a play by play of a bad breakup so I skimmed most of that section. I also skimmed a lot of the emotionally manipulative Scott stuff in the middle of the book because it was kind of triggering for me to read. So I would say I probably read about half of the book, give or take 15%. I almost categorized this as a DNF for that reason, but I did read most of the main plot stuff and the majority of the book I did read. But it was really hard for me to read some of the abusive, gaslighting, emotional manipulation etc. scenes and so I had to do a lot of skimming. I also felt like the banter/descriptions/conversations in certain scenes were drawn out too long and so I skimmed a lot because I felt like I was getting the same sort of thing repeated a bunch. While I mostly did skim a lot and would say this book wasn’t the rom com I was expecting, this book did a really good job of laying out the red flags of an emotionally manipulative, abusive relationship. Showing how you can think everything is fine and shrug off lots of red flags and then when you are out of the relationship you see things that were really not okay, or as was the case with Jon, big issues come to light during the breakup phase. I think this book was a really thorough, accurate, well represented analysis of toxic relationships and had some really moving scenes as Harriet worked through her trauma and found support in good people like Nina and her friend Lorna. The scene where Nina and Harriet talk on the phone the first time and Nina is a supportive, understanding survivor of Scott as well made me cry. But the book also did a good job of showing how many people will often side with the abuser, like some of Harriet’s other friends. This book could be really important for people to see, to realize how they have been mistreated and know what signs to look for. I really respect this book for that reason.
But I also felt that it was really hard to read because a lot of the content was really intense and slightly triggering. And my big issue is that given the description of the book and the cover, I had NO idea about any of this going into it. I think it’s really important, but it’s also really important to be upfront about the kind of content that is going to be in this book, so that if you’re not in the right headspace to read this then you don’t get surprised by it. This is not a rom-com by any means. Cal and Harriet add some levity and a sweet relationship to the story, but they are not the main focus. I really respect what this book does, but definitely be aware going into it that this could be hard for some people to read.
But I also felt that it was really hard to read because a lot of the content was really intense and slightly triggering. And my big issue is that given the description of the book and the cover, I had NO idea about any of this going into it. I think it’s really important, but it’s also really important to be upfront about the kind of content that is going to be in this book, so that if you’re not in the right headspace to read this then you don’t get surprised by it. This is not a rom-com by any means. Cal and Harriet add some levity and a sweet relationship to the story, but they are not the main focus. I really respect what this book does, but definitely be aware going into it that this could be hard for some people to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Minor: Eating disorder and Violence
helloiloveyellow's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming and Panic attacks/disorders