Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

51 reviews

hecksbecks's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have never felt more seen as a reader. I know, I know, there are A-LOT of authors out there that are able to conjure a character that looks like us all and reminds us of ourselves. HOWEVER, Van was just this perfect little combination of every niche imaginable and I loved her. As always with these kitschy romance novels the ending felt rushed but in this case it was okay because we were teased with a slow burn the whole damn time. The characters mesh well with one another and the prose is easy to read, I’d recommend it to someone who was a fan of these kinds of books for sure. I also see myself reading more from Zapata in the near future. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Panic attacks/disorders

neermboop's review against another edition

emotional slow-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

Oh, Mariana. How I love this book ❤️

I adore a book where you feel all the feels. 
We went through hating the grump football player Aiden, to tolerating him, yo understanding him, then loving him. 🫠

I do love when a dumb single minded (football) man opens up his eyes to see what is right in front of his face. 🙈👀👋

Vanessa knew her worth and wasn't a pushover. I love that about her. Aiden was protective but let her do her own thing. 🥰

I don't re-read many books, but this is definitely on the list 💕💖

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident

Minor: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Toxic relationship

joey_paige's review

relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Violence, Addiction, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Deportation, Grief, and Sexual harassment

addieisreading's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

4.75

“I always learn from my mistakes. We made a good team once. We’ll make a good team again.”

I’ve never read any book of Mariana Zapata but I knew it was my thing due to the comments saying how annoyingly slow the romance would develop in her books and how introvert most of her male characters were. This book weren’t any different from what they said. It took me a while to get the hang of it since the beginning is very slow and the writing was kinda off to me (The author put the main character’s thoughts randomly in the middle of the scenes, which interrupts my line and thinking and distracts me from what’s happening in the plot). The female main character sounded quite annoying at first with the exaggerated overthinking but, at some point, I got used to it. She turned into a very badass assertive woman throughout time and one of my favorite characters from romance books along her boy. Vanessa and Aiden won’t get out of my head any sooner. Wish there were more but I think I’m all by myself (and a few fanfics) now.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Alcoholism

beckyyreadss's review

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

4.0

What I love doing as a reader and reviewer is to find new authors. This year my priority was Mariana Zapata. I wanted to read her work because everyone I know raves about her online. I decided to go with The Wall of Winnipeg and Me as it had been on my TBR for the longest.  

This book follows Vanessa Mazur, and she knows she’s doing the right thing and that she shouldn’t feel bad for quitting. Being an assistant and housekeeper and fairy godmother to one of the biggest NFL players was always supposed to be temporary. She has plans and none of them include washing extra-large underwear which are longer than necessary. But when Aiden Graves shows up at her door wanting her to come back, she is surprised. For the last two years that Vanessa has worked for the man known as The Wall of Winnipeg he has never said good morning or how are you or even happy birthday and now he is asking for the ultimate favour, to be his wife? What do you say to the man who is used to getting everything he wants?  

So, I knew that Mariana Zapata is known for the slow-burn romance with a lot of tension. But HOLY HELL this was a long slow burn. I felt like I was losing my mind throughout this book, and you know what’s worst - I enjoyed it. The little actions that make Vanessa doubt her feelings and the way that they both slowly fall in love with each other, like Jesus H. Christ. I love how headstrong Vanessa is, especially after all she had been through - I just wanted to hug her from the get-go. Zach was adorable, I just wanted to hug him too. I would have loved for this standalone to turn into a series and let Zach find some happiness because the golden retriever deserves it. I liked how Mariana didn’t do a completely whiplash with Aiden’s character like you knew from the beginning that he was a complete tool and is a robot and that theme was the same the whole way through expect we learn how he became like that. 

I would have loved for this to have a dual POV, just for the bit after they’ve both confessed their feelings, I would have loved to see Aiden’s point of view during this and seeing how he battled his feelings and wanting to know his thoughts during certain parts of this book (Vanessa wearing Zach’s jersey to the first game). This book was a little bit repetitive at times and could have been cut by about 100 pages. 
 

I will be reading more of Mariana Zapata’s work in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, and Emotional abuse

hannibanani29's review

emotional lighthearted slow-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Child abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Deportation, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Alcoholism

Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, Murder, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Vomit, Violence, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, and Grief

caitlincrtr's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Fatphobia, Abandonment, and Body shaming

Minor: Sexual content and Violence

lunahale's review

emotional funny hopeful slow-paced

• 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

i just wanted to smush their faces together in this omg. like, i know mariana zapata books are extremely slow burn but this was SO MUCH. love these two fools so much tho *mwah*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Car accident and Emotional abuse

there is no abuse between the main couple.

rakizaka's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy

ednam0dewannabe's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Cursing

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Pregnancy