Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Dare You To Hate Me

If there's one thing you can expect from B.Celeste books is being hit hard from the start breaching those hard topics before a time jump in the second chapter. At least in the Lindon U series so far. Ivy has dealt with some tough times and asked her childhood friend to run away with her but with his football career, she knew it wouldn't happen. Years later they wind up in the same college together and that's Lindon U. One thing I loved about this book was the house dynamic Aiden shares with his roommates and how they quickly welcome Ivy into it. After reading this book and the second, I'm not a huge fan of their coach apart from helping Aiden achieve his dreams. Overall, I enjoyed reading their dynamic and continue rooting for them.

3/5 Spice Level

TWs: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts.

Content Warnings

staceynicholee's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring 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

asteriareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted sad 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

4.0

I like how this book handled touchy subjects like self-harm and dysfunctional families really well.

Content Warnings

bribreez's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

*Look up Trigger warning: mentions of self harm and suicidal thoughts

Another sports romance for me to read! Let’s not pretend to be shocked. Once I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it! Football player and being reunited with someone from the past, say no more!

Ivy Underwood was a girl who had a dark past. Based off the prologue she went through something that changed her life, and it was a memory that always stayed with her both mentally and physically.

Before reading this book, I just thought it was going to be a sports romance, and not much else. Oh boy was I wrong, right away from the few first pages, I got this feeling within me that I was going to love this book, and the premise of the book intrigued me. Ivy, was a hardworking girl yet she seemed jaded and always kept to herself. Not much was given early in the story other than bits and pieces of her past, one of them mentioning the scars on her wrist from when she attempted suicide. Ivy wasn’t your typical happy-go-lucky character, if anything she was tough and thought of her life as just existing, not living. For Ivy, she had gone through a lot over the years and all she cared about was surviving and succeeding.

Now when Aiden was introduced in the story my first thought was, “ummm hello gorgeous!” Haha but seriously the description of Aiden had me like, “damnnnn he’s tall”, plus with all the sports romances books I find myself always gravitating towards, it was no surprise I found myself crushing on Aiden. Aiden and Ivy shared a past together, since when they were kids they were best friends and yet now that they were attending the same university, Ivy pretended not to know Aiden or didn’t acknowledge him. Whereas, Aiden was still kind and made small efforts to try to talk to Ivy. Early on the mystery behind what happened between Ivy and Aiden fascinated me, but also the way Aiden was surprised at how Ivy behaved led me to assume that the Ivy that Aiden was reunited with wasn’t the same girl he knew from years ago when they were kids.

Between Ivy and Aiden, each was different from one another. Ivy came off as someone who didn’t care much for anyone and focused on herself such as grades/ work and getting by in life. Aiden was the driven, determined football player who was destined to be drafted into the NFL. Complete opposites and yet once upon a time these two individuals use to be best friends when they were kids. Seeing Aiden reach out to Ivy and try befriending her again made me nostalgic for them because, them having known each other since they were kids showed that long ago they were each other’s support system. Despite Ivy trying to keep herself guarded and protected from getting hurt, Aiden managed to find his way back into Ivy’s life, and let’s be honest, Ivy missed him just as much too.

Ivy’s inner struggles with her dark thoughts were something that was on-going through out the story. I liked that the story didn’t shy away from the reality that Ivy was faced with, her problems didn’t magically disappear. For all the work that Ivy put into moving forward in her life, she still found herself having those moments where she almost succumbed to the suicidal thoughts that would plague her. I found Ivy to be a strong female character because, with her flaws and fears, I found her to be real and not fake. Ivy was the kind of girl who can shut you with just a few words or a look. I admired Ivy and despite even myself being a bit intimidated by her, I still found her likable. In addition, for all those times when it seemed like Ivy was so closed off from others, she was actually a selfless and kind person.

I would say this story covered more of the character growth and the hardships both Ivy and Aiden experienced in their lives, but there was still time for some romance. I would classify Ivy and Aiden as childhood friends to strangers to friends again to lovers. There were definitely some ups and downs between Ivy and Aiden, but the moments when the romance was upon them were pretty passionate and meaningful. The fact that Aiden was inexperienced (his first time being with Ivy) was an unexpected surprise to me because usually in sports romances books or any romance book in general, the guy is usually experienced, so for Aiden to have had his first time with Ivy, I actually found it endearing.

I truly loved the depth this story had. With Ivy’s struggles and past always being something she had to face, to Aiden trying to help in any way possible for Ivy, this story was sad, at times dark, deep, and heartfelt. Among many reason why I enjoyed this book was the heart that was at the center of the story. Ivy was by far a stubborn person, but Aiden was always up for the challenge and able to dish back what Ivy threw his way. This book was truly an amazing read, and while there are certain other sports romances that were great, this one really dug deep into the emotional and mental aspects of what Ivy experienced. Through the first few chapters, I was hooked. I couldn’t stop reading, and I was captivated by Ivy and Aiden’s stories. I loved every single thing about this story, and I feel like once you read it, you’ll understand what I mean. Even as I write this, I’m trying to think of more words to put into perspective just exactly what I felt while reading this book. Someone once said that if you liked the Off Campus/Briar U series By: Elle Kennedy or just sports romances in general, you would like this book, and let me just say this book exceeded my expectations and more!

This story was fantastic! I loved Ivy and Aiden, I loved the side characters like DJ, Caleb, and Raine, the friend group in the story was sweet. Through the good and bad times, somehow Aiden and Ivy found their ways back to each other. I loved the character growth in Ivy, and with the epilogue it was not only ending on a happy note, but it showed Ivy being in a better place. Ivy and Aiden truly got their chance at a life together and I’m always a sucker for good epilogue which this book delivered on. Highly recommend reading this book!

Content Warnings

More...