ollie_again's review against another edition
2.75
One of the most prominent offenders is the body shaming. In this book it is constant from the beginning until the end. You hear about chubby Jasmine, fat Jasmine, cheat-day-every-day Jasmine, chunky Jasmine, Ivan's heaviest partner etc. And that is from Jasmine herself, *the love interest* Ivan, Jasmine’s family… basically everyone at some point talks shit about Jasmine’s body. Mostly veiled as jokes and if it happened couple of times, I could get over it, but it was all the time. I understand that talking about bodies in context of being professional athletes is realistic, but it was not just that. Example being that Jasmine has small boobs mentioned several times, her family laughing about her not hitting puberty with--at that point a guy who she did not like (and said so to her family)--, and my “favourite” was her start-sex-scene-thought:
“I’ve never been happier that from the moment Mom had given me permission to shave—right after I’d hit puberty and hair grown in everywhere—that she’d stressed how important it was to do it every day.”
Another thing that bothered me is the plot line involving stalking. Sexual harassment over internet which never gets resolved.
Spoiler
Ivan finds out, gets protective and pissed off at Jasmine about it for some reason too... aaaand it isn’t talked about again. Why include it at all if there is no proper follow up?“I’d never tell Ivan, but it hurts. At first.”
Like… why? Why would you not mention a discomfort to your sexual partner? It such a minor thing but it took me out of the scene completely. It could be written in million other ways without mentioning of *not-mentioning* it.
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, Stalking, and Misogyny
britt33's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Fatphobia and Body shaming
Moderate: Car accident, Abandonment, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
Minor: Racism, Abandonment, Ableism, and Pregnancy
beckyyreadss'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
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Minor: Car accident and Bullying
kirstenpod_'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 harassment, Cursing, and Sexual content
Moderate: Body shaming, Stalking, Fatphobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident
meret00's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Bullying, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Stalking
vtorres's review
4.25
Spoiler
I was sooo mad at the whole family arc. They are so unsupportive. Like sure they say they are and they say they love her but rarely stand up for her to people who are bad to her aka the dad. Like how can you let someone say that to your daughter/ sister? BulllAnd also like I get the love bullying but they took it too far spectacularly with the fat thing like seriously
Graphic: Stalking and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse and Fatphobia
Minor: Abandonment
vereadsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ivan is so cute and sweet! I don't know why Jasmine thought he hated her. The guy is SO in love with her. Jasmine is pure fire and so stubborn. Also, she is super childish. I didn't believe she was 26 years old. I found her annoying, and I didn't like her constantly cursing. But I like her complexity. She felt more rounded than Ivan.
Jasmine has an incredible family. They support her no matter what.
Spoiler
It was strange that she didn't tell them about the harassment she was experiencing on her social media. Also, I didn't like how the author handled Jasmine's learning disability.I really like Jasmine and Ivan's dynamic as friends. I don't know if I was fully convincing about them being a romantic couple. Perhaps the slow burn was too slow for me. Although the sexual tension was there, it was so little that most of the time; I saw them as non-sexual partners.
Ivan chooses the most awkward time to say I love you. He could admit his feeling in another moment. That scene felt weird. Also, the last couple of pages wrap up everything so fast that I didn't have time to process it. It felt rushed.
I love ice skating! I was ready to see a savage competition and both characters killing themself training. I was expecting something like The Cutting edges or Spinning out. We got to see some of their training, and Jasmine told us the pros and cons of their ice skating. But I want more ice skating and less naked photoshoot or vomit! I mean, what was the point of the naked photoshoot?
Graphic: Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Stalking
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Bullying and Car accident
breatheinbooks's review
- 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
However, the book could have more successfully been this long if about 100 pgs of them bickering and blinking would have been spent on them falling in love and Jasmine softening. One more epic spicy scene and it would have been perfection, actually. I also caught myself losing patience with Jasmine’s repetitive and lengthy internal dialog. Because it’s so long and the character development stalls in the middle, I don’t think I would read this again, and that means it’s not a 4.0+ for my personal rating scale.
If you love contemporary romance though, it will be hard to dislike this book. Heartstrings will be plucked. Tears might be shed. But I’m not sure if the hype is quite there like the ratings would lead you to believe,l.
Minor: Stalking and Sexual harassment
thiamoorhouse's review
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Sexual harassment
hannibanani29'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Stalking, Cursing, and Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, and Medical content
Minor: Bullying, Vomit, Alcohol, Car accident, Ableism, Fatphobia, Racism, and Pregnancy