kassreads's review against another edition
4.0
Dark Professor/Student romance book. Callum broke my heart
TW:SA
TW:SA
sezola's review against another edition
4.0
Oak and Cal
I enjoyed this one - I mean it's a forbidden romance, my kryptonite! I did enjoy the build of Oak and Cal's relationship, the friendship they developed before it turned sexual. My heart went out to Cal over his past trauma and how desperately he wanted to get over it.
The only negative I had was I got a little fed up with the back and forth between them by the end. I'm glad they got their happy ending and now I'm looking forward to Jackson's book as he was my favourite side character!
I enjoyed this one - I mean it's a forbidden romance, my kryptonite! I did enjoy the build of Oak and Cal's relationship, the friendship they developed before it turned sexual. My heart went out to Cal over his past trauma and how desperately he wanted to get over it.
The only negative I had was I got a little fed up with the back and forth between them by the end. I'm glad they got their happy ending and now I'm looking forward to Jackson's book as he was my favourite side character!
riiiclark's review against another edition
Absolutely not. Dnf over half way. I tried and I don’t like trying when it comes to reading stuff I’m supposed to enjoy
joyreadz's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
filipamachado_14's review against another edition
3.0
Playlist
The Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
Sleeping With Sirens - Scene One - James Dean & Audrey Hepburn
B Young - R&Drill
Daniel Di Angelo - Lose Face
The Neighbourhood - To
K-Si Yang - body in the mood
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy
Avi Roy - won't lie
Rihanna - Kiss It Better
Big Sean & Jhené Aiko - I Know
The Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
Sleeping With Sirens - Scene One - James Dean & Audrey Hepburn
B Young - R&Drill
Daniel Di Angelo - Lose Face
The Neighbourhood - To
K-Si Yang - body in the mood
Robin Thicke - Sex Therapy
Avi Roy - won't lie
Rihanna - Kiss It Better
Big Sean & Jhené Aiko - I Know
thereadingwren's review against another edition
1.0
1.5/5
I'm so annoyed with this. I had such high expectations and at the beginning it was promising, a little boring but promising. Then it crashed and burned.
The Voyeur part of it was super cool and I wish they'd spent more time at the bar, it was the most fascinating part of the whole story.
Cal was great at first then turned into a huge dickhead. His jealousy, lack of communication, and instinct to say hateful things was freaking awful and honestly veering on abusive. He was the biggest hypocrite towards Oaklyn working at Voyeur when that's where he first met her and a place he frequents. Some of his behaviour could be explained by the fact that he's an alcoholic but that doesn't excuse any of it.
Oaklyn was also not great. She didn't have much of a personality and constantly caved to whatever Cal wanted. He didn't want her to work at Voyeur, so she suddenly starts feeling uncomfortable working there. She never wanted to borrow money from people but when Cal breaks up with her after offering the money she suddenly flips her morals and wants the money.
Both of their worlds revolved around each other and it made for uninteresting characters.
Now my biggest annoyance with this was the sexual assault and PTSD rep. As a sexual assault survivor I can guarantee that when I had a flashback to my trauma while with someone I never wanted have sex a few minutes later. TRAUMA IS TRAUMATISING, it's not something you can brush off that easily and go right back to the activity that triggered you. Every time Cal was triggered they paused their sexy time, talked for a second, then went right on having sex. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME! It was honestly hard to read that over and over again. It actually feels like it was minimalizing trauma.
This book makes me mad. I wanted it to be so good but it's probably going to end up on my Worst of 2021 list.
There's a slim chance I'll read the next book because it focuses on Jackson, and I'm always down to read bisexual characters.
I'm so annoyed with this. I had such high expectations and at the beginning it was promising, a little boring but promising. Then it crashed and burned.
The Voyeur part of it was super cool and I wish they'd spent more time at the bar, it was the most fascinating part of the whole story.
Cal was great at first then turned into a huge dickhead. His jealousy, lack of communication, and instinct to say hateful things was freaking awful and honestly veering on abusive. He was the biggest hypocrite towards Oaklyn working at Voyeur when that's where he first met her and a place he frequents. Some of his behaviour could be explained by the fact that he's an alcoholic but that doesn't excuse any of it.
Oaklyn was also not great. She didn't have much of a personality and constantly caved to whatever Cal wanted. He didn't want her to work at Voyeur, so she suddenly starts feeling uncomfortable working there. She never wanted to borrow money from people but when Cal breaks up with her after offering the money she suddenly flips her morals and wants the money.
Both of their worlds revolved around each other and it made for uninteresting characters.
Now my biggest annoyance with this was the sexual assault and PTSD rep. As a sexual assault survivor I can guarantee that when I had a flashback to my trauma while with someone I never wanted have sex a few minutes later. TRAUMA IS TRAUMATISING, it's not something you can brush off that easily and go right back to the activity that triggered you. Every time Cal was triggered they paused their sexy time, talked for a second, then went right on having sex. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME! It was honestly hard to read that over and over again. It actually feels like it was minimalizing trauma.
This book makes me mad. I wanted it to be so good but it's probably going to end up on my Worst of 2021 list.
There's a slim chance I'll read the next book because it focuses on Jackson, and I'm always down to read bisexual characters.
lexiskey's review against another edition
1.0
I wanted to give this trope a try but personally I just see no appeal in dating someone 10 years younger. Mindset wise, I think they’d be on completely different wavelengths. No judgment, but I don’t think this trope is for me. Will not be continuing the series.
UPDATE**
Whenever I think back on this book, I shudder, thinking ew. It's rare that I feel this way about a book, even if I don't like it. Maybe if the author developed the characters better, in a way that was more compelling. However, all I can remember is how creepy the guy seemed and I didn't know why he was so fixated on her. "She's smart, and determined." Dude... you work at a college, literally everyone there is smart and determined. A very small percentage of people even decide or get to go to college.
Yeah, this is a no. I changed my 2 stars to 1 star. lol
UPDATE**
Whenever I think back on this book, I shudder, thinking ew. It's rare that I feel this way about a book, even if I don't like it. Maybe if the author developed the characters better, in a way that was more compelling. However, all I can remember is how creepy the guy seemed and I didn't know why he was so fixated on her. "She's smart, and determined." Dude... you work at a college, literally everyone there is smart and determined. A very small percentage of people even decide or get to go to college.
Yeah, this is a no. I changed my 2 stars to 1 star. lol
willowmcquerry's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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