Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

At First Spite by Olivia Dade

124 reviews

myweirdnormal's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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

4.0

This book wasn't bad, but the bath scene?????? Very weird. Super uncomfortable. I do not understand why it was in there. Honestly I would've given this book a 3 for that alone, but the window scene was everything I could have ever wanted. Amazing. 10/10. 

However....
 I wish the whole relationship between the brothers and Athena was thought out a bit better. I wish it had been that her fiance was cheating on her or emotionally abusive/manipulative or <i>something</i>and that's why his brother disapproved of the wedding. Then I could have been more on Matthew's side about pursuing her. But instead it reads like he broke them up, swooped in to woo her, and then acted like he did nothing wrong when Johnny finds out. Literally if my sibling did this I would never speak to them again. And I would be 100% justified. 
I just wished there had been a better reason for all of this because at the end I felt super bad for Johnny. Absolutely horrible for him, like he didn't deserve this. And I don't want to feel bad for him. I want to feel happy that Athena is now in a happy, healthy relationship, but I can't because it seems like she was in a happy, healthy relationship before and this guy manipulated his way in between them. I honestly don't think the whole reasoning as to why Johnny wasn't good for Athena was well written or made sense? It felt like the author just kinda shoehorned it in because she needed something to justify what Matthew did.
I don't know. The romance would've been perfect if that had been thought out better, and if the super weird bath scene hadn't been included. But again, THE WINDOW SCENE, wow. Amazing. I want to read it again just for that.
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dlsmk's review against another edition

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2.75

This book has so much potential but christ on a bike and mother mary on the handlebars these protagonists are both nearly hitting 40 and if I hear "professor google" non ironically ever again I may throw hands. It was mentioned so obnoxiously more often than it should have been. And dear god I can't even begin to tell you how poorly I feel the conversation and actions toward depression were handle (as a person with mdd and a whole host of other mental health realted disorders it just really pissed me off). I have other issues with this book but it took me an entire 3 weeks to complete a book that is relatively easy to get through. I think it put me in a slump for most of the month so I am done with it and finished talking about it. So much potential squandered. Ugh. 
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xtinareally's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

4.75

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ This was a hilarious and deep romance I didn't know what to expect but I'm so satisfied with what I got.   You get a wild plot set in the cute locale of Harlot's Bay with a rambunctious quirky cast. 

I may not ever (nor want to) be the filling in an open-faced Vine Bros sandwich, but
I was happy to find Athena and Matthew's relationship didn't feel as much of a triangle due to a separation of time and physical location from Johnny for a majority of the story.
I felt all the simmering emotions of what Athena was going through and recognized the signs of her struggles within myself. In the end I didn't realize how much therapy I would get and work through - for that's I am so grateful for picking up this book and getting a wealth of good quotes and motivation.
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bzliz's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

This book was like a mirror to the past, looking at myself in the true depths of clinical depression and not knowing how to climb out of that hole, and that made it rough to read at times. I teared up at multiple points which doesn’t happen to me often. If only my past self would’ve had a Matthew to help make everything feel a little more bearable, it might not have taken so long. 

The emotional weight is nicely balanced by bouts of silliness that take some of the edge off. Olivia Dade is so good at getting me to care about her characters. She even got me to feel for Johnny by the end. 

The only reason this wasn’t a five star read for me is that I wish there had been even more healing between the Vine brothers. I don’t believe Johnny fully grasped how much Matthew gave up to raise him and continue to support him after he was grown. 
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caitlin_d33's review against another edition

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emotional 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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scriptrix's review against another edition

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4.5

This romance was juicy and had some hilarious moments! Knocking off half a star just because of a couple things he did during her
depression episode
felt like borderline taking advantage of her. But overall I liked this one a lot.
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broomsticksandmagick's review

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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quackefron's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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uranaishi's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense 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? No

4.0

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blewballoon's review against another edition

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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

4.0

Olivia Dade has been on my list of authors to check out for a while, and now I'm looking forward to reading more! This book was a lot of fun. I did find that certain areas of dialogue or humor would have worked better if they had been trimmed a little, but that didn't take away from my overall enjoyment. This is for romance lovers who embrace the silliness of the genre. I think the audiobook narrator did an alright job, but I may have preferred reading the text myself in this case. 
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