pam_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Spoiler
The only negative: the main character is annoying and downright unlikeable by the end (but it works with the ending imo).Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Abortion, Blood, Child abuse, and Death
Minor: Ableism, Grief, Pregnancy, Violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Infidelity
mishasbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Cancer, Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Terminal illness, Animal death, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Suicide attempt
ellestark's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Abortion, Ableism, Child abuse, Abandonment, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, and Grief
aleen_elizabeth's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Miscarriage, Murder, Ableism, Death of parent, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Abortion, Torture, Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Sexual content
rot_swap's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
This book is not a thriller. The amount of detailed sex scenes was truly wild, almost comical. I ended up skipping through them as the book went on. It's fine for a book to be sexy, but it should been marketed as erotica (ie not a thriller!). But also I'm incredibly bored with, not to mention creeped out by, the "sexy thriller" genre. It usually ends up blurring the line between sex/desire and violence. Power is achieved through both sex and violence. This is rape culture!
The characters were flat and uninteresting. Jeremy was perfect to the point that it was annoyingly unrealistic. Verity was unknowable in a way that wasn't mysterious or clever, just poorly written. Lowen is also a nothing person. Nothing about the way she was written made me actually believe she herself was a writer. And her sleepwalking trauma was weird. I don't get what Hoover was trying to do there. Just felt lazy. Overall, the way trauma was written about came off as trauma porn. The characters are all defined by their trauma and Hoover revels in it.
Plot holes galore and an unsatisfying ending.
I could go on but it's all been said. This was my first and last Colleen Hoover book.
Graphic: Child death and Child abuse
Moderate: Ableism and Death
deathbybooks4482's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
BUT
I also couldn’t ignore how this book hinges on ableism. I wish the author had chosen a different trope or maybe tackled it in a more creative way to avoid its inherent ableism. Even addressing her characters’ ableism would have been great. But without any pushback within the text, it feels like the author just doesn’t have a great understanding of disability.
Graphic: Ableism, Infidelity, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Murder
Moderate: Abortion, Child death, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide
rory_john14's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Abortion, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Kidnapping, Ableism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization
kyraelisabeth's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Grief, Sexual violence, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Ableism, Child death, Mental illness, and Murder
siennakt30's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Violence, Abandonment, Child death, Grief, Car accident, Death, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
jellyhavana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Ableism, Sexual content, Child death, Abortion, Vomit, and Child abuse
Moderate: Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Murder, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Car accident