aleclghtwood's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Why would an author take such heavy themes like rape and domestic abuse and simply decide not to deepen the subject or raise awareness, but to use as a tool to character development, like they need to have that experience to be who they are today? And even that is made poorly. And talking about character development: the only two characters in the book that she gave a personality are the main ones, the other ones are just shallow as this book as a whole - Justin, who is the main catalyst for everything in the beginning, is totally forgotten at some point, even with all the hints about his shady personality and potential he had for the overral plot. Hannah is the worst, she spends most of the first half of the book claiming that she's soooo not like other girls (istg she actually says the words at some point) because she's not interested in many guys and thinking that other girls are whores for it. Garret is actually a nice guy if you excuse the way he thinks how men and women relationships work in the first chapters, but Hannah and the narrative treats him like some sort of savior and I think it's disturbing when we are talking about a rape victim. She's not a strong female character when she needs to degrade other women to feel better about herself and needs the help of a man to overcome a trauma. And about the domestic violence, it was written a little better, but when Garret I understand why we would like this book when it was released in 2015, but right now? I thought we're over the pick me trope, disappointed to see we aren't. The only thing I hope could be good were the smut scenes, but not even that, they're just a few and not satisfying. I started this book with low expectations, but it was worse than I thought, hope I never read Elle Kennedy again.
Spoiler
sees that Cindy is a victim, he tells that "it's not his place to intervene"??? WHAT THE FUCK??? It felt so ooc after everything his mother and him went through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Blood, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Terminal illness
Minor: Grief
vj_thompson's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Cursing, Misogyny, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Sexism
Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Drug use, Bullying, Mental illness, and Blood
lilyyyy_b's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Alcohol, Child abuse, Sexism, Blood, Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Body horror, Grief, Medical content, and Rape
Spoiler
one character (Hannah) was raped and doesnt like drinking in public as doesnt trust she wont get raped again. the other main character (Garrett) looks after her drinks to make sure shes ok. she went to therapy afterwards, also sees someone who testified against her saying shed given consent.remykinz's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Sexism
chloecarr's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, and Physical abuse
biloser99's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- 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
1.75
while the fmc & mmc had chemistry and banter, it was not enough to make up for all the ways this book falls short. alongside some of the basic gender essentialism in romance, there is also a ton lf misogyny from both male and female characters alike. honestly the internalized misogyny was stronger if anything. the book handles SA, domestic violence, and sexual dysfunction pretty poorly, in way that is frankly insulting throughout. this book tries to be something it isn’t, an empowering story of a woman falling in love and gaining sexual power after SA, but frankly the author wasn’t ready to tackle these topics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Child abuse
girlgetsbook's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This is the worst book I've ever read and I feel like I lost all my brain cells reading it, it's just full to the brim with misogyny and sexism and there's even a sprinkle of homophobia there as well, and to make matters worse most of the misogyny comes from the main female character, she just constantly is putting other women down, being a not like other girls girl and playing into harmful and sexist stereotypes. Aside from that the writing was like the worst wattpad fanfiction you could find, I'm convinced people who recommend this are joking about liking it because there's no way this book is so beloved by so many people, let alone by women. It has some heavy topics sprinkled out that no one warned me about and it really is jarring to see them in the story in juxtaposition with the silly writing that tries to be sexy all the time. Overall I had more fun reading through my notes (because I've spent three months reading this book) than actually reading the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Homophobia
adinadragos's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
A colossal waste of time full of casual misogyny, slut-shaming and flat characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Physical abuse, Body shaming, and Misogyny
jelavision's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
Certain parts of the book I enjoyed while other parts I disliked. I think the author did a well enough job with the heavier topics in the book. Other parts, like the constant sexist comments, I hated. Hannah and Garrett had great bantering chemistry, which made me root for them. I felt the book had a stronger start and middle but ended lacklusterly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexism
Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
chrstnlvly's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don't know how you ever lived without them.
I started reading an e-book copy of this book around a year ago. Around the 80% mark, I couldn't finish it since I was enjoying it too much I wanted to read a physical copy. So I stopped. Last Christmas, my husband gifted me the entire off-campus series so I was really excited to read (and finish) it again.
I still love Garrett. He's still my book boyfriend even after reading a lot of romance books last year. You can't deny he had some character improvement (or at least he was on his way to becoming a better man) by the end of the book. As for Hannah, she was still a meh character for me mainly because she was a pushover.
It was a refreshing and enjoyable read. You can breeze through this book since the writing was easy to understand (perfect for those whose English is not their first language). EK knows how to make you swoon... and she definitely knows how to write smut.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexism, and Rape
Moderate: Sexual assault