Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Bad Girl Reputation

I hated this book. Just being honest and blunt, it wasn’t great. The writing style is fine; it’s an easy read. But so many frustrating little things add up to one big disappointment. To begin, I didn’t know this was a sequel. Fortunately it doesn’t read like one, though. But the characters are so annoying. Genevieve literally cannot get out of her own way, and the constant back and forth between her and Evan is so tiring. “I want you so bad, but no I can’t! Okay maybe just a little.. but no, I shouldn’t!” Come on. Over and over with that same schtick. Here’s a list in page order of ridiculous things that happen:

1. Gen is sober, for over a year. She describes a one-time relapse where she ends up in a strangers bed with no memory of the night, and how she can’t continue on drinking and partying like she used to. She turns down every single drink offered to her, declines drinks basically pushed in her hands. But all of a sudden, when she’s on a FAKE DATE with Harrison, she’s totally fine with having a glass of wine? “It’s not like I’m pounding shots or downing cocktails. I won’t even get a buzz..” says what sober, recovering alcoholic? This is the big point that pulled me away from the story, honestly, and shows careless writing. Seriously, a recovering alcoholic is going to be okay with one glass of wine? Just lazy.
2. The whole cop ordeal. ACAB all the way, but it seems so pointless and misguided to have the whole “drunk angry creep cop” storyline play out. There wasn’t any need, Gen had turned a new leaf of sobriety and not partying, why is this cop still showing up at every turn and somehow knows whenever there’s substances involved? Again, just lazy writing. There’s no real danger, so they had to come up with some enemy to ruin the character’s plans. It’s just a weak attempt at real conflict.
3. The first time Gen and Evan have sex again, it’s on a public beach. They fall asleep naked and she wakes up late for work, furious at herself for falling back with Evan and not being responsible. She makes it this huge ordeal about not being able to follow through with her obligations when she’s involved with him, when in reality it’s so simple. Her panic could’ve easily been avoided by a damn alarm on her phone. It’s ridiculous, and sets off the on-and-off-again between them.
4. Evan volunteers at a nursing home with his brothers dog. He’s visiting an elderly man with a beloved pet bird. Evan opens the bird cage, bird gets out, dog eats bird, elderly man is heartbroken and furious. Just another insanely pointless addition. This later comes back up when Evan and Gen run into the elderly man while on the boardwalk, and he chases them into a clown house. Which again, leads to nothing and adds nothing to the story.
5. Skip all of Chapter 19. Doesn’t add anything to the story and is just an overwhelmingly boring recap of a pokers night.
6. Genevieve is such a downer, really an unlovable character. She is constantly droning on about how she needs to stay away from Evan and be with someone different, but the second she finds a completely different and genuine good guy, all she can do is insult and make fun of him to herself. “The kind of guy I’d be making fun of…one of the yuppie tools… he’s far too nice..” Everything about Harrison, from his dad humor to his khaki pants, puts her off. She goes on about how nice he is, happy and optimistic, but how it only makes her feel more bitter and empty. There’s seriously something wrong with her. I get just not feeling attraction, but it’s like she craves sharp edges, and couldn’t stand to be with a kind, gentle man who’d treat her properly. She entertains Evan right in front of her date many times, allowing him to barge in and interrupt them again and again, simply because it excites her to see her ex jealous. She admits to herself that she has no attraction to Harrison, but “..there’s no harm in giving this a shot and letting him grow on me.” Yeah, no harm in leading the nice guy on and trying to force a relationship that clearly won’t work, just to get back at your ex.
7. Just the overall toxicity of Gen and Evan. Misery loves company. They both fully see how destructive and chaotic they are together, yet they both continue treating it like some sort of game. It’s pathetic and gets old quickly. Predictability isn’t a good trait in a book.
8. When Evan finally gets the courage to be a man and leave Gen alone for good, it’s at the worst time possible, right after she’s released from jail. He should’ve broken up with her forever ago, but no, he decides in her weak moment, “now’s the time!” And then literally the next day Gen PROPOSES TO HIM. With a blow pop. What am I even reading at this point.

I’m glad it’s over. Again, it’s an easy book to get through and an alright read. I just got stuck on the stupid little things, which matter to me. Do not recommend simply for those bits.

Content Warnings

mhairi_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.0

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katrinaward's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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cluckieduck's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.5

"Change is a choice we make every day, a thousand times a day. We choose to do this one thing better. Then the next. And the next."

While I didn't particularly enjoy Good Girl Complex I really wanted to read about Evan & Gen's relationship. Evan was introduced in Good Girl Complex as the identical twin to its male lead Cooper, but we only heard about Gen because of how her supposed actions affected Evan and influenced his dickish behaviour, so I was very interested to get more of a backstory on their past. Unfortunately, what we get is a very toxic second-chance romance between a girl trying to shed her party-girl image and live a sober life and a guy who can't take 'no' for an answer and doesn't believe that his supposed 'best friend' is being genuine in wanting to change her ways.

"Evan and I have always had this tension between us. Pushing and pulling. Making each other jealous and manipulating a response. It's all part of the bad habits I'm trying to break. Yet, in doing so, I'm repeating the steps."

I think I may be ageing out of enjoying Elle Kennedy because I just found it, overall, to be quite juvenile. And yes, comparatively, 22 is young, but their actions (Evan's more so) were so immature. I also didn't appreciate that Gen kept stringing along Harrison knowing full-well that their relationship was going nowhere while she still had feelings (and kept hooking up with!!) Evan. That was totally unfair.

Everything wrapped up much to quickly and neatly, throwing up happy resolutions between so many intertwining relationships, it was a bit of an eye-roll. I won't be continuing with the series after this.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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jocelynbold's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If you’re into an old-lovers to enemies to lovers again, redemption romance, then this is right up your alley. 😈 Our lovers: Genevieve (Gen) and Evan. This couple has a LOT going on: the angst, the back-and-forth jabs at each other, so much push and pull, but also so much tenderness and care… they were truly a lovely, if not somewhat maddening, romance to read.

The book’s enemy, Rusty, a sh*tty Avalon Bay cop full of toxic masculinity, a drinking problem, and an eye that more than wanders from his marriage and family, was absolutely disgusting, and written so well. He read like a Nicholas Sparks novel villain. 👎🏻

This book had a lot of heart too. I really loved that Kennedy’s main love interest had their own personal growth battles to overcome in order to figure out how to overcome obstacles to love each other in a healthy way, and I think she wrote this beautifully. Overall, I enjoyed this read and I would recommend to friends!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press @stmartinspress and NetGalley @netgalley for this ARC of this book!

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eviecheesepuff's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny inspiring sad 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

4.25

I really loved Good Girl Complex, so it was a no-brainer to request the sequel when I saw it available on Netgalley 😊 Thank you so much Macmillan Audio for approving me for this audiobook. Release date: 10/4/2022

Meet Evan and Gen. Childhood sweethearts. Troublemakers. Two peas in a pod. That is…until Gen left for the city without any explanation. Now she’s back for her mom’s funeral and staying in town to help her family out. Is she the same girl that used to cause mayhem around town? Evan doesn’t know…but he sure as hell wants her back.

This book was the complete opposite to its predecessor imo.
At first I was a bit put off by how destructive Evan and Gen’s relationship was but I admit they grew on me! There are so many good tropes in this book, it’s hard to pick my favorite (second chance love, friends to lovers, he falls first…)

The character development in this book is off the charts. The people we meet at the beginning of the book are NOT the same ones we say goodbye to when reading the epilogue. Evan’s efforts to get Gen back, by doing things completely out of character for him, are hilarious and so heartwarming. Props to Elle Kennedy! 👏👏 I absolutely love stories where we follow characters interconnected with each other because any details we get about other people within the same universe are def gonna pop up in the next installments of the series and I can not wait.

This was a multicast audiobook, which I always love! But I liked Gen’s narration better than Evan’s. Her pace was so well maintained throughout the story and I found myself looking forward to her parts a bit more. Then again, I always relate more to a female narrator so that might be unfair of me. 👀

For me this book was a solid four stars. I would highly recommend checking the trigger warnings for it however, as it deals with a lot of heavy topics (death of a parent, illness, postpartum depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, toxic relationship, abuse of authority etc.)

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

I really loved Good Girl Complex, so it was a no-brainer to request the sequel when I saw it available on Netgalley 😊 Thank you so much Macmillan Audio for approving me for this audiobook. Release date: 10/4/2022 Meet Evan and Gen. Childhood sweethearts. Troublemakers. Two peas in a pod. That is…until Gen left for the city without any explanation. Now she’s back for her mom’s funeral and staying in town to help her family out. Is she the same girl that used to cause mayhem around town? Evan doesn’t know…but he sure as hell wants her back. This book was the complete opposite to its predecessor imo. At first I was a bit put off by how destructive Evan and Gen’s relationship was but I admit they grew on me! There are so many good tropes in this book, it’s hard to pick my favorite (second chance love, friends to lovers, he falls first…) The character development in this book is off the charts. The people we meet at the beginning of the book are NOT the same ones we say goodbye to when reading the epilogue. Evan’s efforts to get Gen back, by doing things completely out of character for him, are hilarious and so heartwarming. Props to Elle Kennedy! 👏👏 I absolutely love stories where we follow characters interconnected with each other because any details we get about other people within the same universe are def gonna pop up in the next installments of the series and I can not wait. This was a multicast audiobook, which I always love! But I liked Gen’s narration better than Evan’s. Her pace was so well maintained throughout the story and I found myself looking forward to her parts a bit more. Then again, I always relate more to a female narrator so that might be unfair of me. 👀 For me this book was a solid four stars. I would highly recommend checking the trigger warnings for it however, as it deals with a lot of heavy topics (death of a parent, illness, postpartum depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, toxic relationship, abuse of authority etc.)

nbreezy17's review against another edition

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lighthearted 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

4.5

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emiliebowles's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.0

This was my first Elle Kennedy book. I wanted to try her out as she's a Canadian author and I've heard a lot about her sports romances (which I'm not super interested in).

This was a second-chance romance story, one of my favourite tropes, but overall it was pretty average. It's the second in a series ("Good Girl Complex," which I haven't read, is the first), so some of the previous characters make appearances. The MCs, Gen and Evan, are both flawed individuals, which makes sense for the plotline, but I felt that Kennedy could have done more to make them feel really fleshed out to the reader.

Despite this, I will say that there were some good steamy scenes.

Thanks to St Martin's Press for sending me an e-arc of this book on NetGalley!

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