Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake

17 reviews

katndrsn's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

lindseyhall44'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? Yes

3.75

I didn’t realize that Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date is a part of a series, and picked it up on a whim. That being said, it was easy to follow, and while I missed out on some side character back stories, it was nothing too major.
In terms of the book, I absolutely loved Stevie (anxiety rep always had a special place in my heart) and her relationship with Iris. The beginning was very strong as well, introducing themes that I know many will resonate with. That being said, I wasn’t a huge fan of the third act breakup since it seemed out of character, but that’s just a me thing! Overall I would definitely recommend:)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Sexual content

fleur____'s review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia and Infidelity

chase0w0's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

3.0

this one is hard to rate for me b/c it will have the most beautifully written chapter of stevie trying her absolute fucking best followed by iris bumbling around making all the obviously-this-is-the-dumbest-choice choices … so prepare for whiplash? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity

aseel_reads's review against another edition

funny lighthearted 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

2.5

While I appreciated the struggles the main characters went through and parts were funny, I wasn't as invested in this one, compared to the first two 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

bridge_to_narnia's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.75

Cute story! I love the chemistry between Iris and Stevie. It was a new refreshing take on the Fake Dating trope. (

While Stevie's friends need to be tricked, Iris's friends are in the know which makes it feel refreshing.

) I like the portrayal of how your past and mental health can keep you from getting to where you want and while some of the choice made because of this gave me anxiety, the ending was very very sweet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, and Mental illness

Slut Shaming

pixelpigeon's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

There were a few parts of the plot that I thought were a little flimsy, but overall it's a really enjoyable love story with very vivid characters like the first 2 books. And of course, deliciously spicy scenes 🌶🌶🔥🔥

It ends the trio of books in a satisfying and sweet way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Biphobia

lunep's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a great book...up until the third act conflict. I was so excited because I was loving it and rooting for Stevie and Iris, they were so cute, so fun, the sex scenes were great, there was angts, but then in the third act conflict Iris lost me. And I feel so mad at myself!! Bc I can think about why she acted the way she acted in a logical way, I understand why she did what she did, but I still think she was unfair to Stevie, and her attitude made me not feel excited at the end 😭😭😭

Like, I even got excited for Stevie when Olivia asked her out!!

, I even tried to think "if Iris was a man and this was a hetero romance, would you feel the same way?" trying to rule out internalized misogyny and tbf...I'm not sure 😩 so that's why I'm still giving it 4 stars, I can't completely rule out internalized misogyny from my feelings and I don't wanna hurt a book that I was genuinely loving up until the 86% mark

There were another couple things I didn't love, but I didn't mind that much:

• The way Adri didn't get any accountability ever. I'm sorry but she was a shitty friend/ex, and I know ending long friendship like theirs is hard, but she never even apologized, and Stevie just accepts it because "she knew everything she needed from Adri she'd already given to herself"
  after telling each other "I love you platonically", and after the fact that the last conversation the two had on the page ammounted to Adri telling Stevie that she wanted her back but she didn't want to break up with Vanessa???
  , nuh uh, sorry
• Iris's family. Also never apologized to her for being so shitty and never understanding her, and her brother seemed so misogynystic?? Making "jokes" about how a Happily Ever After is really a "Shittily Ever After" and other kind of "jokes" like that with his BIL, like, just say you hate your wife and go
• And, the one I ignored the most bc ofc, this is a romance book, and I was actually rooting for them: that I don't love when a MC is constantly telling their family "I don't want to date, I'm happy by myself, I do not need you to set me up on dates, I actually hate it" and their pushy family doesn't accept it only for the MC to, in fact, fall in love/realize that they weren't happy by themself. The petty side in me doesn't like giving the pushy families the satisfaction lmao

But one thing I ADORED were Iris's friends! At first I was a little lost ngl, when they're first introduced via group chat, because I couldn't keep up with who was who and who was with who, but I know that's on me for starting on the last book of the trilogy lmao, and once I was able to keep them straight, they're just the most supportive, lovely group of friends <3 (specially compared to Stevie's 😒 cuz I don't let Vanessa off the hook either, even tho I didn't talk about her when talking about Adri

,but dating your supposed best friend's ex two months after they broke up?? Hell no, not even the "queer spaces are tight knit" excuse can save that for me

. And now that I think about it, Ren felt way more like Stevie's best friend that Vanessa did)

I also LOOOVED Stevie's character growth, at the end, I felt she was the MC more than Iris (tho, since it was dual POV I'm pretty sure they're both of them are MCs, and neither is just "the love interest") because through most of the book I didn't feel like Iris got much development

besides her getting out of her writing slump and becoming more of a romantic

, Stevie FLOURISHED. I might be a little biased tbf, bc I saw myself on Stevie a lot (I don't have an anxiety diagnosis and I don't think I've ever had a panic attack, but a lot of Stevie's problems with one night stands, romance, and confidence I felt applied to me too), but I just think she grew a lot and I loved seeing her stand up for herself

and then moving to NY and, even tho she got anxious sometimes, pushing through it knowing she can do whatever she put her mind to

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Slut shaming

mangofraiche's review against another edition

emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

cats33's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing and Vomit

Minor: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol