Reviews

That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert

smsienk's review against another edition

4.0

Hibbert always nails her characters and the levels of representation she accomplishes without tokenizing are impressive. As always, her plots are realistic and provoking, her characters likable and engrossing, and her sex scenes consensual and steamy. I listened on audible and the narrator is just so good every time. These characters might be my favorite set so far!

bekacrook's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

Rae and Zach were interesting characters who appeared vastly different but were actually pretty similar at their cores. I liked that they were friends first and were generally able to be honest and upfront with each other and have those difficult conversations (apart from when their emotions got complicated and their dynamic changed). 

An interesting read with unique but likeable characters. I enjoyed the small element of fake dating, and how this enabled them to change their relationship form a friendship to more. It moved rather quickly, especially with most of the events happening in a weekend. The demisexual representation was nice, as well as the exploration around why Zach had the reputation he did and why he did it. 

balyeska's review against another edition

4.0

zach was my absolute favorite

nitya_a's review

challenging emotional funny lighthearted relaxing tense medium-paced

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

4.25

ceena's review against another edition

4.0

Talia Hibbert is a writing genius. This is yet another book I didn't want to put down. She writes real characters with real problems and they work what they can out realistically. I just... her writing is refreshing and so needed.
I look forward to reading whatever she puts out next.

emorymcc's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

2.75

lotusross's review against another edition

4.0

If it gave him a chance at her, he’d be reckless forever.

Absolutely adored Rae and Zach.
Will definitely keep reading more of Talia Hibbert's, no doubt about it!

frenchpb's review against another edition

4.0

Plot: At first I was concerned that making Zach, the male protagonist’s character, a demisexual be too difficult to balance in letting it be a part of who the character is while using the space to educate folks on this lesser known aspect of sexuality. What I do appreciate, however, is Zach’s struggles with coming out to his loved ones about. That humanizes him a lot and shows how challenging it could be to share a part of yourself with someone who doesn’t really understand or know it’s a thing.

On a broader note, I struggled with the plot a little bit. The reader is introduced to Zach’s sexuality and how it is explained lets us know that connection is vital to sexual attraction. So it’s reasonable to assume that his actions towards Rae wouldn’t be fake behind doors based on his described development and growth. Because of that it seemed a little predictable that his actions would show his feelings.

Characters:
I really liked Rae and her struggle in defining her own ‘new life’ and her ‘old life’, with the insecurity and low self esteem. Zach reassured her a lot and spoke to how he saw her in ways that helped Rae to realize how much she’d grown.

Zach is a peculiar character. He’s direct and has a high level of emotional intelligence. I suppose that emotional intelligence is because of the development and reflection he learning about his self and his sexuality. He also seems to be the most sexually dominant of the Ravenswood men. He’s more authoritative with Rae and leads their sexual interactions.

Couple:
The struggles with each character made their relationship development and story arc more reasonable and enjoyable. The whole discernment of fake versus real while battling your internal struggles added well to the plot.
I also feel like this book had more reasonable conflict between the couple based on a lot of miscommunication. Zach jumps to conclusions and is quick to anger. Rae is more reticent and has difficulty expressing herald.

Sex scenes:
Hillbert typically has the woman give sexual consent in a myriad of ways. However in this book, Zach’s struggles with his sexuality required that he was the one to initiated and was clear about consenting to the sexual experience. This is also the first time I’ve seen Hillbert explicitly write a solo masturbation scene with both partners. I liked this twist on the sex scenes.

Ravenswood Series observations:
What I appreciate most about this series is Hillbert’s ability to portray how six different individuals build their way into three unique couples. The common threads involve using friendship as a means to building connection and intimacy whilst navigating, managing and reconciling past trauma, current fears, and insecurities. While the stories all end similarly, I feel like each journey stands on it own.

I found it interesting that all of the women protagonists were some type of writing creative. Ruth-alien comics, Hannah- blogs, and Rae- fiction.

I didn’t particularly care for the epilogue with all three couples. It seemed too neat. I think there is something to be said for finding someone without having to let it end so traditionally.

joanna27's review

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

dswalls's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Talia Hibbert does it again. As much as I loved this story it is very formulated how all the books in this series goes. I just feel like the falling in love was quick and unwarranted and I knew what was going to happen. With that said I don’t really care because it’s so well done. I would read five more books just like it.