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a_ab's review against another edition
3.0
The characters go through a lot of growth on page, but most of it is, arguably, too lust-motivated to stick long-term. There are hints that it's motivated by other reasons, too and that lust in this case might be masking much deeper feelings, but the power imbalance at the end of the book was still too strong for anything truly promising, and long lasting positive character change usually doesn't miraculously happen over a few months.
Cassandra as a character is not very developed in this book. She is young, still carries a lot of silliness from her upbringing and, although her heart is in the right place, she hasn't quite grown into a fully formed person. That contrasted so sharply with Tom's firmly set-in-his-ways jaded and cynical worldview and older-than-his-years vast experience in life, what the result for me was an icky feeling.
Tom's narrative starts out with him being such an unpleasant, unscrupulous and blatantly unethical person, that his development is both drastic enough to stretch credulity and at the same time — not enough of a change to inspire much hope. Especially since that change happens while he is actively pursuing a goal, and that for him is a modus operandi in which anything and everything can be done to achieve his purpose. But in the past, once his target was obtained, he had no problem reverting to his uncaring self and withdrawing his efforts, interest, and willingness to compromise.
And I wanted Cassandra to have a very decent, loving and caring partner in life for a very long time — much longer than the initial period of infatuation and passion. The author tried, but I am not sure I bought what she was selling.
I did thoroughly enjoy Cassandra's family and their circle of open intimate friendship.
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Fatphobia
Minor: Physical abuse
rachelbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Medical content, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, and Gaslighting
maakbooks's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Fatphobia and Sexual assault
abby_can_read's review against another edition
- 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
📱
This was another enjoyable re-read. I loved every page of it. The characters were good and their relationships were good. The pacing was decent. The plot was engaging.
July 2022-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📱
This was a cute read. I loved the relationship between Cassandra and Tom.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, and Fatphobia
amy_in_the_city's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
smuttymcbookface's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
So, you can imagine how overjoyed I am to have Kleypas' intelligent and witty writing, a grouchy MMC, and a FMC who does most of the initiating.
I enjoyed reading about Tom, with his neurodivergent personality, and his black and white view of the world. I think Kleypas did a brilliant job of showing who he is, and why it wasn't callousness or cruelty that led his past actions. It's always enjoyable to read about critical and thought-out main characters suddenly losing their ability to reason, and I found this book no different.
Cassandra was sweet, but a little too Mary Sue for my liking. She was willing to be patient for Tom, overlooked so much cruelty in the other characters, and dealt with Tom's rejection in her stride.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book, and didn't find their time to be tedious or drawn out.
Graphic: Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Classism
annabelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Cassandra was easy to love and a classic romance heroine. Tom is besotted immediately and I loved seeing him open up. We love to see a man absolutely down bad for his lady (even if he doesn’t realize it lmao). He definitely made me laugh with his antics about his 5 feelings and how literally he took things. Bazzle was an absolute cutie and I adored him.
Just an overall good time!!
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Sexism
livruther's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse and Abandonment
micahslibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Fatphobia
airin_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia