Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Wanna Bet?

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Wanna Bet? by Talia Hibbert

48 reviews

nuhaabardien's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

3.0

A 3 or 3.5 rating

The premise was great, and some elements of the book were good, but a few things felt off me. SPOILERS BELOW

- The fact that Rahul is "partially" Muslim, and doesn't drink or gamble (both prohibited in Islam) but doesn't practice his religion otherwise made my head spin. It felt like a diversity add, and taking it out of the story wouldn't have changed anything about it. It feels a bit disrespectful to add Islam as part of the characters' background, but 1. He's not a good portrayal of a practising Muslim, and 2. He's not feeling any sort of guilt or struggle with his identity and feelings towards Islam if he's a non practicign Muslim. I'm not saying that Muslims can't be written in a real and raw way, with sins and mistakes, but if they are, having the characters feeling/ thinking about their struggle (or talking to their best friend of seven years about it) would make it feel less like Islam being portrayed in a bad way.
- I'm not a fan of the pining for 7 years. It feels a little dodgy when you're friends with someone, and they're around and have had feelings for you after all this time. When shit hit the fan, and he told her about his feelings, they didn't speak for TWO MONTHS. So he essentially stuck around, hoping she'd fall for him too one day? It gives me the ick.

I did enjoy a lot of the story. Things like

- The sex was hot and Rahul is all about a GOOD time. They connected with each other through a physical relationship, before things got emotional (at least for Jasmine, since Rahul was already in love with her)
- It was great to see them both dealing with parent relationships, death and abandonment and reaching for one another during those times.

This was my first Talia Hibbert book and I like her writing and characters so I indefinitely want to read more. I have the Brown Sisters books that I plan to read, but maybe this one just wasn't the right one for me

Content Warnings

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.0

I wanted to read this book because I am patiently waiting to hear about any of Talia’s new work. I decided to try and read some of her old work in the meantime and saw The Princess Trap all over the book community and it was released as part of a series even though the characters don’t interact with each other. I was interested to see if I can finish this series on a high and it didn’t live up to my standards. The Brown Sisters are just unbeatable.

This book has two points of view. The first is Jasmine Allen and she believes in bad luck, great wine and the seductive power of a stiletto heel. What she doesn’t believe in is love. Her life is great without all that romance rubbish, until a plumbing disaster screws everything up and leaves Jasmine homeless. Lucky she has someone to turn to: her best friend Rahul. The second point of view is Rahul Khan and for the last seven years, he has followed three simple rules. 1. Don’t touch Jasmine if you can help it. 2. Don’t look at her arse in that skirt. 3. Don’t ever – ever – tell Jasmine that you love her. He should’ve added another rule: do not, under any circumstances, let Jas move into your house. Now Rahul is living with the friend that he can’t have, and it’s decimating his control. He knows their shared dinners aren’t dates, the late-night kisses as a mistake, and the tenderness in Jasmine’s gaze is only temporary. One wrong word could send his skittish best friend running. So why is he tempted to risk it all?

As always with Talia’s book, I love how she manages to write diverse characters, serious subjects, sexuality and mental health. I love her for it. In this book we have a son who is grieving over his father and trying to be the head of the household and definitely some form of mental health issue with the control aspect. Then you have a daughter who had been abandoned by his mother, which in turns makes her not be able to trust anyone and she struggles to form friendships or relationships that she only uses people for sex and that sex is a transactional thing. I liked the fact that Jasmine wasn’t ashamed about the fact that she likes hook up and that sex is a healthy thing. I liked the character development that happened individually and the fact that Rahul was learning to ease control and to speak his mind and that Jasmine learned how to trust people and to also speak her mind.

Just like the other books in this series, I felt like it was a bit rushed compared to the Brown Sisters Series and I felt like Jasmine's attraction suddenly came out of nowhere once she slept with Rahul. I would like a bit more of a slow-burn especially with them living together. I would have loved for some jealously to be a part of it. Like Rahul is seen with someone and Jasmine gets jealous. But it’s all just came from Rahul being jealous over a bartender talking to Jasmine.

I will carry on reading Talia’s work old or new no matter what and hopefully I will enjoy the next series or book that I will read of hers.

Content Warnings

barnesbritt's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

wandering_seal's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny sad 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

5.0

Wow, what a delight this story is. I was unprepared for the amount of angst, the yearning, the knowing looks and the holding back and honestly, it's perfect. Such a good read.

I think this is my favourite Talia Hibbert book yet? Tonally it's a lot more serious than other books of hers I've read, and I appreciated that. Pining isn't always a healthy thing to do, and this story really explored that. Our MCs are not in a healthy place, and getting together isn't going to fix that. They heal because they learn to see themselves for who they really are, which allows them space to be with one another. Awesome book. Absolutely recommend.

Content Warnings