Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - The Bodyguard

Fantastic book!! The characters were great. I learned a lot about life and fame through them. I hated Hannah’s ex-boyfriend. He dumped her right after her mom’s funeral and then said she was a bad kisser.

He then hooked up with her best friend and then broke up with her.

What a sleaze-bag! After all that, he tried to get back with his ex, Hannah (you know, the one he dumped, then dissed). It’s a good thing she told him to go fuck himself (she didn’t say it in those words, though—although, she should have). I didn’t care for the parts where it would say “He looked at me, like Really?” I wish the author did not do that so much. Other than that, the story was enjoyable. It deserves the four and a half stars that I gave it. This was an entertaining, light read. I would recommend it to fans of romance books. 👍🏼👍🏼

Friday, October 13, 2023 at 2:04 PM

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jenneroni's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.75

This was the perfect fluffy feel good book for me. The characters were relatable while still being romcom and the tropes were done well and still fresh enough to be unique. Overall, I loved it. It made me laugh aloud which is one of my favorite things in a story.

I did find myself wishing we got more descriptive tidbits of the characters. Even the leads seemed to only get one mention of hair color and eye color and that was it. I usually appreciate a couple drops of “tucked a blonde curl behind her ear” or “his blue eyes glinted” type of detail to make them feel like real people in my mind.

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queermj's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

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champagnemami's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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? No

4.5

i LOVED this book! it's a great clean romcom, quick fun read, with hannah being the grumpy bodyguard and jack being the ray of sunshine "world's sexiest men" hollywood star, so much chemistry involved (i wish it was a little bit more steamier) but also heartfelt and comforting for the hannahs out there <3

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falennahrm's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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emmadanylyshen's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad 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? No

5.0

i don’t want their story to end

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madanxiety's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious

3.25

Overall a sweet novel. There were a couple things I didn't like.

Firstly, Kennedy Monroe's character was so flat in such a cliché way, it was disappointing. It's just so uninteresting when women are pitted against each other in this way. She was just ridiculously vapid, and the closest we get to seeing any depth in her is a brief comment form Jack about how she's super insecure. The stalker/attempted murderer had more depth than her! I suppose he's a more significant character, but I still don't think there's much justification for such lazy writing. It's the bimbo vs. the pick me; have we not, by the 2020s, evolved beyond that? Have we not determined that actually, the real women that exist who like attention and are conventionally attractive, are still multifaceted people with histories and interests like anyone else? I can tolerate tropes like fake dating that simply move the plot forward, but I cannot tolerate tropes that work solely to demonize women.

The second thing I didn't like all that much was the twist at the end. This isn't a major gripe tho. I was just so caught off guard because it seemed to so clearly be a nightmare that would never end, which seemed logical because Jack struggled with nightmares, and I was like oh he'll be able to return the favor and comfort her. Like when she was walking back to the car and it took a million years, that seemed to obviously signal to how slow you are in your dreams. I think I wouldn't have minded the twist too much if it had been revealed a little sooner. Because by the time she was watching the footage (which is when I finally became convinced it wasn't a dream - probably later than most, I'll admit lol), I had to replay the whole last like 30m I feel like lol bc I'd spent most of it impatiently grumbling, waiting for the supposed dream sequence to end already. Am I an idiot for this lol? Maybe, but it was a little too Twlight Breaking Dawn for me.

I also wished there'd been a little more romance between Hannah and Jack. We only really got two scenes of them together communicating/acting in their feelings. Obviously the whole book was them like developing the feelings, and that in itself isrl romance, but I'd have liked if they got more time actually together. Which is funny bc I saw a similar comment under a different book I recently read and thought they were crazy. So it's probably a to each their own kind of situation.

I know this has been a mostly critical review, but I really didn't hate the book. The style of narration was interesting; it reminded me of voice-over narrators in film and TV, both humorous and personal. I think it's just one of those books you can breeze through quickly, needing to know the resolution, but that won't really stick with you all that much.

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tinkeringcheck's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

4.0

First person romance is far from my usual, but I was completely taken in by the warmth and unique freshness of this story. Yes, it's a trope for the ages, but the healthiness of the relationship between the leads? A love interest with emotional maturity and an overabundance of green flags? Clear discussions of boundaries and feelings? It was a breath of fresh, Texas air and the best kind of romcom you can root for all wrapped into one wise, silly, hopeful package. I adored it. I adored all of these characters. And I especially adored Jack's family.

That being said: Do not (do not!) go into this book expecting realistic drama or steamy romance. It's a bantery, feel-good, bodyguard trope that runs on rom-com logic, but in the best way.

(Sidenote: As someone with a family member who taught crime prevention for a living: Hannah's way of looking at the world was pretty accurate. You can laugh at her for thinking about the ways a potted patio plant can be used to break a window, but there's a reason my silly painted rocks were never allowed on the front porch as a kid. Even though the romantic hijinks and kooky coworker drama could overshadow it, I thought those details showed that she really was quite capable at her job.)

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Medical content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment and Vomit

Overall: It's a very light-hearted, hopeful book but it deals with some background heavy topics. DEATH OF PARENT, DEATH, GRIEF: Very beginning of book skims over the main character's mother dying, and the grief from that is a catalyst for the rest of the book. Grief (and hope) is a major theme. DOMESTIC/PHYSICAL ABUSE: Past, as a memory. A very violent incidence of it and the injuries/aftermath is described by character who was a child at the time. STALKING: With one lead being a famous actor, there's lots of discussions about stalking in general. Stalking incidents are discussed in detail, though light-heartedly, until

one gets violent -> see gun violence.

GUN VIOLENCE, SUICIDE ATTEMPT, BLOOD, INJURY: Someone is shot at and mildy injured.

In a hostage situation characters are held at gunpoint and one suffers a graze on the head that bleeds a lot but isn't too serious. The shooter plans to kill himself, not the hostages, but is talked down.

TOXIC RELATIONSHIP: Heroine has a very shitty ex-boyfriend. CANCER: The male lead's mother is going through cancer treatment. There's mention of having and recovering from surgery, and the characters often briefly visit a hospital. The prognosis

ends up being very good and she completely recovers.

ALCOHOLISM: More than one background character suffers from it.

One was killed before the story from driving recklessly under the influence.

CAR ACCIDENT, DEATH: Past incident. The accident is described in detail more than once and led to a death by drowning.

The driver was under the influence, drove too fast, went off a bridge and drowned.

DROWNING: One almost-incident during the story and one in the past - both described in some detail. VOMIT: One character has a phobia that he often vomits after being exposed to. It's not described in detail. ABANDONMENT: A character briefly describes a parent leaving them and their other parent abruptly when they were very young.

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