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greatexpectations77's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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
4.75
Omg. I loved this book. I'm going to be a total devotee of Ms. Whelan because she is a perfect writer of flirting. Which is very hard! It's one of those things that's hard to describe but you know it when you're participating. And she completely nailed the cool, but not too cool, kind of teasing, but not mean or negging, just blissful little conversations. Have I ever been in love with a romance counterpart like this character? I don't think so. What a GIFT. This would have gotten 5 stars, but I felt like it lost a little steam in the last about third. But I will be watching Ms. Whelan CLOSELY for the next book drop because I am HOOKED.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia and Sexual content
Moderate: Body shaming, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Medical content
Listen to the audiobook! Ms. Whelan is superb as a narrator.mimlleigh's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
slow-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
didireadthat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
5.0
Romance is a relatively new genre for me and sometimes I can't get over how cheesy some of the lines and smut scenes are that it usually breaks me out of the story and I will visibly roll my eyes. That feeling was exploited in the best way because the characters played off the cliches in their banter and it made it so much more funny to me while listening. Julia Whalen also did a great job with the accents and voice changes in a way it didn't feel overly fake and again playing off the fake voice as a key part of one of the characters added to the humor of the story. Swanee has her flaws (duh, part of the story) but I loved Nick all the way around. The part about Doug? the ex-boyfriend was a little underdeveloped and think could have been left out.
The "twist" is easy to spot but it made me so excited to see everything lead up to it and comes in the middle of the book so there is plenty of time for more drama and apologies. The overall plot was strong and though the romance was heavy, there were other subplots that talked about disabilities, familial relationships, friendships and other trials of life that keep the book thoroughly engaging.
The "twist" is easy to spot but it made me so excited to see everything lead up to it and comes in the middle of the book so there is plenty of time for more drama and apologies. The overall plot was strong and though the romance was heavy, there were other subplots that talked about disabilities, familial relationships, friendships and other trials of life that keep the book thoroughly engaging.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Dementia
Minor: Alcohol, Infidelity, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Addiction, and Cursing
lnzava's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail
alykate's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death, and Dementia
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Addiction, and Eating disorder
imstephtacular's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
I liked that this book was funny, full of tropes, and tackled some tough topics.
That said, I felt like it tried to do too much. 400 pages was too long for my liking and the meta-ness didn’t quite hit for me. I liked that it got into industry details. That was fascinating! But the “is this romance or is it women’s fiction” ended up feeling muddled for me overall
I liked the characters and the mixed media elements (texts, emails) but this one wasn’t a knockout for me personally
That said, I felt like it tried to do too much. 400 pages was too long for my liking and the meta-ness didn’t quite hit for me. I liked that it got into industry details. That was fascinating! But the “is this romance or is it women’s fiction” ended up feeling muddled for me overall
I liked the characters and the mixed media elements (texts, emails) but this one wasn’t a knockout for me personally
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Dementia
Moderate: Sexism, Grief, Racism, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Misogyny
Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Ableism, and Vomit
sunkissed_aidie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
5.0
This book was honestly so fun to go through, there were moments where I wanted to cry, scream and others where it had me giggling and kicking my feet. It was a fast read but still great nonetheless, it’s a simply romance book that was given a great twist in who the characters are and what they are going through, especially learning to be and love themselves before loving someone else. I loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Dementia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Body shaming, and Medical trauma
marleywrites's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.0
This book was great. I loved the author’s sense of humor and was really enjoying the banter between the main characters Nick and Sawanee. They were both so interesting and the author revealed little bits of them at a time which kept me intrigued the whole book.
I adored the side characters of this book. They were great supports for the story and kept the pace moving. All the scenes with the Seasons folks were hilarious. I loved the best friend characters.
This book was, on one hand, light hearted and fun. On the other, it also dealt realistically with working in an industry that’s toxic, an industry that takes more than it gives, and what it’s like to love someone with dementia. It was very much “the highs were high and the lows were low.”
I listened to this book on audiobook and I am loving the hype for it. I’m so glad people are falling in love with audiobooks because of this story! The author/narrator was incredible. What a performance!
I rated this four stars, because some parts of it I didn’t fully resonance with, but it’s more of a personal thing. The parts I liked, I really loved, and I hope that others enjoy this story with great disability representation as well.
I adored the side characters of this book. They were great supports for the story and kept the pace moving. All the scenes with the Seasons folks were hilarious. I loved the best friend characters.
This book was, on one hand, light hearted and fun. On the other, it also dealt realistically with working in an industry that’s toxic, an industry that takes more than it gives, and what it’s like to love someone with dementia. It was very much “the highs were high and the lows were low.”
I listened to this book on audiobook and I am loving the hype for it. I’m so glad people are falling in love with audiobooks because of this story! The author/narrator was incredible. What a performance!
I rated this four stars, because some parts of it I didn’t fully resonance with, but it’s more of a personal thing. The parts I liked, I really loved, and I hope that others enjoy this story with great disability representation as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, and Dementia
Moderate: Medical trauma, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Cursing, and Death
Minor: Blood and Alcoholism
cady_sass's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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
4.0
I am *very* picky about audiobooks, to the point that I know it’s unfair and illogical and so I tend to not listen to them at all, but I like Julia Whalen. A lot. I find her very talented and enjoyable to listen to. Now, bring me a book of written by an audiobook narrator ABOUT audiobook narrators and it seems only fair (and totally obvious) that it need to be consumed via audio. Right? So, of course, I did. Now please refer back to my comment about being unfairly judgmental and illogically picky about audiobooks and take my review with a grain of salt. I believe this book is good and if I had read it on page I would’ve loved it more, possibly. The characters are unique and flawed and diverse, the banter is funny and witty and cute. BUT…. But… you can tell an audiobook narrator wrote this. There are characters who exist solely for the purpose of the narrator [author] showing off her skills in accents. Which, for the record, is good (with the exception of the Bostonian ex boyfriend with the most horrendous Boston accent I’ve ever hear and take person offense to), but there’s no real reason for them. I also have mixed feelings about a white author writing about the plight of a black woman in Hollywood… but it does seem (to me, another white woman, to note) to be handled somewhat carefully. Just perhaps not her story to tell, again, as a white woman who was a former actress. I guess all this to say some of this felt inauthentic but it’s hard to parse that from what I HEARD and wish I would’ve just read the book 🤷🏻♀️ don’t come for me. I still gave it 4 stars!! There’s quality story here and a lot of fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Dementia, Sexual content, Racism, Suicide, Abandonment, Eating disorder, Self harm, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Drug use, and Suicide attempt
nadia's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
This started off real strong for me! I thought it was going to get at least 4⭐️.
But, somewhere along the way, it fell a little bit flat, some of the spark was lost, and it seemed to drag a little. Some parts felt a little too contrived, especially with regards to trying to create tension. I was rooting for the central relationship, but just didn't end up feeling as emotionally invested or as excited for it as I thought I'd be given the first third of the book.
Still, the cast of characters was super fun, heavy topics are dealt with incredibly well, there's a real clever "meta" nature to this book, and, especially given that, this is definitely one to go for on audio if that's a format you consume books in!
But, somewhere along the way, it fell a little bit flat, some of the spark was lost, and it seemed to drag a little. Some parts felt a little too contrived, especially with regards to trying to create tension. I was rooting for the central relationship, but just didn't end up feeling as emotionally invested or as excited for it as I thought I'd be given the first third of the book.
Still, the cast of characters was super fun, heavy topics are dealt with incredibly well, there's a real clever "meta" nature to this book, and, especially given that, this is definitely one to go for on audio if that's a format you consume books in!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders