Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Iris Kelly Doesn't Date

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake

66 reviews

clara_h39's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

What a FANTASTIC finale to the Bright Falls series. It might be my favorite one but gosh that’s so hard to decide. After reading about Iris as an outsider from the first two books, it was really interesting to finally get her POV and attitude towards her friends and her own love life. Just like with Astrid’s book, the new love interest character Stevie was a fantastic and well written addition to the crew. I identified with Stevie’s anxiety struggles and was rooting for her throughout. The fake dating trope was done in a way that was funny and lighthearted but also emotionally vulnerable, well done. And the whole atmosphere of theater (as a former psuedo theater kid) was really fun to explore through a queer lens. Absolutely amazing book and would recommend if you enjoyed the first two books!

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megwilli's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

3.75

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emw29's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.25

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mayareads4fun's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

After reading exclusively books for my classes, picking this up was a joy. I was dying for a 5 star read and thank YOU Ashely Herring-Blake for delivering. A romance writer AND fake dating??? It's like the book was calling my name for real.

I feel like I should read the other two in the series, even if I've started out of order.

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sophk8's review

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I would give Ashley Herring Blake a kidney to write a novella following up these characters in several years because she has ruined me and I am going to miss these gays

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lincskay's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

Sweet, fun fake dating story with a satisfying HEA.

Not usually a fan of books where one of the characters is a romance writer as they get carried away with the tropes and self-awareness but feel like this one didn’t push it too far.

It’s the only book I’ve read from the series (didn’t realise it was a series!) so the number of background/supporting characters made it a little confusing to begin with. I did feel like it tried a bit too hard to be diverse at times, mentioning a new character and their sexuality and not much else about their personality, but it didn’t detract too much from the book.

I will definitely look out for the others in the series.

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boba_nbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️ / 5

Ashley Herring Blake has delivered one beautiful sapphic romance after another in the Bright Falls series, and Iris Kelly Doesn't Date is no exception.

Iris Kelly is a woman surrounded by friends and family who have found their soul mates. She's happy for them, but she's also getting a little tired of being the stereotypical "good lay" and bitter single friend. Stevie went through a terrible breakup six months ago. But her ex is still in her friend group, and Stevie watches as she falls in love with another one of their friends. Another of Stevie's friends thinks all Stevie needs is a one night stand to get her ex off her mind. Iris and Stevie have a disastrous one night stand but are forced to work together in a Shakespearean play which leads to their fake dating scheme. Both women start to feel that this fake dating might just be starting to feel real.

I love how these characters felt like opposites but really had so many things in common. Both of them felt as though they couldn't be who their family and friends wanted them to be but found solace and realness in each other.

I'm going to miss the Bright Falls crew so much! Seeing all the characters from the other books come together was a ton of fun and made me realize how important it is to have your people.

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