Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Love of My Next Life

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Love of My Next Life by Brit Benson

2 reviews

shaykay's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

This one was such a doozy. I couldn't help but root for Macon and Lennon. I hated how things kept getting in the way, and they had almost all the odds against them. By the end of this book, things are flipped upside down compared to where we first started this book. So Macon is the bad boy/best friend's older brother while Lennon is a kind of a sheltered good girl whose father is hardly around due to his job, but he lets her stay home for weeks/months on her own. Sometimes, she would stay at her best friend's house so she wouldn't be alone. Now, this friendship was always a little toxic. She always had to have everything her way and would make Lennon bend over backward. But Lennon would take it. The only thing she really stood her ground on was Macon, and even then, she lied for most of the book and only came clean after they got caught. By this point, her dad had married his mom, so now they're like step-siblings. The book goes through many tropes and, unfortunately, ends on a cliffhanger, but it does get answered in the next book.

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amanda_reads13's review

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challenging emotional sad fast-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

5.0

Wow, this was an emotional rollercoaster. Be prepared to be broken down and cry, a lot.

Lennon and Macon are toxic. Their love is complicated and messy. They are drawn to each other and leave a path of pain and hurt in their trail. This book is angsty, heartbreaking, and filled with emotion. I felt so frustrated reading this book, but in a good way.

I really liked how this book addressed addiction from all different angles; both the boy suffering and those who loved him. It was interesting to see the different way the characters dealt with it.

Lennon was a sweet and naive people pleaser. All she wanted to do was make sure that everyone else was happy. She had a plan for her life, a plan that her father approved of. She endured something seriously horrible as a kid and has repressed everything out of fear of losing those she loves.
So, she never stirred the pot or made waves.

At a young age she found her mother after she had committed suicide.

Unfortunately, her people pleasing attitude wound up causing her to allow everyone to walk all over her, including her asshole bestie. Ya, I hate Claire.

Macon is angry at the world. He treats everyone like crap and with a general disgust. Yet, he has secretly been harbouring feelings for his sister's best friend. He plays mind games with her and loves to make her mad. He has also had an incredibly traumatic childhood.

His father was abusive to him as a child. He was an addict, trying to remain numb to the world.

He has been brushed off by everyone as being trouble or not worth anything. Even his sister slings horrible insults at him. No wonder he is the way he is. My heart broke for him.

Lennon, being a innocent teenager, believed she could change Macon, that she could fix him. I just wanted to grab her and scream "you cannot fix him!". My heart aches for these two. They were so alike in so many ways, they just reacted to their trauma in two very different ways. In the end they broke each other.

I cannot wait for the second part. I have so many questions I need answered.

Tropes: enemies to lovers, bad boy/good girl, forbidden love, high school, best friends brother

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