Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Only When It's Us

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Only When It's Us by Chloe Liese

91 reviews

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

Willa Sutter is a soccer star at college and used to getting notes from the lectures she misses when she's away for games. But one professor tells her that Ryder Bergman has his notes and that she should ask him for them. When Willa tries to talk to this flannel-wearing neanderthal he completely ignores her. Ryder doesn't understand why Willa seems to hate his guts and they both get chocked when the professor pairs them together on a school project for the rest of the semester.

This is a frenemies-to-lovers, where both are stubborn and enjoy teasing each other; their banter is pure gold! Willa also has a short fuse, which sometimes leads to awkward moments. There's a clear s*xual attraction between them from the start, but neither are interested in a relationship. Willa's got her soccer career to think about, as well as a very sick mom. Ryder became deaf 2 years ago and hasn't spoken out loud since then; he only communicates by texts. I like how Liese depicts Ryder's hearing impairment, what obstacles he faces and how it has made him avoid interactions with most people. I haven't read that many books with a deaf main character and I appriciate to get that perspective.

Ryder's got a Swedish mom and the classic Swedish meatballs appear more than once. Since the narrators are American the few Swedish words that are tucked in sound very off (to a Swede like me), but that's really my only complaint and I can't blame the narrators for that!

Content Warnings

rdreader's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

1.0

No... Just, no...
For a big part of the book it's doable, just like looking at a carcrash.
The amount of unneeded or boring detail the author goes into.
The mis-/non-communication trope.
The hypocrisy of Willa talking about men never talking and for her then literally having to be chased down when she has to have an honest talk with Ryder...
It just gets worse and worse and worse and not in a fun way at all.

There are positives such as a pretty good display of what it is like to be hard of hearing/deaf and how to deal/communicate with hearing people, especially when mute. But those positives are grossly overshadowed by the infuriating childishness, pettiness and just plain dumbness of not communicating properly or at all.

Spare yourself the frustration an go find a better book!

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agiecummings's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

I absolutely loved this sweet book. I adore every second of Willa and Ryder’s relationship. Almost a bit too much of a slow burn for me, but I absolutely ADORED their beautiful story.

Ugh, the loss, the slow burn, the Pride & Prejudice vibes, and the sweet way they take care of each other. All of it just makes you kick your feet and giggle in all of their beautiful moments and cry with them in their hard moments. Just loved it.

I actually can’t believe how much I loved it. And all the things they had in common?? I was dying the whole time. And now I can read about all the brothers? What a treat.

Content Warnings

smartcookiesca's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad 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

4.0

Content Warnings

jjreads331's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

levilore_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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 really enjoyed this story and loved the way this author explored disability along with grief. The characters were awesome and the complexity of relationships were explored really well.

In particular, the fact that Ryder had such complex feelings about being deaf and that the author explored the different ways he communicates was really cool. I was worried

when he started speaking that it would erase his other forms of communication, but I loved that he still used sign language and that throughout the book characters asked him about whether speaking or texting was better. The scene when he speaks again made me cry, along with when he first heard Willa's voice and she first hears his. I liked that despite being a hearing character, Willa had a similar reaction to hearing Ryder's voice for the first time.

I thought the author dealt with grief, trauma, and death in a beautiful way, especially the idea of gaining and losing family.

The only issues I had were that it kinda dragged on in the middle, beating you over the head with the Pride and Prejudice stuff (I say as a P + P lover) and sometimes the phrasing made me roll my eyes. Although overall, it was a really good story and I'm excited to read the rest of the story.

Content Warnings