Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Pucking Sweet by Emily Rath

14 reviews

garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-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

5.0

📚 Ugh why is this series so good??? And why isn't there more of it to read yet??? This book did a good job of bringing in events from books 1 and 2 in the series and putting them in a different context, so even if you knew what was happening from the previous books' MCs' perspectives, it felt familiar but still felt fresh.

📙 This was a great story. There was emotional vulnerability, there was rivalry, there was love and discovery and tons of sex. And I really liked all three of the MCs in terms of personality.

🎧 All three of the narrators (1 female, 2 male, all first person POV) did an excellent job with the material.

🌶️ 5/5 it didn't get into like deep/hardcore kink but other than that, this book (like the others in the series) is constantly on.

🏳️‍🌈✊ We of course have the diversity in sexuality involved in a 3 way relationship (and it is truly 3 way). There are also other team members who are queer (some from book 1 and some others). One of the MMCs is biracial: Black and (I think) white. This is a hockey romance, and it does seem like most of the side characters are white. There's diversity in backgrounds: one of the MCs grew up alone and basically on the streets, one had a loving middle class family, and the other comes from a powerful and moneyed (but cold) family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, and Death of parent

strawberrycasualreader's review against another edition

emotional funny slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Blood

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Sexism

Minor: Death of parent

nanastradamus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

3.5

gooped and gagged tbh!! in all seriousness i rly need to know more about that

violet and olivia

situation 👀 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Racism, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

fromthefoxhole's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse, Infidelity, and Death of parent

allingoodtime's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

4.5

The span of this story is from the start of the first book in this series, through the second book in the series, and even beyond that. Yet I’d still say you can read this one without reading those two books. The other characters are in and out of this story, but their backstories are not needed to be fully immersed in this book.

That being said, some things happened in the last book, Pucking Wild, that gave a peek at the polyamorous relationship of Poppy, Lukas, and Colton and I couldn’t wait to find out how it all came to be and how it would play out. Lukas has not been what I would consider a likable character throughout the series. He likes to snipe at everyone, especially Colton. He teases Poppy relentlessly as if they’re in kindergarten and never seems to take anything seriously. Of course, that is all to keep everyone at arm’s length. Lukas cannot afford to form attachments to anyone as he knows those attachments are never real and never last.

Colton is such a lovely laid-back person who is fantastic at being the glue to the frenetic energy of Poppy and Lukas. I love the way he loves them. Not that he doesn’t need affection and care, too. Poppy knows this and eventually so does Lukas. This trio doesn’t work on paper. But when they are alone, when the walls are down, they are perfect. Lukas allows himself to be vulnerable, Colton allows himself to exert his powerful nature, and Poppy gives over her need for control. It works for them. If only they can realize that it can work just as well outside of their secret bubble.

Although Poppy has a lot to deal with in her family and Lukas had a terrible upbringing, there isn’t the same level of angst in this book as there is in the previous stories. There is conflict and confusion and many things to work out, but there never seems to be despair even when things look grim. There is great chemistry all around and I was always rooting for them to find their way to each other.

One final note that is specific to the audiobook: up to this point I have only heard Sean Crisden narrate the Icehome series by Ruby Dixon. In other words, I have only heard him be an alien. It was a joy to hear his voice in another context. I will admit that when Colton would get gravelly I’d think of those aliens! That’s not a bad thing though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

rosie_valadez's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse, Infidelity, and Death of parent

thisteachreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

It’s Emily Rath… what more is there to say? 

If you’ve read her books in order, you know what you’re in store for.

I enjoyed the easy love between Cole and Lukas, although I did have to question

how quickly they become each others person, esport having only known each other for 2 years and those years weren’t consecutively prior to coming to the Rays.

Then again, I guess it’s silly to question anything in the Rays universe - there is clearly something in the water that makes Florida a place that just accepts polyamory amongst a large swath of its players. 

I will say that this book does come with a big surprise pregnancy trigger warning. Definitely not a trope I enjoy reading. In this case, it didn’t seem to really become a thing until later in the novel. 

It’s a long read but a light one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent

kloughlin's review against another edition

emotional funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really liked the story over all. That said, the parts of the story that matched up with the timeline of the previous two books no longer felt like the same characters. I could justify Poppy’s suddenly upbeat attitude towards the players and support staff as her putting on a happy front to other people. But I cringed when

Poppy grabbed the wine glass at the turtle party and sputtered to Rachel and Tess about her pregnancy and not knowing who the father was. Up until that point, it didn’t matter to her which one of them was the father and she spoke as if they both were the father. Plus, the reader never saw her struggle not to ingest alcohol before this scene. In fact, she politely held a glass of champagne without being tempted to sip it at Rachel’s wedding before the events of the turtle party.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Infidelity, Medical content, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

vettechmama3's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

I absolutely loved how this book was the same timeline as Pucking Around, and we got to see different points of view. Having previous main characters show up was comforting and reminded me why I love these books/characters so much 😍 Poppy, Colton, and Lukas were 🥵 together and their relationship is beautiful with lots of self reflection and growth. BUT it did sort of feel like I was re-reading Rachel and her guys' story. Same vibes, similar situations. This series is definitely a favorite of mine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Pregnancy

Moderate: Medical content and Medical trauma

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

rt91's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

Might be my favourite in the pucking series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent