careliza's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Spoiler
Brandon diedIt was sad and I hate sad.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Infertility
Minor: Misogyny
jillkaarlela's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Age rating: 16+ (2 short spicy scenes 1/5🌶️)
Please check content warnings!!!
This was a story that really needed to be heard, and I’m glad that Abby Jimenez wrote it. It’s so frustrating that not being able to have kids or not wanting to have kids limits your dating pool so much but it DOES. And the struggle of not wanting to burden your loved ones or potential romantic partners with your health issues is SO REAL. It was very cathartic to see Kristen’s healing journey, as she became more accepting of herself and her worth despite her health issues. I also loved how Jimenez mentioned in the author’s note that this story was heavily inspired by her best friend who struggled with the same issues, making it as true and honest as possible.
This is a sort of FWB to lovers story, but they both secretly want it to be more. It was so sad seeing Kristen pushing Josh away, when he clearly wanted to be with her, but I completely understand why she did. For those who have not struggled personally with chronic health issues themselves, or something of that nature, her choices will probably be frustrating and not make sense, but it is so extremely real and accurate.
I will be honest, at the beginning, Josh seemed like such a tool. There were a few comments that made me really irritated at him, particularly his comments about women being “too much work” right now. But we do see him quickly change/grow into an extremely caring and kind man as he falls for Kristen. He quickly became the embodiment of “if he wanted to, he would”, I mean he was SO DOWN BAD for her, you don’t understand!!
Another thing I didn’t love was that there were so many references to Kristen as being a “cool girl” because she didn’t like many of the other things that girls typically enjoy (flowers, candles, etc.). Which, would be okay, if Josh didn’t act like she was superior over other women because she “wasn’t like other women”, ie. she was blunt and emotionally guarded, etc. It just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth, especially after seeing the Barbie movie, this subtle misogyny is frustrating.
One more thing I didn’t love was how heavily it talked about Kristen tying her worth with how many children she can bear, which is a misogynistic agenda that is literally shoved down women’s throats. I’m not negating that Kristen would feel this way, she definitely is valid in those feelings, and Josh’s constant comments about wanting a baseball team sized family do not help the issue. It’s not as bad as it was in the past decades, but Yeesh, I can’t believe that we still need to be having this conversation in 2023. This is not really a critique on the author, but on society in general. It’s so sad that women STILL have to deal with this misogynistic ideal.
Overall, it was a sweet story that dealt with an extremely important issue that you could tell was done with great care. These characters really and truly loved each other so much. However, it definitely wasn’t my favorite Abby Jimenez book because of the issues mentioned above.
CW: infertility, chronic uterus pain, emotional abuse from parent, misogyny, death, and medical content
Graphic: Infertility
Moderate: Misogyny, Death, Emotional abuse, and Medical content
kates_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Spoiler
And then for her to end up miraculously pregnant?!? I saw it coming and was so annoyed and then was disgusted when my predication proved true. Even more disgusting though was when the love interest said his sisters would be happy to be the surrogate … I know that’s not how it happens but that struck me as SO GROSS. Plus it seemed to add to the fact that Josh only saw women as vessels for carrying children.Speaking of Josh: I also was excited to see that the love interest was a firefighter — I was like ok hot — but he was constantly complaining about his job and saying that people didn’t actually need their services (I can understand this happening once but again and again??). And then the ending?!?
Spoiler
Killing off his best friend … for what?! I literally do not understand the point of that. Like yes it was used as a plot device to bring the love interests closer, but beyond that?? I have no clue. Sloane and Brandon were better characters and they deserved better.There were also so many other scenes where I was just confused as to why the happened: her “ice queen” mother showing up out of nowhere, despite never being mentioned before; all of their comments about homeless people being “dangerous” and something that Josh needed to “protect her” from .. I was horrified to read it; the book started with Josh being stressed about money and then never mentioned it again; Kristen being insecure about her uterus being bloated … and then comparing her body to her “beautiful, hourglass” best friend whose “worst nightmare” would be being bloated … I can’t.
Overall, I was BEYOND disappointed with this book. Maybe the author went through some serious life changes because her latest books are seriously amazing and showcase independent women who embrace and celebrate their friends … but this I cannot rate it lower and I am an overly generous rater usually.
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Blood, Chronic illness, Grief, Car accident, Infertility, and Medical content
octopaigedraws's review against another edition
3.25
Moderate: Medical content, Car accident, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, and Pregnancy
justinee_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Car accident, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny
meg_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Beyond that, for me, this book had very clear cheating elements. Even if you just view the emotional cheating as the only element of cheating (which I do) our main female character was literally falling in love with this dude while prepping for her military boyfriend to come home from deployment and move in with her. And then when she and her boyfriend "broke up" there wasn't even a clear and direct conversation between the two regarding their break up before she quite literally jumped this other dude. I was waiting for her boyfriend to come home and be like, wtf we never even officially broke up but that never happened.
Lastly, the ending of this book was uber fucking sad out of nowhere which was really jarring. Obviously in real life events like what happens at the end of this book can't be predicted but damn that shit sucked and our poor bestie Sloan was totally left in the lurch while our main female character rides off into the sunset with her new bae and her new baby and that just sucked for me knowing how devastated Sloan was while our main character fully got her happily ever after at the exact same time. Granted, I think book two is Sloan's book but I don't have any desire to read book two after this one because it was ass.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Death, Grief, Infertility, Misogyny, and Sexual content
the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition
There are more interesting romance books that don't rely on such obvious and disappointing tropes.
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Infidelity, and Sexual harassment
le3713's review against another edition
Spoiler
ready to have sex with a girl who broke up with her boyfriend in the last ten minutes, and keeps inviting himself over and pressuring her to let him sleep in her bedModerate: Misogyny
Minor: Fatphobia
valeriabee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
There is just so much wrong with this book that I cannot even really process it or articulate it. I want this book to be rid from my memory. I want to forget I read it.
I'll tell you a little bit about why:
1) The "cool girl" trope in which the MC is literally described as a "unicorn" amongst women because she's "not crazy" like other girls and can eat cheeseburgers and drink beer. All of that pained me so much.
2) The hyper-macho love interest that is ridiculously possessive and does all the stereotypical manly man stuff -- with the exception of not being afraid of periods.
3) The lack of showing us how and why they fall in love. It's just declarations of love (and a lot of lust) that dont really have any support in the book.
4) I dont even want to talk about the way they fucked up the supporting characters.
5) The mess that is the surprise pregnancy because WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?
That's a long ass list of things I didnt like with little detail about it because I just cannot bring myself to talk about it any more.
It was painful to read and not because I cared about the characters. It was so hard to care about them.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Infertility, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Mental illness and Misogyny