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cristineconey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy
jotheblackbookworm's review against another edition
Four years on from the death of her beloved husband Eric, Sloane is doing her best to keep on living, but the life she's leading is one that excludes romance. Why? Because all of that died when Eric died. Despite having a close relationship with Eric's mum & twin sister, Sloane doesn't have a relationship with Eric's best friend, Dominic. For as long as Sloane can remember, Dominic has hated her. Well, so she thinks... Unbeknownst to her, Dominic has "loved" her since the very first time her met her. Will Dominic's secret be revealed during the course of their new budding friendship?
I for one don't know as I DNF'd this book at 268 pages. I originally wanted to DNF @ page 3 but I felt I owed it to my Book Club Sisters to try a lil harder than that. But then I realised that I wasn't put on this earth to suffer through a Pandemic, various lockdowns, recessions, cost of living crises, to still end up torturing myself with a book that is not serving me any purpose.
If there were any positives that I did take away from this book, it was the exploration of grief. I will be honest and say that I did like the stance that the author took on grief through Sloanes character. The way in which Sloanes's mother attempted to minimise & trivialise her grief was bottom of the barrell, but it did make me think that sometimes even with the best of intentions we sometimes put time restrictions on grief. Whilst life does indeed go on, so does our grief.
Asides from the above, I do not think that this book should be labelled as "Black Love", the behaviours displayed by Dominic became increasingly concerning to me whilst reading. He didn't appear to be in love, he came across as possessive & obsessive. He categorically gave me the ick & ruined what could have been a good book.
I found the plot flimsy. A lot of words being used, with no overall importance.
⚠️ If you do proceed to read this book, please err on the side of caution as this book makes reference to: Death, Grief, Cancer & Miscarriage.
💫
Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Grief
tddaffin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Miscarriage
Minor: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Sexual harassment
shanaetheflyest's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
bootylicious's review against another edition
- 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
This is officially a Dominic Stan account btw that man can do anything he wants to me slut me out dom <3
Anywayyyyyy, I’m a huge fan of the authors ability to express the emotion of these characters so well. I was truly pulled into the characters perspective and it’s all due to the authors amazing writing skill.
Also ms sloane’s mom can catch some hands disrespectfullyyyyy because her behavior was INEXCUSABLE!!!! She was so mean and constantly bullying her daughter and I know sloan found her father to be a person of comfort/protection but at some point he should step in more sternly there’s NO reason for that woman to say these mean things TO her grieving daughter wtf.
My only reason for book rating being a bit lower is because it was dragged out a bit. I read this on kindle and I saw on tiktok how thickkkk that book was and it’s a bit much — perhaps some of the sex scenes could of been condensed ??!¿
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Grief
btchqueen's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Death of parent
bookwormbullet's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Car accident
azariamckay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Car accident
Minor: Miscarriage and Terminal illness
gabichatslit's review against another edition
- 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
The way Dom loves Sloane and sees/understands her!? Their intimacy?! How they can read each other in a way that comes with categorizing all the minute details of the other person… That is the way I wish to be loved. Also the way he never made her feel bad about the love she still carried with her for Eric. How reassuring he was during her moments of grief. How he was always her avenging angel. Dom just rewrote all my standards lol
All I can hear in my head rn is “To Be Loved” by Adele and honestly, I think that is such an accurate representation of their love.
This is easily in my top 5 of 2022 and idk if I’ll ever be over it. Not to mention he pulled a Derek Shepherd!?!!!!! I just really love them lol and I hope book 2 gives us Chris and Mal’s story bc the way he calls her princess makes me feel some kind of way lol
Fave Quotes (below)
- “Eric was my better half, but Dom is the mirror image of my soul.”
- “And he’d done it quietly, carefully, and at a great cost to himself because he knew there was no hope in finding the piece of my heart I’d lost four years ago… so he gave me pieces of his instead.”
Thank you @literarylomii for another mind blowing recommendation.
Started 02/09; Finished 02/11
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Miscarriage and Car accident
thefatpaperback's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism and Homophobia
There’s a joke/comment about diabetes that happens once in the book, hence the ableism CW.