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fkshg8465's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I actually think 3 stars is generous of me. Her sister’s death doesn’t get really delved into even a little bit until chapter 22, yet this is the whole reason these two think they can’t or shouldn’t be together (this is not a spoiler - comes up almost immediately). There’s never an acknowledgement that there’s also the matter of workplace sexual harassment (he works for her!!!). The book would’ve been better if it dealt with her relationship with her sister and parents more instead of minimally in the last few chapters. Also needed to address Grant’s psyche more instead of just surface cover.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
penguins_save_lives's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Addiction, Death, and Alcohol
alfalky's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
strawberrymivvy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It took me a while to get into this book, which is not your typical rom-com in many ways. Helen comes from a first generation Chinese immigrant family, and has a difficult relationship with her parents. She's not sure her job as a YA writer is "good enough", even when the rights are bought to be made into a Netflix show and she has to fly to LA for 6 months to join the writers' room.
Helen is stunned to find one of her co-writers is Grant, who killer her sister more than ten years ago. Can she work with him? Can she keep the secret from her parents who would be destroyed by the knowledge?
This is more than just an enemies to lovers trope, touching on darker issues of suicide, familial responsibilities and more, and the characters really did feel well-developed, conflicted people.
Excited to see the writer's adaptation of the Emily Henry books on the screen, and an author I'm sure I'll read more of
Helen is stunned to find one of her co-writers is Grant, who killer her sister more than ten years ago. Can she work with him? Can she keep the secret from her parents who would be destroyed by the knowledge?
This is more than just an enemies to lovers trope, touching on darker issues of suicide, familial responsibilities and more, and the characters really did feel well-developed, conflicted people.
Excited to see the writer's adaptation of the Emily Henry books on the screen, and an author I'm sure I'll read more of
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, and Car accident
clairebartholomew549's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
I found this book incredibly well-written and moving, but I wouldn't exactly call it enjoyable to read. This is a heavy, sad, and tortured story, and there's not a lot of relief even in the "happy ending." That's of course the point - life is complicated, and the situation in this book is incredibly complicated - but it's a little more bittersweet than I usually prefer in my romance books. Then again, this isn't exactly a romance book so much as it's a story about living with extreme tragedy and figuring out how to make peace with old versions of yourself and of your parents' expectations of yourself. For pure enjoyment of this book I'd probably give it three stars, but I'm going with four stars because I did find it really powerful and thought-provoking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Car accident
anh_off's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Not a perfect book by any means. I thought they handled the complicated grief well. The romance.... I just didn't really understand why they fell for each other. But if I suspended my disbelief, it was fine. Helen's relationship with her parents also gave me pause, sure her mom wasn't great but it felt like Helen wasn't even trying to understand where they were coming from (literally), it was just woe is me, my parents don't hug me and never said I love you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Grief, and Car accident
Moderate: Drug use
katekatiekait's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Drug use
qgg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love romance stories that have older characters (both are 32), diverse characters (the FMC is first generation Chinese-American), and complicated (both go through trauma right before graduating high school). This book delivers all of that and more. The FMC is super smart, driven in her career, and makes new friends along the way. The MMC has panic attacks and realizes his coping strategies are crap.
This book happens to have one of the most romantic (to me) lines I’ve ever heard (though a bit of a spoiler) “…you don’t have to be completely healed to be everything I want.”
This book happens to have one of the most romantic (to me) lines I’ve ever heard (though a bit of a spoiler)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Car accident
beckyvh523's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Fun read to help get me out of my reading rut. The characters were not the most lovable and yet I couldn’t put this down! Kuang‘s writing is great in her debut.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Car accident
aubree_j's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol