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readundancies's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This was a bit of a mediocre romance read for me, but not for the same reasons that I’ve seen a lot of other reviews giving as to why this maybe wasn’t their favourite.
A lot of these reviews seem to focus on demeaning Colin as a character and romantic lead. Now, did I love the man? No. Do I think he’s as horrible as some people are making him out to be? Also no. I think he’s pretty mediocre if anything, from his poor way of handling stress, conflict and shitty situations to his ridiculous attempts at begging for forgiveness. But he was at least trying and making an effort and that deserves some commendation because the attempts matter.
Instead, I had more issues with Allison and basically every single character relationship she was involved in. Her friendship with Sophie was not addressed in any meaningful manner when it came to their conflict throughout the novel. Her friendship with Mandy was not explored enough at all for me to believe it was anything more than superficial. Her relationship with her father was deplorable if understandable, and her relationship with her mother grated on my nerves because there was such a lack of communication between her and the literal rest of the world. She didn’t communicate well at all except with Wendy, her supervisor at the Claymore and I was very much bothered by her. I kept waiting for some level of character growth but nothing that happened by the end of the story showed that she grew as an individual, only that other characters were forcing her to change her opinions or ways. Her representation as a plus-sized MC was the best part about her and is the only thing I didn’t find lacking in her character.
The ending also felt rushed and I don’t think enough of the conflict outside of Allison’s romantic rendezvous with Colin was addressed or resolved in a way that felt natural or complete. Everything ties up neatly because the author finagles it to be so; there’s no finesse, just the reader being told things are fine now instead of being shown through the characters and their altered relationship dynamics. The change stems from the side characters not the main ones and it just made me wonder what was the point of reading about characters who don’t come into their own when I could be learning the stories of the much more interesting supporting cast?
And it’s a shame because the writing itself is good. The main plot works well, the pacing was solid, and the academic focus of graduate school was working for me and is what drew me to the story in the first place. But the two lead characters are just such a mess and so wrapped up in their second chance third chance romance that of course they find their way back to another, they’d be toxic for anyone else.
This also wasn’t that steamy. Like I wanted a bit more from that front, especially because the Scrabble game promised steam and it was more like a cold fog if anything.
And yeah. All in all, this wasn’t a bad story by any means but it didn’t have much of an impact and I wanted to like it a lot more than I actually did.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse
kbairbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
3.5
A huge thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for this arc (in exchange for an honest review).
I don’t think I’ve read a college academic rivals to lovers before and that paired with the second chance romance concept was fun! I will say one of the events that happened in the book really knocked me off kilter and I was actively rooting against the male love interest for a while before that was cleared up for me. There is fat phobia in this book and a really terrible father figure as well as a very unsupportive mother which is very triggering but the female main character never had those feelings about herself that I can recall so there is that. I felt very satisfied at the end of the book and find it comical how strong my feelings were during the read. Lovely debut from this author and I look forward to more!
I don’t think I’ve read a college academic rivals to lovers before and that paired with the second chance romance concept was fun! I will say one of the events that happened in the book really knocked me off kilter and I was actively rooting against the male love interest for a while before that was cleared up for me. There is fat phobia in this book and a really terrible father figure as well as a very unsupportive mother which is very triggering but the female main character never had those feelings about herself that I can recall so there is that. I felt very satisfied at the end of the book and find it comical how strong my feelings were during the read. Lovely debut from this author and I look forward to more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Dementia, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcohol
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