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dianaschmidty's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism
isa_vbella's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, and Sexual content
whackettreading's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Sexual content
shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying and Death of parent
martamae77's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism
creativelifeofliz's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
Chloe Liese just always get to me with her books. Frankie and Ren are just so loveable and you can't help but root for them. It was great to watch them grow both individually and as a couple.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Ableism and Death of parent
Minor: Toxic relationship
fuzzywilson's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Cancer, and Blood
michmoo's review against another edition
A fairly cute romance in the portion that I read, but I took a break from reading it and wasnโt interested enough to return to it.
I have to admit that the more time I had to really consider how often the FL talks about her Harry Potter underwear getting wet, the less likely it became that I would finish the book. I mean I appreciate that HP was one of her special interests but the repetition of the undies mentions and their varying dampness was mildly off putting.
Also the ML is a huge (size wise) virgin, which could be a plus or minus depending on the reader. I have no opinion either way.
Also the ML is a huge (size wise) virgin, which could be a plus or minus depending on the reader. I have no opinion either way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Transphobia and Death of parent
pandalesque's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I preffered this to the first book so I'll continue the series.
Steam/Spice ๐ฅ๐ฅ.5/๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ
- I liked the Autistic and Chronic Illness Rep, though I can't really speak to authenticity and if it's an actual good/non-harming representation. Only thing I can say is, when talking about F. maybe having ADHD but instead having Autism, I know that people on the spectrum are more likely to have ADHD and that she could have both and it's not mutually exclusive.
- I liked Francesca as characters didn't quite connect with Soren though. Found Frankie interesting especially being on the spectrum and having chronic illnesses but being a social media manager. Her future dreams and how much work it is to mask all of her struggles. But also her actually working with it/against it (moving against pain, products that help her, therapies...)
- Liked the talk about friendships, family and her actual friendships
- Liked the italian and swedish words woven in though I know that "zenzero" wasn't pronounced well by the narrators
- Also liked the section about the period talk
Soren felt less "natural" I thought making him a Shakespeare lover while being an athlete... felt like an attempt to make him "Not like other men/athletes on the team" but I didn't quite eat it up.
Felt like they're more mature than 25.
Better handled in this book:
- Last book I noticed the casual talk about god/god's will... Which I didn't like I thought this time I it was well weaved into the story/handled bcs of Frankie's catholic background, it made more sense to me.
- I appreciated that this time there was the explicit mention of STDs not only birth control when having intercourse/sex without protection.
-
What took me out of the story and find not appealing:
- Found the Shakespeare thing cringy
- When social issues were talked about like JKR being a turf, toxic masculinity, other feminist statements or else... it didn't feel authentic/natrual to me... rather performative (e.g. in hospital with the child talking about men crying, bar brawl ( her thinking she shouldn't love it, but does), the talk about burgers and eating meat. W. not caring about greenhouse gasses and T. felt a bit like the women are aware of what they're doing but don't care, R. then intervening... (didn't like the implication that they're cool because they eat meat/don't care. Being a cool girl that can hang with the guys... not being like everyone else in LA...))
- Him being a virgin but making her come left and right without a lot of instructions, with him being totally confident or him informing himself what to do or asking his brothers...
Some reoccurring themes (from the last book) in Liese's writing that I don't particularly like:
- I found the obsession with and references to HP unnecessary and cringe-y (especially her "spell casting"...)
- "perfect" athletic bodies no matter who (athlete or not, always a huge dick...)
- Having sex without condoms
- The childish nicknames for female genitalia even though they're able to talk serious about sex, periods or otherwise
- The sometimes very black and white portrayal of femininity vs. masculinity (protectiveness, physical strength, facial hair vs. soft body/skin, their sents...) but then again adding attributes/hobbies to round them out/make them interesting (Love for books and Shakespeare, liking sports,...)
Steam/Spice ๐ฅ๐ฅ.5/๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ
- I liked the Autistic and Chronic Illness Rep, though I can't really speak to authenticity and if it's an actual good/non-harming representation. Only thing I can say is, when talking about F. maybe having ADHD but instead having Autism, I know that people on the spectrum are more likely to have ADHD and that she could have both and it's not mutually exclusive.
- I liked Francesca as characters didn't quite connect with Soren though. Found Frankie interesting especially being on the spectrum and having chronic illnesses but being a social media manager. Her future dreams and how much work it is to mask all of her struggles. But also her actually working with it/against it (moving against pain, products that help her, therapies...)
- Liked the talk about friendships, family and her actual friendships
- Liked the italian and swedish words woven in though I know that "zenzero" wasn't pronounced well by the narrators
- Also liked the section about the period talk
Soren felt less "natural" I thought making him a Shakespeare lover while being an athlete... felt like an attempt to make him "Not like other men/athletes on the team" but I didn't quite eat it up.
Felt like they're more mature than 25.
Better handled in this book:
- Last book I noticed the casual talk about god/god's will... Which I didn't like I thought this time I it was well weaved into the story/handled bcs of Frankie's catholic background, it made more sense to me.
- I appreciated that this time there was the explicit mention of STDs not only birth control when having intercourse/sex without protection.
-
What took me out of the story and find not appealing:
- Found the Shakespeare thing cringy
- When social issues were talked about like JKR being a turf, toxic masculinity, other feminist statements or else... it didn't feel authentic/natrual to me... rather performative (e.g. in hospital with the child talking about men crying, bar brawl ( her thinking she shouldn't love it, but does), the talk about burgers and eating meat. W. not caring about greenhouse gasses and T. felt a bit like the women are aware of what they're doing but don't care, R. then intervening... (didn't like the implication that they're cool because they eat meat/don't care. Being a cool girl that can hang with the guys... not being like everyone else in LA...))
- Him being a virgin but making her come left and right without a lot of instructions, with him being totally confident or him informing himself what to do or asking his brothers...
Some reoccurring themes (from the last book) in Liese's writing that I don't particularly like:
- I found the obsession with and references to HP unnecessary and cringe-y (especially her "spell casting"...)
- "perfect" athletic bodies no matter who (athlete or not, always a huge dick...)
- Having sex without condoms
- The childish nicknames for female genitalia even though they're able to talk serious about sex, periods or otherwise
- The sometimes very black and white portrayal of femininity vs. masculinity (protectiveness, physical strength, facial hair vs. soft body/skin, their sents...) but then again adding attributes/hobbies to round them out/make them interesting (Love for books and Shakespeare, liking sports,...)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Chronic illness
Moderate: Bullying, Violence, and Sexual harassment
cady_sass's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.0
Read for StoryGraph 2023 Genre Challenge, reading prompt #1: A contemporary or literary fiction novel with disability rep.
Perfectly articulated autism and chronic illness representation. I will admit that Iโm biased in this category, but itโs so refreshing to read a novel that gets it *right* - there were more than a few seemingly minor scenes/occurrences that brought tears to my eyes.
I found this to be incredibly wholesome and adorable, so much so that when chapter 26 shows up i was taken by complete surprise. MY god is it hot in here?! The surprise spice! Oh boy.
While I have nothing against the spice, I will say that this part of the story is why I deducted stars from my rating - this actually mightโve been the first contemporary romance to earn a 5 star rating from me - but the spicy scenes were the ONLY part of the disability rep that didnโt ring true. For someone on the spectrum, with chronic, debilitating pain, this scene simply would not go down like this. And itโs disappointing, itโs a complete disservice to the character work that was already done.
On the flip side, the character work for the able-bodied characters and how they interact is equally important here and is done flawlessly. The simple, uncomplicated nature with which these people care for the disabled people in their life as if thereโs nothing different, no imposition, while still managing to validate the experiences and difficulties they face?! Not being perfect all the time but always trying? Swoon. This ๐๐ป is ๐๐ป how ๐๐ป to ๐๐ป be ๐๐ป inclusive ๐๐ป
Perfectly articulated autism and chronic illness representation. I will admit that Iโm biased in this category, but itโs so refreshing to read a novel that gets it *right* - there were more than a few seemingly minor scenes/occurrences that brought tears to my eyes.
I found this to be incredibly wholesome and adorable, so much so that when chapter 26 shows up i was taken by complete surprise. MY god is it hot in here?! The surprise spice! Oh boy.
While I have nothing against the spice, I will say that this part of the story is why I deducted stars from my rating - this actually mightโve been the first contemporary romance to earn a 5 star rating from me - but the spicy scenes were the ONLY part of the disability rep that didnโt ring true. For someone on the spectrum, with chronic, debilitating pain, this scene simply would not go down like this. And itโs disappointing, itโs a complete disservice to the character work that was already done.
On the flip side, the character work for the able-bodied characters and how they interact is equally important here and is done flawlessly. The simple, uncomplicated nature with which these people care for the disabled people in their life as if thereโs nothing different, no imposition, while still managing to validate the experiences and difficulties they face?! Not being perfect all the time but always trying? Swoon. This ๐๐ป is ๐๐ป how ๐๐ป to ๐๐ป be ๐๐ป inclusive ๐๐ป
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, and Medical content