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annahamburger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, Bullying, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Medical content
lacrimaeignis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault and Misogyny
Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Body shaming, Bullying, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Grief, Alcohol, Death of parent, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Death
cassie12_21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Violence, and Death of parent
culzean's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Grief, Alcohol, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Pregnancy
roadesntoades's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Bullying, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Body shaming, Cancer, Abandonment, Chronic illness, and Death
Minor: Eating disorder
elliepeagram1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.75
Graphic: Abandonment
rensreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i liked catalina up until the last 2 chapters. she felt like a real life person i could come across on the street. most romance mc’s aren’t very dimensional so armas did very well with hers. she was strong, stubborn, but also prone to panicking because of the rough stuff she had gone through in life.
as for aaron, i didn’t like him when he said nothing to defend lina from gerard in that meeting where she gets assigned to organize an event she has no idea how to put together, but he grew on me. it became very clear that he had liked her a long time before she ever considered him even being nice and i liked that about him, but then he started getting weird about how much she ate and about her health. it reminded me of christian gray and that is not someone you want to be compared to, fellas. he very quickly dropped that “how much have you eaten today” thing though so i was relieved about that. but then he started to try and seduce lina at weird, inopportune moments and that gave me mad second-hand embarrassment. he ended up being pretty okay in the end.
what did give me the ick was a spanish woman using the word “savages” in a playful manner when spain is just as much of a colonizer country as england and the fact that after being
and then we hit the last chapter and im hit with so much cringe.
also armas, you robbed us of the martin family meeting aaron’s dad in the epilogue. ABSOLUTE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR! JAIL!
in terms of spice, i’d give this a solid 2/5 🌶 there were 2 explicit smut scenes and 2 heavy petting, semi-public makeout sessions.
i think i’d give this book 3.75 stars if i wanted to get very specific with my ratings. it wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t bad either. a good and enjoyable experience for the most part 😊
(why were there so many twilight references btw??)
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Grief, Misogyny, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Cancer
Minor: Bullying, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
it’s never made clear how old lina was when she met daniel, but she was definitelythatswhatshanread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
First and foremost, I really wanted to love this. Virtually everyone I know that has read it has gushed over it. And it had those romcom elements that usually make your heart swell and your mind go all melty with love.
Instead, this book just made me cringe. I hate to say that—but the cringe didn’t go away as the story went on. Normally, I love the enemies-to-lovers trope. The work romance trope. The back and forth. The slow burn. The one-bed trope. The TENSION. Unfortunately, all of those predictable nuances felt disconnected and forced to me. The storyline was very similar to The Hating Game—which I LOVED—and maybe that might have also been the reason this story made me so mad.
Because it had POTENTIAL!!! So much potential. But the writing in general was just so so repetitive, especially when it came to certain descriptive words and actions or thoughts made by the MC. It made the veryyyy slow burn even slower. The buildup just didn’t feel organic. And once the buildup rewarded the reader with that moment you’d been waiting for… I just could not. The love interest, which up until that point I actually grew to like, completely changed. This seems to be a common theme in certain romance novels: that the hot-and-heavy moments have to transform the characters into intense maniacs that, frankly, disturb me. Maybe that’s on me. Probably. But seriouslyyyy it felt like whiplash!! It just didn’t feel true to the characters, IMO. It felt a little like a cop-out just for the ~seductive shock factor~ idk.
I must have liked this book in some way to be this frustrated by it. The “ocean blue” eyes were mentioned no less than a thousand times. “My fake boyfriend”, or referring to any character by their relation to the MC instead of by name, drove me crazy. It wasn’t just once. It was multiple times, over and over even when you knew who they were. Also, the excessive use of names when talking to each other. No one talks like that irl!!
Elena Armas, girl, I know this was your debut book and I really do commend you for self-publishing it but— “I hate to say it, I hope I don’t sound ridiculous, I don’t know who this man is. I mean, he could be walking down the street, I wouldn’t know a thing. Sorry to this man.”
Please don’t hate me I just gotta be honest ty!!!!
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Cancer, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Abandonment
Minor: Stalking
se6500's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexism
Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, Eating disorder, and Mental illness
Minor: Abandonment, Cursing, Grief, and Racism
rads27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment and Cancer