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kaileeledger's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Really enjoyed this story. The only reason I gave it 4/5 stars is because at points in the story it kind of dragged. It was a lot of back and forth “do I wanna be with him or do I not?” Without having a fair amount of plot to distract. Wasn’t a bad story, it was just a bit repetitive at times. Overall, I would recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Car accident
Minor: Child death and Toxic relationship
kimdonahue93's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Dementia, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Fatphobia
mjdedevis24's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
lina_m's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Dude's committing arson and fucks the girl (who he has stolen his most famous song from) in front of the fire??? And in another scene, she wakes up handcuffed to the bed with a random woman between her legs while he touches himself and then makes this random woman kneel in front of him to cum on her face???
I think I need to desperately rethink all of my life choices because I didn't dnf the book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
valeriaboom's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Fatphobia and Sexual assault
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Dementia, Car accident, and Death of parent
christy_0909's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
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
5.0
It made me laugh and it made me cry. It was really long and I felt like it could have been shorter but amazing story that deals with a lot of heavy and real issues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
megallenbooks's review against another edition
emotional
medium-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
Thank goodness I could make this book work into a prompt because I absolutely was not thinking of my challenge when I downloaded onto my kindle and inhaled in an entire afternoon. I was entirely motivated by readwshelby over on Tiktok and thinking if a book got her that worked up I wanted a part of it.
This story is told in two parts; the first follows the FMC (Lenon) and MMC (Phoenix) in high school and the start of their burgeoning relationship. I have to say I thought I had crossed an age threshold where stories, particularly romances, set in high school held no sway over me but I think reading them as a flash back that sets up the adult relationship for me might be a new catnip for me. Something about seeing the trauma that highschool is for so many people laid bare on the page, knowing we are going to see how it affects this person as an adult is deeply engaging.
Teen Phoenix and Lennon are pretty endearing too, particularly teen Phoenix, because you can see two sides of his personality at war with each other, the ass and the dream and how they war with each other and how they are tried by Lennon is kind of lovely. Likewise, seeing the seeds of the kickass heroine Lennon is going to grow up to be is also endearing.
Flash forward 4 years and we're into part 2, Phoenix is a rockstar and Lennon has found an inner confidence that we were dying for her to get in Part one. Their relationship has broken down in a big way (won't say how due to spoilers) but safe to say when Phoenix's manager hires Lennon to be Phoenix's sober companion, no one is worried that he will sleep with her and scare her away like the others. Let the force proximity games begin.
There was a lot to like about this book. Jade has great character voices and the angst and tension was just perfect. This was very spicy (🌶🌶🌶🌶) without feeling like erotica. The world building and secondary characters were great (side note: I have read she's not going to give Rock his own book which is a shame because I found him to be the most intriguing secondary character)
So why not 5 stars? A couple of this bugged me and I would have like them to change; the first was the short amount of time between part 1 and 2. Sure 4 years sounds like a lot, but given Phoenix had to form a band, record an album, win grammies, develop a serious substance abuse problem, it seems very fast. Likewise the amount of personal growth that Lennon went through is a lot to jam into 4 years. Having the characters be in their late 20s would have been even more impactful.
The other bit that didn't do it for me was the ending, the pacing was off and some parts dragged and others were so quick and out of left field I got a bit of whiplash.
That said, this was a great angsty read and a recommend.
This story is told in two parts; the first follows the FMC (Lenon) and MMC (Phoenix) in high school and the start of their burgeoning relationship. I have to say I thought I had crossed an age threshold where stories, particularly romances, set in high school held no sway over me but I think reading them as a flash back that sets up the adult relationship for me might be a new catnip for me. Something about seeing the trauma that highschool is for so many people laid bare on the page, knowing we are going to see how it affects this person as an adult is deeply engaging.
Teen Phoenix and Lennon are pretty endearing too, particularly teen Phoenix, because you can see two sides of his personality at war with each other, the ass and the dream and how they war with each other and how they are tried by Lennon is kind of lovely. Likewise, seeing the seeds of the kickass heroine Lennon is going to grow up to be is also endearing.
Flash forward 4 years and we're into part 2, Phoenix is a rockstar and Lennon has found an inner confidence that we were dying for her to get in Part one. Their relationship has broken down in a big way (won't say how due to spoilers) but safe to say when Phoenix's manager hires Lennon to be Phoenix's sober companion, no one is worried that he will sleep with her and scare her away like the others. Let the force proximity games begin.
There was a lot to like about this book. Jade has great character voices and the angst and tension was just perfect. This was very spicy (🌶🌶🌶🌶) without feeling like erotica. The world building and secondary characters were great (side note: I have read she's not going to give Rock his own book which is a shame because I found him to be the most intriguing secondary character)
So why not 5 stars? A couple of this bugged me and I would have like them to change; the first was the short amount of time between part 1 and 2. Sure 4 years sounds like a lot, but given Phoenix had to form a band, record an album, win grammies, develop a serious substance abuse problem, it seems very fast. Likewise the amount of personal growth that Lennon went through is a lot to jam into 4 years. Having the characters be in their late 20s would have been even more impactful.
The other bit that didn't do it for me was the ending, the pacing was off and some parts dragged and others were so quick and out of left field I got a bit of whiplash.
That said, this was a great angsty read and a recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Dementia, and Death of parent
amberlinanderson's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The first reveal of Lennon’s “coping mechanism” was such a heart breaking experience. The letters in the end made my heart swell. There were a few plot holes and a few times that Lennon really annoyed me, but overall, a good, emotional read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
aj_igoe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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? Yes
3.0
To say this was a wild ride is an understatement.
First, I was very upset because there are no trigger warnings. And they’re definitely needed to be some. While there’s not much that triggers me, there is a form of SA, and as a survivor, sometimes I do get emotionally triggered. When the protagonist, Lennon, thinks she’s having a wet dream and wakes up to a girl going down on her. A girl that she doesn’t know. Being told to do so by the male lead, Phoenix, and so on. It was the most questionable scene and out of place seen in the book and they just gloss over it— no discussion on it and forget it ever happens except like one mention.
Second, there’s there’s literally on page child abuse - the prologue and later one. This alone warrants a TW. Plus the toxicity of the relationship and death of a parent, dementia, all these things needed to addressed in the beginning.
Lennon I loved her. Second, I read some other reviews bothered by her losing weight. I’ll you what, my skinny was a size 10 and I wasn’t skinny at all. I just wasn’t obese and I appreciated her being at that size because I felt like I could relate to her 100% at that size. She was still plus size. At that size I was told I was plus size at ducking forever 21 at 19. I wasn’t even large, I was more like average but I always had breasts and huge hips.
I want to address some of Phoenix behavior. There were some reviews addressing how poorly he acts. But to this, as someone who studied child development (pregnancy thru 25) and how trauma affects the brain — working alongside kids as a former preschool teacher, a few with traumatic childhoods, his actions are normal behavior for someone who never received therapy or help. While I agree some of his behaviors are abhorrent they are not out of the norm for a broken individual.
Those things aside I really really enjoyed the book. I read dark fantasy’s and dark romance. So other than needing TW — which if the book had them, I might have rated it higher — it could never be 5 stars with the SA on page unless it had been discussed in book and actually like spoken about as SA.
But I loved all the characters, and I was extremely invested in them. I really did care for all of them, I’m a Stormy stan for sure. I wish I could give this more stars but my conscience will not allow. I finished it hours ago and can’t stop thinking about it and even considering purchasing the audio and listening to
It. I really did love the characters and story itself.
First, I was very upset because there are no trigger warnings. And they’re definitely needed to be some. While there’s not much that triggers me, there is a form of SA, and as a survivor, sometimes I do get emotionally triggered. When the protagonist, Lennon, thinks she’s having a wet dream and wakes up to a girl going down on her. A girl that she doesn’t know. Being told to do so by the male lead, Phoenix, and so on. It was the most questionable scene and out of place seen in the book and they just gloss over it— no discussion on it and forget it ever happens except like one mention.
Second, there’s there’s literally on page child abuse - the prologue and later one. This alone warrants a TW. Plus the toxicity of the relationship and death of a parent, dementia, all these things needed to addressed in the beginning.
Lennon I loved her. Second, I read some other reviews bothered by her losing weight. I’ll you what, my skinny was a size 10 and I wasn’t skinny at all. I just wasn’t obese and I appreciated her being at that size because I felt like I could relate to her 100% at that size. She was still plus size. At that size I was told I was plus size at ducking forever 21 at 19. I wasn’t even large, I was more like average but I always had breasts and huge hips.
I want to address some of Phoenix behavior. There were some reviews addressing how poorly he acts. But to this, as someone who studied child development (pregnancy thru 25) and how trauma affects the brain — working alongside kids as a former preschool teacher, a few with traumatic childhoods, his actions are normal behavior for someone who never received therapy or help. While I agree some of his behaviors are abhorrent they are not out of the norm for a broken individual.
Those things aside I really really enjoyed the book. I read dark fantasy’s and dark romance. So other than needing TW — which if the book had them, I might have rated it higher — it could never be 5 stars with the SA on page unless it had been discussed in book and actually like spoken about as SA.
But I loved all the characters, and I was extremely invested in them. I really did care for all of them, I’m a Stormy stan for sure. I wish I could give this more stars but my conscience will not allow. I finished it hours ago and can’t stop thinking about it and even considering purchasing the audio and listening to
It. I really did love the characters and story itself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Child death
Minor spoilers in review but nothing of plot or character developmenthq_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-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
3.5
This is an enemies to lovers, second chance romance. Although this book is fast-paced, it is loooong. It’s equally sexy and equally heartbreaking and I thought A. Jade did a great job of writing Lennon’s emotional pain and Phoenix’s self-destructive personality. There were times in really felt the pangs of heartache.
More than just a romance, this book also covers difficult and emotional topics such as grief, addiction, drug use, death, bullying, fat shaming and dementia. I definitely feel these topics are handled well by the author and are relevant to the story, but do check the trigger warnings.
This book gets pretty spicy at times and the sexual tension between the characters is excellent. Although I liked the romantic story, there are elements about their relationship that some will find very toxic - Phoenix is the definition of a flawed and morally grey character. He’s controlling and manipulative at times so if you find that triggering, you have been warned.
At times I found Phoenix unlikeable and completely toxic which then made me question Lennon’s logic. When reading romances, I love a strong female character but it frustrates me how easily Lennon gave in to Phoenix’s charm at times, especially after everything he’d done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse and Infidelity