bbygirl21's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was an amazing read. I don't know why I took so long to start this series, but it was a great start to the series. I started reading it and I just couldn't stop until I finished it. All of the characters are amazing, aside from Garrett's dad and the guys who hurt Hannah a a couple other characters as well. But the characters from the two main friend groups are all amazing and I loved them.
I now understand all the hype surrounding Garrett Graham. He's one of the sweetest characters I've ever read about. I love how sweet, gentle, and patient he is when it comes to Hannah. And he and Hannah are just so cute together. I couldn't get enough of them.
Their friends are just hilarious as well. I honestly can't wait to get into their stories. I'm really looking forward to Logan's story and Dean's story(and Tucker's but mostly Logan and Dean's stories for now since so far they showed up more than Tucker did).
So I'd definitely highly recommend this book. And I'm excited to get into the next one.
I now understand all the hype surrounding Garrett Graham. He's one of the sweetest characters I've ever read about. I love how sweet, gentle, and patient he is when it comes to Hannah. And he and Hannah are just so cute together. I couldn't get enough of them.
Their friends are just hilarious as well. I honestly can't wait to get into their stories. I'm really looking forward to Logan's story and Dean's story(and Tucker's but mostly Logan and Dean's stories for now since so far they showed up more than Tucker did).
So I'd definitely highly recommend this book. And I'm excited to get into the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Drug abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
ellie_girl2929's review against another edition
funny
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
5.0
This was one of the only books that I’ve read so much in one sitting. I love the storyline and there is a perfect amount of drama. I was rooting for this couple since the the very start. This book definitely lives up to its reputation being big on social media and can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Rape, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol and Child abuse
carlapastor's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
So three main points:
1) I didn't know this was so smutty. If I had know I would have not read this, probably. But like, that's totally on me because why would this have that kind of cover if it wasn't smutty and why did I not read if it had spice.
2) She's so petite small but busty shy but sarcastic smart and funny but no one likes her omg. Such a Y/N character honestly, lacks sooo much depth. Literally the main points of this was that she had big tits and was sarcastic (and she wasn't even that sarcastic).
3) Literally it's so funny how it tried to fill the diverse cast part because it was made very clear that the Jae guy was Korean if you couldn't tell by his name (yay! he appeared more than once, so good for you author) and the black friend who of course was huge and black (did you know he was black?).
The .25 stars come from getting me out of not reading s lot, because it did well its job, and the 1 point comes from the multiple mentions to Ryan Gosling, which I approve (of course the main character doesn't like him because she's soooo different)
1) I didn't know this was so smutty. If I had know I would have not read this, probably. But like, that's totally on me because why would this have that kind of cover if it wasn't smutty and why did I not read if it had spice.
2) She's so petite small but busty shy but sarcastic smart and funny but no one likes her omg. Such a Y/N character honestly, lacks sooo much depth. Literally the main points of this was that she had big tits and was sarcastic (and she wasn't even that sarcastic).
3) Literally it's so funny how it tried to fill the diverse cast part because it was made very clear that the Jae guy was Korean if you couldn't tell by his name (yay! he appeared more than once, so good for you author) and the black friend who of course was huge and black (did you know he was black?).
The .25 stars come from getting me out of not reading s lot, because it did well its job, and the 1 point comes from the multiple mentions to Ryan Gosling, which I approve (of course the main character doesn't like him because she's soooo different)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, and Drug use
faith99's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual content
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Death of parent
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
kerrythefire's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
Garrett is just good.
*a rounded up 4⭐. Probably about a 3.85 or 3.9...
Good pacing and I appreciated that the tension and conflict was kinda built in throughout versus one major conflict point. Every time the story set up a potential conflict that could have really blown up, I appreciated that it... didn't. And that it often was resolved pretty quickly... and often just by the MCs communicating. Love me some good communication.
I think what I liked so much was that Hannah and Garrett felt like they had a healthy, respectful relationship. There was nothing toxic about it. From their first meeting to their HEA/HFN at the end of the book.
This book was consistently heavy, though. I knew if dealt with some heavy topics (>!rape, domestic abuse!<) but they were a lot more prominent than I'd expected. Not on the page events, but lots of discussion. That's not to say there weren't fun, lighthearted parts too... it was just more blue than I was expecting.
I didn't love to Logan-Hannah element and set up for the next book :/ Nervous to read the next book because I don't want to dwell in that space for too long.
But all in all, this was sweet. A sweet love story with sweet, loveable characters... and actually really sweet sex scenes.
*a rounded up 4⭐. Probably about a 3.85 or 3.9...
Good pacing and I appreciated that the tension and conflict was kinda built in throughout versus one major conflict point. Every time the story set up a potential conflict that could have really blown up, I appreciated that it... didn't. And that it often was resolved pretty quickly... and often just by the MCs communicating. Love me some good communication.
I think what I liked so much was that Hannah and Garrett felt like they had a healthy, respectful relationship. There was nothing toxic about it. From their first meeting to their HEA/HFN at the end of the book.
This book was consistently heavy, though. I knew if dealt with some heavy topics (>!rape, domestic abuse!<) but they were a lot more prominent than I'd expected. Not on the page events, but lots of discussion. That's not to say there weren't fun, lighthearted parts too... it was just more blue than I was expecting.
I didn't love to Logan-Hannah element and set up for the next book :/ Nervous to read the next book because I don't want to dwell in that space for too long.
But all in all, this was sweet. A sweet love story with sweet, loveable characters... and actually really sweet sex scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse
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
emilyfrenchie's review against another edition
inspiring
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Violence, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol
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.m3lina_777's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
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? N/A
2.5
miscommunication, horrifyingly 2014 outfits and super fanficy. It was very similar to icebreaker by hannah grace, but just done much worse.
‘She’s so tiny and he’s so big’ trope runs this book along with the ‘she’s not like the other girls’. Misogynistic from both ends and just so fucking cringey
Here are some excerpts that stood out to me (not in a good way):
"girls who bat their eyelashes and thrust their boobs out to get attention."
"If only the rest of the female population was as smart as I am"
"Woman aren't supposed to think. Thats why your brains are smaller. Science Proves it."
and possibly the most painful one "Big penises and small penises and penis-shaped penises"
Also this may be a small spoiler (it’s revealed in the third chapter) but rape is one of the main focal points of the book and not in a good, educational, preventative type of way… a very using trauma as a plot point with little resolution or realism to victims type of way.. I didn’t find it super triggering because most of it is pretty broad but if you went through a similar situation it very easily could be triggering. Stay safe <33
‘She’s so tiny and he’s so big’ trope runs this book along with the ‘she’s not like the other girls’. Misogynistic from both ends and just so fucking cringey
Here are some excerpts that stood out to me (not in a good way):
"girls who bat their eyelashes and thrust their boobs out to get attention."
"If only the rest of the female population was as smart as I am"
"Woman aren't supposed to think. Thats why your brains are smaller. Science Proves it."
and possibly the most painful one "Big penises and small penises and penis-shaped penises"
Also this may be a small spoiler (it’s revealed in the third chapter) but rape is one of the main focal points of the book and not in a good, educational, preventative type of way… a very using trauma as a plot point with little resolution or realism to victims type of way.. I didn’t find it super triggering because most of it is pretty broad but if you went through a similar situation it very easily could be triggering. Stay safe <33
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Alcohol
Minor: Rape