Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Co-op

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Co-op by Tarah DeWitt, Tarah DeWitt

19 reviews

condls27's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective 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

Tarah DeWitt is a new to me author this year and I have devoured every single one of her books this one included. I love how she writes her characters, they feel so real. But in this book especially, I loved how imperfect they were. I live for tension and angst so I ate this up. She is god-tier auto-buy author for me.

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reading_historical_romance's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

5.0

As if I needed any more proof that Tarah DeWitt is really just out there writing the best contemporary romances one after another and another. We should be seeing her books on billboards. Her last book, Savor It, has been ranked in my Top 5 of 2024 and now it has a new bestie on that list.

Because writing and reading is ALWAYS political, I’m now going to be adding political themes and issues as part of each of my reviews, and I’m honored to start with The Co-Op!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️ (made me blush at one point 🥵 which is rare for me!)
💙🌎💙 Angry woman/female rage
💙🌎💙 Defying patriarchy
💙🌎💙 Lesbian joy and legacy
💙🌎💙 Anti-capitalism
💙🌎💙 Older adult visibility and caretaking

🛏️ Second chance + marriage of convenience

🚪 Forced proximity and while there is more than one bed, there are no doors 😂

🔥 Deacon is a 6’4” beach volleyball player and the most earnest and hottest of home reno Jonathan Scotts you can imagine. He loves dogs and they love him.

🖤 LaRynn is the fiercest, loyal protector of her humans and a 5’11” bad ass bitch

🌊 Santa Cruz, CA setting is its own character in the novel

🍆 Sex positive. The sex in all of Tarah’s novels is fun, affectionate, passionate, tender, and intimate, and it is no different in this one. It always belongs, flows organically into the narrative, and is true to the characters.

🌊 Grief and forgiveness

🌲Motion sickness is so real, folks. 💀

📚 THE EPILOGUE omg omg omg

Thank you SMP, NetGalley, and the author for the opportunity to read and review an eARC. But I absolutely bought a physical copy for my shelves of fame!

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booksalacarte's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The co-op

4.5⭐️3.25🌶️

Contemporary Romance

1st person

Dual POV

Second chance romance

marriage of convenience

Property Reno

Flashbacks

Tw: parental abandonment, emotional abuse, cursing, family death, parental infidelity

I adored Funny Feelings, so I was excited to read an ARC of The Co-Op.

Two kids who fell in love a decade ago meet again after loosing their grandmas. They are tossed together when they have a common goal of fixing up the duplex their grandma’s owned.

I found the story to be very charming. I loved the pacing and steadiness of the plot. The characters were solid and had great emotional arcs. The side characters were very cute.

I especially adored the epilogue.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

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carla20's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

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laurenlegends23's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book hit me straight in the feels. All of them. Every single one. The emotional growth that the characters go through, both in flashbacks as young adults, and in the present, is deep and complicated and wrought and fraught. Their love story is filled with angst and tension in almost equal measure to their top tier banter. The relationship feels so REAL. And because it is that, but still so joyful, it gave me a lot of hope. At one point in the story Deacon says “that wasn’t how I wanted to be loved” referring to a time when they weren’t ready for each other yet. But this book shows exactly how I want to be loved.

Even though we come from very different backgrounds, I felt very seen in LaRynn’s journey. There were sections of her inner monologue that I actually screenshot and saved because they captured a feeling I couldn’t put into words before. I’ll be forever grateful to Tarah DeWitt for doing it for me.

My only complaint is that I couldn’t quite settle on how my brain wanted to pronounce the name LaRynn and I couldn’t find an audio pronunciation guide online, so I guess I’ll just have to reread it as an audio book (oh darn…/s).

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teaand_tomes's review against another edition

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fast-paced

5.0

Thank you SMP Early Readers, St. Martin’s Griffin, and NetGalley for the free book!

The Co-Op might just be my favorite second chance romance ever! This story was absolutely wonderful. While it has moments of humor, it definitely leans toward the darker side of romcoms, dealing with real-world issues like depression, abandonment, verbal abuse, and profound grief. It’s raw, heartfelt, and utterly compelling.

I adored watching LaRynn and Deacon’s journey from former flames to reluctant partners, slowly learning to be vulnerable with each other in a way they couldn’t when they were younger. The renovation of their grandmothers’ house served as a perfect backdrop for their own emotional restoration. It was beautiful to see their friendship heal and evolve while they worked together to rebuild both the house and their relationship.

The brokenness they both carried felt so real, and I loved how they supported each other through it. The story captures many forms of love, from familial to romantic, and it does so with incredible depth. The steamy romance was the perfect cherry on top of this emotional journey. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a second chance romance that’s raw, real, and full of heart.

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samchase112's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

Oh wow, this exceeded my expectations! And I’m so so happy about it. I adored Deacon and LaRynn’s dynamic — cheers for a TRUE enemies to lovers! — and how they worked through their personal baggage together. The renovation plot was so much fun, I was genuinely sad by the prospect of them losing the house, and there wasn’t even a third-act conflict to ruin all their hard-earned progress. This was also so easy to fly through, because I didn’t want to stop reading. Another favorite added to the list!

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sdupont's review against another edition

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Unfortunately I could just not get into this story. I usually enjoy a dual timeline for a second chance romance but in this case I don’t feel like it added to the story. It often pulled me out of getting into a groove with the present tense. I found the characters bickering to be over the top at times. I wanted to like this book as I’ve enjoyed others by Tarah but this one was just not for me.

*I received the ARC for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

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bookedwithbonnie's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

They say love and construction don't mix.
By that logic, hate and construction may as well be condemned.

LaRynn and Deacon had one short and contentious summer fling when they were teens.

Certainly nothing to build a foundation on.
But a decade later, when their grandmothers have left them with shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building, they're thrust back together and have to figure out how to brace up the pieces.

This story had a slow start for me, at times LaRynn felt too mean for me but as soon as I picked up on it being a giant defense mechanism and we learned more of the back story, I just wanted to give her a giant hug! I love a second chance romance, and these two beautifully flawed characters deserved it! This marriage of convenience and forced proximity gave them the chance to finally be honest with one another and process the hurt they've been harboring for nearly a decade.

I do wish we had a touch more of the friendship with Elyse shown - for her being such an important part of LaRynn's life and the cafe being a major reason for things down the line, I wanted to feel more about why and how it was such a factor in the decision makings.

This book made me laugh and cry and cherish DeWitt's storytelling. I can't wait for her future books!

Thank you Tarah, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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bookscatsandtats's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad slow-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

2.5

Ugh. This one was a miss for me. The only conflict was a decade old miscommunication from a 19 & 20 year old. We spend 60% of this book with the characters just be so mean. Like so so toxic. When all they needed one apparently one conversation and then it was whiplash into spice. There was a lot of cliffnoting, like brief descriptions of weeks of time. It got very annoying after while. Even the flashback chapters seemed to not really do much for the story line. At no point in the first 60% of the book was a cheering for the characters to work through things and get together, so when they did I was not invested at all. They went for zero to 60 way to fast.

I got this ARC from NetGalley and this is my honest review.

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