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m4nda_beth's review
4.0
I am not usually a fan of books in a high school setting, but Galvin did a great job adapting the characters and their emotions (often immaturity) to align with their age and how many of us would have handled similar situations. It was easy to understand and relate to Glory, and I struggled to put this book down because I wasn't sure how things were going to play out. I do wish we had a dual POV and not just bits of Killian's perspective from his journal entries as I think that would have helped to fill some space in the book that moved too slowly or was repetitive. Overall, a great read with characters I absolutely fell in love with.
thebookishdogmom's review against another edition
3.0
Glory and Killian were childhood best friends until Glory's mom and Killian's dad has an affair and ran away together, causing a huge scandal in their small town. With Killian's family basically running the town, he was seen as a victim, whereas Glory and her father were ostracized from the community. On top of that, Killian turned his anger on Glory for years, making high school a less than pleasant experience.
At the start of their senior year, Killian realizes that he doesn't want to hate Glory anymore. He misses his best friend, and is ready to make amends. He makes it know to everyone how he feels, he gives Glory his journal so she can understand his feelings over the years, and they slowly rebuild their friendship. And their friendship develops into a relationship, which is how they were always meant to be together.
The concept of the plot was really good. But I felt it could have been executed better. When K handed over his journal to G, it really seemed like the story of them finding their way back to one another through reading his journals was how it would go. That would have been a great way to develop the story. But, it fell flat. G would read an entry or two, and then misplace the journal or forget about it for months at a time. Like… the guy handed you his deepest secrets on a silver platter and you just forget about it like a post-it? I really think that was a missed opportunity.
I also felt like Glory allowed the people who hurt her back into her life too easily. I expected more groveling from Killian before she forgave him. And we could have used a lot more focus on Glory repairing her relationship with her mother. It almost felt like we should have had only one relationship be the focus of the story, rather than Killian AND her mother… I don’t think we had the right amount of time available to really deep dive and make the reparation to both of those relationships.
I do think this was a very sweet, coming of age love story. I did see the strong bond that Glory and Killian had with one another, and they had several sweet and passionate moments. I just wanted a little more depth to the characters and the plot. But overall a solid read!
I received an advanced copy from Grey's Promotions of this e-book, but the review is my own.
Tags: childhood friends to enemies to lovers, second chance, new adult
Spice: 2 peppers
First person/single POV
At the start of their senior year, Killian realizes that he doesn't want to hate Glory anymore. He misses his best friend, and is ready to make amends. He makes it know to everyone how he feels, he gives Glory his journal so she can understand his feelings over the years, and they slowly rebuild their friendship. And their friendship develops into a relationship, which is how they were always meant to be together.
The concept of the plot was really good. But I felt it could have been executed better. When K handed over his journal to G, it really seemed like the story of them finding their way back to one another through reading his journals was how it would go. That would have been a great way to develop the story. But, it fell flat. G would read an entry or two, and then misplace the journal or forget about it for months at a time. Like… the guy handed you his deepest secrets on a silver platter and you just forget about it like a post-it? I really think that was a missed opportunity.
I also felt like Glory allowed the people who hurt her back into her life too easily. I expected more groveling from Killian before she forgave him. And we could have used a lot more focus on Glory repairing her relationship with her mother. It almost felt like we should have had only one relationship be the focus of the story, rather than Killian AND her mother… I don’t think we had the right amount of time available to really deep dive and make the reparation to both of those relationships.
I do think this was a very sweet, coming of age love story. I did see the strong bond that Glory and Killian had with one another, and they had several sweet and passionate moments. I just wanted a little more depth to the characters and the plot. But overall a solid read!
I received an advanced copy from Grey's Promotions of this e-book, but the review is my own.
Tags: childhood friends to enemies to lovers, second chance, new adult
Spice: 2 peppers
First person/single POV
heymichelle360's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
georgia_sara93's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Glory and Killian grew up together as best friends, until her mother, and his father, had an affair breaking up both marriages and the friendship of the two children right before high school started. It’s now Senior Year and things begin to shift again after Glory is injured playing soccer by a girl trying to win over Killian’s feelings. Too bad he’ll do anything to protect Glory. As they begin to reconnect, big, hard to manage feelings come into play as well.
Swoon! Friends to enemies to lovers? Yes please!! A very adult YA romance that managed to hit me in all the right feels! I loved this book and if I wasn’t sick when I was reading it probably could’ve devoured in 1-2 days max instead of 4-5! If you’re looking for your next hard feelings story - look no further! 😍
Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for this ARC!
bookishobsessedmama's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book! It was engaging and the banter was funny throughout the entire thing.
TW - Infidelity
I really felt that Glory’s character was so relatable. She suffered from such heavy anxiety as well as debilitating migraines which i can personally relate to a lot! I will say there was a huge section at the beginning talking about the frequency of the migraines and then there was only 1 episode mentioned throughout the book, so i was surprised that it wasn’t a more constant occurrence.
I really loved the dynamic between all these characters. I think sometimes people don’t realize how small towns are and when something like infidelity happens to a “big name” family it’s huge news and is constantly brought up. I feel like for the most part Elizabeth, Glory, Killian, and Glory’s dad really has such a strong dynamic and all individually went through such a huge amount character development throughout the book.
I would have loved to see a DUAL POV aspect to this book, a couple chapters from Killian’s perspective would have lifted it to a 5 star read for me!
Overall, It’s giving: Small Town Romance, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Soccer/Football Romance, Miscommunication, second chance romance and he falls first & HARD.
I’ll definitely be looking for more books by this author!
TW - Infidelity
I really felt that Glory’s character was so relatable. She suffered from such heavy anxiety as well as debilitating migraines which i can personally relate to a lot! I will say there was a huge section at the beginning talking about the frequency of the migraines and then there was only 1 episode mentioned throughout the book, so i was surprised that it wasn’t a more constant occurrence.
I really loved the dynamic between all these characters. I think sometimes people don’t realize how small towns are and when something like infidelity happens to a “big name” family it’s huge news and is constantly brought up. I feel like for the most part Elizabeth, Glory, Killian, and Glory’s dad really has such a strong dynamic and all individually went through such a huge amount character development throughout the book.
I would have loved to see a DUAL POV aspect to this book, a couple chapters from Killian’s perspective would have lifted it to a 5 star read for me!
Overall, It’s giving: Small Town Romance, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Soccer/Football Romance, Miscommunication, second chance romance and he falls first & HARD.
I’ll definitely be looking for more books by this author!
dinoqueenreads's review against another edition
3.5
FMC: Glory- a soccer-loving girl who moved to Galway and met a group of friends who would change her life. Her mother had an affair with her best friend’s dad and left town- leaving Glory as the one to take the wrath of the town and make her and her father social pariahs. Will they ever get back to being friends?
MMC: Killian- the golden boy of his school and part of the most beloved and powerful family in Galway. As tensions grow after his father and best friend’s mother leave town, he abandons his friendship with Glory making her free game for torment through her high school years. He’s doing his best to ignore what could have been with them, until he overhears comments from guys on the football team… will things change for their senior year?
POV: 1st person, single POV
HEA: yes
spice: yes, several open door spicy scenes
TWs: parental abandonment, cheating (not MCs), pregnancy troubles (not MCs), divorce, bullying
standalone: yes
final thoughts: this book had so many ups and downs, likes and dislikes, but overall was a very entertaining read. I really don’t love on-again-off-again relationships that stem from miscommunication but with a high school setting it felt very fitting. There was a ton of high school drama, but I loved the friendships that were portrayed throughout the book and the focus on mental health. And those spicy scenes? WHEW they sure had some chemistry that was so sweet!
read this book if you love
🤜 friends-to-rivals-to-lovers
💞 childhood crush
2️⃣ 2nd chance romance
🏫 high school to college setting
😬 angst
🤐 miscommunication
⚽ both MCs play sports
👨👩👧👦 technically step siblings?
🧠 mental health
MMC: Killian- the golden boy of his school and part of the most beloved and powerful family in Galway. As tensions grow after his father and best friend’s mother leave town, he abandons his friendship with Glory making her free game for torment through her high school years. He’s doing his best to ignore what could have been with them, until he overhears comments from guys on the football team… will things change for their senior year?
POV: 1st person, single POV
HEA: yes
spice: yes, several open door spicy scenes
TWs: parental abandonment, cheating (not MCs), pregnancy troubles (not MCs), divorce, bullying
standalone: yes
final thoughts: this book had so many ups and downs, likes and dislikes, but overall was a very entertaining read. I really don’t love on-again-off-again relationships that stem from miscommunication but with a high school setting it felt very fitting. There was a ton of high school drama, but I loved the friendships that were portrayed throughout the book and the focus on mental health. And those spicy scenes? WHEW they sure had some chemistry that was so sweet!
read this book if you love
🤜 friends-to-rivals-to-lovers
💞 childhood crush
2️⃣ 2nd chance romance
🏫 high school to college setting
😬 angst
🤐 miscommunication
⚽ both MCs play sports
👨👩👧👦 technically step siblings?
🧠 mental health
arisshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
tense
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
3.0
happily_undignified's review against another edition
3.0
Hard Feelings by K. M. Galvin was a quick semi spicy enemies to lovers romance. It had all the makings of an interesting story with family betrayal, coming of age elements, and of course sexy sporty main characters but I didn't really connect with Glory or Killian. Some of the story seemed drawn out and repetitive and other parts felt rushed. It was a light fast read but not a reread for me.
reds_reading's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you Netgalley for providing an arc in return for an honest opinion/rating.
I normally eat Friends to Lovers up but I struggled alot with this. The concept of this book is great however it felt dragged out and very confusing.
This is also an adult book with characters aged 17. To me this feels wrong. If your characters are in adult scenes they need to be aged 18+.
I normally eat Friends to Lovers up but I struggled alot with this. The concept of this book is great however it felt dragged out and very confusing.
This is also an adult book with characters aged 17. To me this feels wrong. If your characters are in adult scenes they need to be aged 18+.
feldsara's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5