hecksbecks's review against another edition
- 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
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
jennp28's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
One pet peeve: For claiming she had multiple Canadian friends answer all her questions, she really does not understand ‘Eh’ and how it is used in a sentence. Drives me bananas when Canadians are written in a caricature like this.
Leslie beamed. "We finished watching some footage, so I'll get out your hair to give you both some alone time tonight, eh?”
The tender, amused look that came over Aiden's face more than slightly irritated me. "Eh." Aye.
Then the fact that his Canadian had snuck up on him - when it only came up in the times he was really comfortable - made my little-girl immaturity that much worse.
And
Clowns? "Really?" I tried to imagine a tiny Aiden crying over men and women with overly painted faces and red noses, but I couldn't.
The big guy was still facing me. His expression clear and even, as he dipped his chin. "Eh."
God help me, he'd gone Canadian on me. I had to will my face not to react at the fact he'd gone with the one word he usually used only when he was super relaxed around other people. "I thought they were going to eat me."
That… is not how that is used. Ok. Rant over.
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
Minor: Alcoholism, Grief, Drug abuse, and Death
joey_paige's review
- 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
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
literally_mint's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Grief, Abandonment, and Medical trauma
Minor: Domestic abuse
hannibanani29's review
- 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
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
thefatpaperback's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Fatphobia and Body shaming
jkiranjot'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
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Minor: Domestic abuse and Vomit
ollie_again's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
In general terms, the book didn't exactly do anything wrong. But minor annoyances piled up and by the end it was just a pretty standard read for me. No life changing reading experience I was hoping for.
I'll start with the biggest annoyance, which was how the main character and the whole female cast was handled. From the very beginning, Vanessa is exuding not-like-other-girl vibes. The first pointer is her being kind of an ugly duckling who undergoes a transformation (mainly in losing weight) into a beautiful swan. 'She's not the type of girl, the jocks would date' and so on and so forth. Her offhanded remarks about other women in a general sense pointed also in that direction: judgement of the wives/gf of other players even though she doesn't know them; slutty costumes are not imaginative like her Minion one (Jesus fuckin Christ); or her comparing herself to a prostitute because of her situation and grouping the word "prostitute" with asshole and not having any backbone.
All of that can be somehow brushed over, sure, but what sealed the deal for me was the rest of the female cast. All of them are absolutely out of their minds and bitchy at best. Even Vanessa's bff is not the best and ends up
Spoiler
as a victim of domestic abuse, which was pretty much used as a plot point. And even Vanessa's concern about her friend when the first indication of the abuse comes up, falls flat. She is angry at her friend because she doesn't immediately tell her, what's going on, and brushes it off... I know you want to help her but being angry at her, what???One scene that stood out to me as pretty stupid was when Vanessa laughed at the fact, a fan grabbed Aiden's ass. Switch the genders and tell me how funny it is. It just made me cringe. Especially in contrast to Aiden going Hulk on other men, which yea, it was warranted, but I'm also not into the alpha (aka a-hole) men.
The first and only sex scene sank the rating even more. First sex without a condom? Nope. Him coming in her without a condom? Hell no. Him not even asking, and just saying "I want to come in you." *squirt squirt*. Hell to the No. If Aiden defied the jock-no-brain stereotype for the most part, he lost the brain as soon as his dick got hard.
Other than that, I was not happy about the fact, the story is told just from Vanessa’s POV, but I could live with that. It was all the other things that lowered my rating. I’m not giving up on this author, because this is just one book by her, but I have to lower my expectations for the next time I’ll try something by her.
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Grief and Drug abuse