Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Happily Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez

7 reviews

noellegrace8's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This Jimenez is plot-heavy, which I love. The celebrity plot is interesting and authentic, even though it seems like it would easily be inauthentic. The characters, as usual for Jimenez, have perfect chemistry and are both fully fleshed out. I love her dual POV style. They are respectful of one another, fully in sacrificial love, and help one another through their struggles.

That being said, my lack of 5⭐s is the usual - the random poor decision or trauma dump near the end! I wouldn't hate a last-minute wrench in the love story. What I do hate is a poorly chosen last-minute wrench. What Jason did was completely out of character!

Also, I have empathy for what Lola went through with the music industry, but NOTHING, absolutely *NOTHING* excuses sexual harassment and assault. If the genders of Jason & Lola had been reversed, the assault would have been considered unforgivable by everyone. It was unacceptable for the woman they were touring with to push Jason toward helping Lola. There are professional mental health specialists and, if push comes to shove, police, for a reason.

I give Erin Mallon 3.5/5⭐. I hate her male voice! It sounds like an old wizard haha. And she enunciates with her mouth kind of closed. Plus, I think she was sick while recording this? She sounds stuffed up. But her female voice is average/good. As usual, Zachary Webber gets 5/5 ⭐ from me. Always a perfect delivery - he IS the voice of The Book Boyfriend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

bookscatcoffee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

3.5

This book was good but not my favorite from this author.  I really appreciated the author note that explained the impetus for creating these characters.  However, I felt that there was very little growth in the male main character compared to the female MC.  Entertaining despite the references to hunting.  I did appreciate the music industry’s nefarious practices being highlighted!  And there were some hilarious moments at the beginning.  Worth reading!  3.5 stars

Contemporary romance

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

sharkyray's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I sped through this! Had some heavy, sad moments but it made the highs more lovely

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism and Bullying

Minor: Self harm and Stalking

keepingitread's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

This is my second book I have read by this author, and I enjoy the real-world issues that she puts into her romance stories. It makes the story more realistic and relatable. Sure, sometimes it's nice to escape into a perfect relationship that isn't real but it's also rewarding to see people fight though the hard parts and figure things out. This book deals with grief and learning how to pull yourself together eventually.  I plan on continuing to read other books by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Bullying

notsobinaryart's review

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Vomit, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity

The first half of this book made my heart so full and happy. The love present, the hope, how they met and fell in love, was all so special. What deducted most of the points for me began in the second half to last third of the book after a time jump. It got depressing, and after speed reading through the first half, it took a lot of work to finish this book. Spoilers ahead for what went wrong.

As many people can agree, I hate most third act breakups, especially if they’re solely added to creat conflict. In this case, the third act breakup was the result of the love interest, Jason/Jackson, doing what he thought was the best for the main character female character, Sloane. I cannot stand when someone makes a major decision like that for someone else, and ESPECIALLY how he majorly broke her heart right after she was learning to trust and love again. The hurt he caused was completely unacceptable for no good reason.

Jason also seemed all too perfect until this point. We don’t see any major character flaws in him, which made him seem a bit too unbelievable. Overall, the first half was a very fun read, but brace yourself for a rough second half. If you are not prepared for a book that is heavily surrounded by grief, now would not be a good time to pick up this book.

btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Self harm, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Infidelity, and Vomit

jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-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

A wonderful book where two creatives are brought together by a crazy doggo. 
Strangers to lovers, second chance after strains on a relationship.  This book is so well written. The romance itself so wholesome. 
Dealing with themes of grief and also lying to protect others are dealt with alongside developing communication to be good together as a couple.  I love this book and would definitely reccomend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Stalking, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol