Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Kiss Quotient

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

25 reviews

annaonthepage's review against another edition

The boundary pushing in the main couple's dynamic went too far for me at this point.

The protagonist is mildly sexually assaulted by a colleague and the love interest's response is to push himself on her to re-mark his territory, which is frankly disgusting and unforgivably harmful.

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jerbarger's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

My expectations were really high because of the hype around this book… let me be the first to say that it’s FINE, it’s not AMAZING like I have been led to believe. First of all, there was not enough tension. Most of the problems stemmed from lack of communication- which I suppose is a trait of autism BUT that can’t be the biggest problem for a story to work! They just needed to talk for 97% of the book and everything would work itself out. Secondly, if you made Stella neurotypical, this would be just like any other bad 90s romcom where the nerdy girl is just absolutely perfect at everything and there are no issues. Which btw, is actually so unrealistic and honestly a bit harmful toward women, ESPECIALLY neurodivergent women, who ~most of the time~ will not have an easy go at it like Stella does. The biggest problem at the end of the day is that there just aren’t enough romcoms or even fiction about women with autism, so when your limited options are not all perfect, then it becomes a bummer and it’s easier to see the flaws. Sure, autistic women deserve to see themselves represented in a romcom- but at what cost when it’s one of the only ones available?

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relin's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed the way the author played with tropes and allowed these characters to grow. I was a little put off by the jealousy / manly man / kinda controlling part there for a bit with the MMC, but they seem to get to a beautiful place at the end. It was weird that the MMC had that phase, it wasn't something I was expecting going in with these characters. The family building and the interactions were very nice and really neat to see. And having an autistic FMC was really lovely.

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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

Writing: 3.5⭐️/5

The writing shined at certain moments and at others, it felt forced and trope-driven. The dialogue suffered at moments as well, reading more like strained conversations than natural communication. That being said, some moments were very well written and kept me engaged until the end.

Characters: 3.75⭐️/5

I loved the inclusion of a woman with autism as the main love interest. The slow reveal of her autism felt nice as well, as the readers become comfortable with her “quirks” rather than just as a woman with autism. I think, while the main characters were intriguing, they did lack a bit of human quality to make them fully believable.

Plot: 3.5⭐️/5

The plot was fun, as long as you don’t think too hard about certain aspects. I felt the backstory of Michael’s dad was both withheld for far too long and also less significant than all the foreshadowing seemed to imply it would be. I did, however, love the handling of the fake dating trope, even if it started from a slightly ridiculous spot.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of romance novels with a bit of heat
Those looking for a romance novel with a unique narrator

Content Warnings?

Sexual content, ableism, sexual harassment, toxic relationship, toxic friendship,

Post-Reading Rating: 4⭐️/5

Very fun to read.

Final Rating: 3.5⭐️/5

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jazzseeks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.75

I am not a fan of contemporary romance usually but this is certainly the best one I've ever read. What I really loved was how relatable the Main Character was as a woman with Autism and how much <Michael loved her for the ways she was unique and not inspite of who she is>. I found the romance believable, funny, and deeply enjoyable. <Michaels family is lovely.> The only things I didn't like were how horrible a lot of the tertiary characters were such as the parents, the coworkers, the ex clients. Those parts were painful to get through and didn't always feel vital to the story or characters development. Also Helen Hoang is really pro-capitalist and I'm never into that though I enjoyed flipping the trope so that the Woman had the money.

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