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its_vendetta'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
4.25
However I will say that the characters are not very good people!!! keep this in mind when going into the book! they do some not good things throughout the book! they’re in politics so it makes sense to me, but I saw some reviews complaining about this. So just keep it in mind.
I think that they’re still somewhat relatable and I think they grow by the end of the book.
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
sizzlelywizzlely's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, and Alcohol
kellylayne's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Homophobia
Workplace abuse; toxic workplaceannahamburger'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
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexism
nothanks_'s review against another edition
Moderate: Bullying and Toxic relationship
Minor: Emotional abuse and Homophobia
onceandfuturereaders's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Now let me start off by saying that while I enjoyed this book a lot, it is not for everyone. If you really want to like your main characters and hope they’re good people, you may be disappointed and this book is likely not for you.
I had seen that this was for fans of the West Wing (one of my favorite comfort watches) and I’m a huge fan of this trope combo (fake dating and enemies to lovers). I also live just outside DC so the politico storyline was very intriguing (and realistic) to me. That being said, Thom is quite literally the worst (okay there is one character who is worse, but that would be a spoiler). He actually had me questioning whether I think Josh Lyman, who clearly inspired his character, is a good person or am I just really attracted to Bradley Whitford? There were only maybe 3 or 4 quick moments where I genuinely liked Thom. Clay has his own personality faults, but is clearly struggling with imposter syndrome and I found him the more likeable of the two. Weirdly I did like them as a couple the more into the book I got, but I didn’t like them at all in the beginning.
All that said, the writing is really good and I found myself laughing in so many places. And honestly I’m glad that I knew going into it that the characters weren’t really likeable (see Liz’s bio which says she writes romances for terrible people) because it let me really enjoy this book a lot for what it was.
If you like The West Wing, particularly Josh Lyman, fake dating, enemies to lovers, and don’t mind terrible people as characters, this may be for you!
Always check all content warnings (I use StoryGraph), but this has homophobia, bullying, and emotional abuse (especially in the workplace).
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia
ibjilln's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
doll2021's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia