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amyreadsandsails's review against another edition
5.0
MF - contemporary romance - moderate steam - pov first dual - white MCs - child free - class gap - mental health rep (addiction) - found family (MMC) - opposites attract - good girl/bad boy - second chance - small town - virgin (FMC, in flashback when she's 18) - 5 stars.
After reading Bittersweet, which is fairly low-angst, this was a sucker punch. There is so much going on here -crooked cops, abusive parents, past death of a sibling, drug addiction, alcoholic parent - but also I was SO HOOKED.
It was great to see the Shipley family and watch Jude learn to lean on them and trust himself more. The way Sarina Bowen wrote his addiction felt very real.
After reading Bittersweet, which is fairly low-angst, this was a sucker punch. There is so much going on here -
It was great to see the Shipley family and watch Jude learn to lean on them and trust himself more. The way Sarina Bowen wrote his addiction felt very real.
The ONLY thing I didn't like about this book: frequent use of the word crazy and one instance of use of the word slave (in a trivializing manner ie sex slave)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
andra_mihaela_s's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
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
5.0
In "Steadfast" we follow the tragic love story between Jude (whom we met in the first book of this series) and Sophie. Both are caught in a web of memories they don't want to give up and regrets that left deep scars in their hearts. I was really impressed that I enjoyed the story as much as I did! (Given the fact that, from the synopsys, Jude seemed to be in the wrong and Sophie has no excuse to keep wanting him.)
Once again, I really liked the way in which both characters got space and time to enravel their personalities to the reader, as well as the constant pace the narration kept. Sarina Bowen really is talented to make such a serious romance a one-day read.
Due to all that history between Jude and Sophie (the car accident and their relationship up until that point - a relationship not wanted by many in their lives), I got more attached to this couple than the one from the previous book (Griffin and Audrey). Although the atmosphere and the Shipley family are already iconic and very much beloved for me, the scenes with Jude going for Wednesday meetings and Thursday dinner were soooooo bittersweet.... felt like Christmas Eve with family after days out on the road or something...really moving. ^_^
The character work is great: we see confusion, anger, regret, desire, dispare, sadness, anguish, shame, etc. We have great supporting cast in the Shipleys,Danny and Father Peters. Both families are indicative for the main couple's problems (which is very rare to see in a book in my opinion, but extremely necessary to have believable situations) and outlook in life -> fact that gives credibility to the romance.
Atmosphere: early december morning..throughout the whole book! ^_^
Plot: really solid and well mixt with the romance (both of them trying to find a scope to work to); kept me on the edge of my seat several times with the tension from interactions and misterious activities! ^^
Before I forget, I want to point out specifically the way in which Jude's problem is addressed in the story: for someone that never used any kind of substance, I feel I emphatize with Jude and understand as much as I can how he got there, why, and what lead him there. Bowen also takes great care into offering us means to fight the stereotypical notions associated with drug victims that we often fall back onto -> the biggest weapon: society is mercilessly against giving second chances, and inevitably, condemning those same victims to a horrible life.
Overall, I really loved this one and I will surely continue in the series.
Quick list of pozitive aspects for people in a hurry:
+ great character development for both main ones and supporting cast;
+ real integration of the rest of the series cast as supportive for Jude (the Shipleys);
+ well written plot with the mention of not really liking the portrayal of Sophie's father..seemed intentional from the beginning;
+ lovely atmosphere in sync with character's feelings;
+ great pacing and narration choice;
+ equal focus from the main couple to their individual problems in life as well as to their connection!;
+ important disccusion regarding substance abuse - causes, effects, solutions and stigmatisation sorounding it;
I highly recommend this book for both romance story and disccusion on drug abuse and recovering.
Anyone interested will not be dissapointed! ^^
Enjoy
Once again, I really liked the way in which both characters got space and time to enravel their personalities to the reader, as well as the constant pace the narration kept. Sarina Bowen really is talented to make such a serious romance a one-day read.
Due to all that history between Jude and Sophie (the car accident and their relationship up until that point - a relationship not wanted by many in their lives), I got more attached to this couple than the one from the previous book (Griffin and Audrey). Although the atmosphere and the Shipley family are already iconic and very much beloved for me, the scenes with Jude going for Wednesday meetings and Thursday dinner were soooooo bittersweet.... felt like Christmas Eve with family after days out on the road or something...really moving. ^_^
The character work is great: we see confusion, anger, regret, desire, dispare, sadness, anguish, shame, etc. We have great supporting cast in the Shipleys,Danny and Father Peters. Both families are indicative for the main couple's problems (which is very rare to see in a book in my opinion, but extremely necessary to have believable situations) and outlook in life -> fact that gives credibility to the romance.
Atmosphere: early december morning..throughout the whole book! ^_^
Plot: really solid and well mixt with the romance (both of them trying to find a scope to work to); kept me on the edge of my seat several times with the tension from interactions and misterious activities! ^^
Before I forget, I want to point out specifically the way in which Jude's problem is addressed in the story: for someone that never used any kind of substance, I feel I emphatize with Jude and understand as much as I can how he got there, why, and what lead him there. Bowen also takes great care into offering us means to fight the stereotypical notions associated with drug victims that we often fall back onto -> the biggest weapon: society is mercilessly against giving second chances, and inevitably, condemning those same victims to a horrible life.
Overall, I really loved this one and I will surely continue in the series.
Quick list of pozitive aspects for people in a hurry:
+ great character development for both main ones and supporting cast;
+ real integration of the rest of the series cast as supportive for Jude (the Shipleys);
+ well written plot with the mention of not really liking the portrayal of Sophie's father..seemed intentional from the beginning;
+ lovely atmosphere in sync with character's feelings;
+ great pacing and narration choice;
+ equal focus from the main couple to their individual problems in life as well as to their connection!;
+ important disccusion regarding substance abuse - causes, effects, solutions and stigmatisation sorounding it;
I highly recommend this book for both romance story and disccusion on drug abuse and recovering.
Anyone interested will not be dissapointed! ^^
Enjoy
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, and Car accident