Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

125 reviews

mariapioves's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

4.25

i do love a slow burn and I enjoyed both character so much - maybe I'm a bit of a zapata stn

have to say though i think one sex scene at the very end is crazzzzy cannot get over that choice & im not a fan of an epilogue

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takarakei's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

My first book by this author, who I've been told is the queen of slow burns. I personally love a slow burn so this one def hit in that aspect. It is a 'football romance' but I wouldn't really say there's a whole lot of sports in it. There's actually more marathon running because Vanessa trains to run a marathon. I really enjoyed her friendship with Zac as well.

Vanessa had a rough childhood and still has a very strained relationship with her family so that is good to know going in.

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sauger's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing 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

3.75

This book follows Vanessa, an assistant to the Wall of Winnipeg- AKA her stern, distant boss who plays on the defensive line of a professional football team. When Vanessa quits suddenly, her ex-boss shows up at her doorstep to ask her to come back, but not as his assistant- as his WIFE. 

I thought this book was cute, and when I say the burn is slow I mean it. The relationship progression feels natural and isn’t a sudden jolt. He starts off very distant and there were times I didn’t connect with him as the love interest, but Zapata does a good job of bridging that gap naturally. I found the FMC funny without being overly silly. I did think her backstory was unnecessary traumatic as it didn’t lend a huge role to her character or plot in my opinion. Not very spicy, one short scene, so if you’re here for that you’ll go hungry. Overall I enjoyed it. 

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stecksbookstacks's review against another edition

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relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Talk about a SLOOOOOOOOOOW burn romance. 🙃
no smut until like 95% finished


I would have loved it even more if we had some of the MMC’s viewpoint. 🫣 

However, I did love how naturally their friendship and her feelings formed.
Also, the underlying plot of everything they both went through growing up is not talked about enough. It was beautifully written and I loved seeing them rise above it. 🫶🏻


I’m so excited to know that Zac got his own book, because honestly I feel like they could have fallen in love too 😅 

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sebradley29's review against another edition

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4.0


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kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-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


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folded_between_pages_of_books's review against another edition

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funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0


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abby2207's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25


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setsailforthestars's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book was a fun read for the most part. I picked it up mainly because I’m from Winnipeg and the title caught my eye. I was surprised to find I enjoyed it. The pacing was weird and I got  annoyed with how often Aiden was referred to as “the big guy” or his wall of Winnipeg nickname, like, we get it, he’s huge. Three stars because it was mostly enjoyable but I almost DNF’d because of the spoiler below. 

 
I was disappointed by the double standard when Vanessa laughed at Aiden getting groped by a fan, which was never addressed. Especially when Aiden later got in a fight with someone for groping her.
 

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csharp's review against another edition

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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

2.75

My feelings about this book are so complicated mostly because so little happens in it yet I devoured it. 
I wasn’t expecting it to be a classic but still the level of writing and dialogue a lot of the time was too immature for me.
One of my writing icks - cringey nicknames: big guy, muffin, zac attack. 
The romance was a slow burn which I liked, however considering this is a romance book and barely anything else was going on there was very little…romance. I know the author was building tension and the connection of Vanessa and Aidan but the chemistry wasn’t as strong as I had hoped. 
Aidan’s personality was…there somewhere I think? I found it really hard to like him at the start - what with him treating Vanessa as his servant (that was pretty much her job), constantly showing up at her house even after she turned him away, making one misogynistic comment about wives that Vanessa just brushes off. I did end up liking him as the story progressed but he was very much a blank slate to me. We get to know a bit about the troubles he faced growing up but I didn’t get much from him as a character. 
Something I absolutely loved:
NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP!!!
praises to you Mariana zapata for writing a romance book without this trope! It was fitting for the way their relationship was progressing and Mariana understood it wasn’t necessary. 
To conclude: a few cringey moments but other than that, a cute slow burn romance book I enjoyed. There really wasn’t much of an actual story to it hence the low rating but enjoyable read nonetheless.

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