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grubrednuf's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
There's a lot to like in this. It was a fun and wild ride. Shayla is definitely one of my favorite leads in a contemporary romance- strong willed, fun, sexually free. Xavier was sexy, but I don't particularly love the possessive trope. Additionally, his need to vent his frustrations and feelings through violence (starting fights, throwing objects at walls) really gave me the ick. There is a lot of heart and passion in this story.
Some of my least favorite things:
-First third of the book was really well plotted and lots of building. Then the last two-thirds, I kept flipping back to the previous page to see if I had missed things. (Other reviews mention this too.) There were some things that just happened with no explanation on page and you kind of have to piece it together from what's happening in the background. New characters cropped up that I was sure we hadn't seen before. There is some kind of violence that happens that is at first called an accident and than later an attack.
- The pacing of the last one third of the book is mind blowing fast. First third of the book takes place over a couple of weeks. Last third, you get entire four-page chapters that cover weeks at a time.
- Before the book events, X's Dad supposedly just disappeared one night and they have him declared dead, then its a heart attack, then he was fishing, and then a different story entirely- there's about four different ways that X's Dad has died off screen and they do not reconcile it.
- My print copy of the book needs a copy editor. There were some genuine typos and then littered throughout the entire book were footnote numbers that were accidentally left from some version of editing.
Some of my least favorite things:
-First third of the book was really well plotted and lots of building. Then the last two-thirds, I kept flipping back to the previous page to see if I had missed things. (Other reviews mention this too.) There were some things that just happened with no explanation on page and you kind of have to piece it together from what's happening in the background. New characters cropped up that I was sure we hadn't seen before. There is some kind of violence that happens that is at first called an accident and than later an attack.
- The pacing of the last one third of the book is mind blowing fast. First third of the book takes place over a couple of weeks. Last third, you get entire four-page chapters that cover weeks at a time.
- Before the book events, X's Dad supposedly just disappeared one night and they have him declared dead, then its a heart attack, then he was fishing, and then a different story entirely- there's about four different ways that X's Dad has died off screen and they do not reconcile it.
- My print copy of the book needs a copy editor. There were some genuine typos and then littered throughout the entire book were footnote numbers that were accidentally left from some version of editing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual assault, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Fatphobia
sarah_thebooknerd's review
challenging
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The book premise is there. I loved Shayla’s character! I love a badass unapologetically herself FMc who doesn’t compromise her values and beliefs for anyone. It’s refreshing in books. I liked Xavier and my goodness the moment that man ripped her underwear off in a bar and put it in his drink to taste her my mouth dropped open. I was blushing hard core.
But the book was choppy in its transitions. It didn’t feel like a cohesive storyline because it was trying to do too much with the plot twists and turns and that’s where it lost me. I love a romance suspense story and there needs to be some plot twists so no issue with that but they have to make sense and connect back to the overall plot and there needs to be a flow to them to work as a story and I think that’s the part of this book that lost me.
Fat rep- amazing very fat positive and body neutral.
But the book was choppy in its transitions. It didn’t feel like a cohesive storyline because it was trying to do too much with the plot twists and turns and that’s where it lost me. I love a romance suspense story and there needs to be some plot twists so no issue with that but they have to make sense and connect back to the overall plot and there needs to be a flow to them to work as a story and I think that’s the part of this book that lost me.
Fat rep- amazing very fat positive and body neutral.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Gun violence, Blood, and Stalking
Moderate: Death