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caitsamermaid's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Grief, Outing, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Deportation
sakeriver's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Homophobia and Outing
Minor: Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
maybreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
“i saw her at the devils sacrament!!!” girl… what were YOU doing at the devils sacrament 👀
I spent formative years on tumblr and I suspect Casey did too.
My issues with this book are very related to the political narratives within. It feels like wish fulfillment. It feels naive. It feels a bit cringe.
Imagine instead of 2016 it's the 2020 election when Trump emerges.
You can't do escapism but the political commentary is soooo on the nose and wish fulfillmenty that you're also not reading something that has any real merit (in my opinion). Maybe some people do enjoy a fictionalized Trump as a villain in their gay escapism romance... I just rolled my eyes everytime that plotline showed itself.
Back to the romance. Henry and Alex work. They have banter, the have chemistry. They vibe very fast tbh and then it's just waiting for them to realize that they actually do have feelings beyond fwb. Enjoyable.
I'd recommend this to someone who can handle the cringe vibe of the politics.
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Drug abuse and Death of parent
whenskiesaregrey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
While at times this novel appeared cheesy or overzealous and too idealistic on the real hate and obstacles that queer people face, it was still a charming read full of optimism.
I only wish the other supporting characters were more deeply explored! I felt they were relatively flat and one note in comparison to our main love interests.
Graphic: Sexual content and Outing
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Drug abuse and Sexual harassment
sshaw86's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Homophobia, Death of parent, and Outing
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Sexual assault
infusionofviolets's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Death of parent, Outing, and Sexual harassment
skyturtles's review against another edition
- 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
There are some many good one-liners, and I LOVE the banter. This is the future we could have had post-2016 but y'all just had to go and vote for Trump. Can't wait to watch the movie (I have read literally zero reviews on it so I have no idea if it flopped or what).
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Minor: Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual harassment
chaneoosthuizen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Biphobia and Homophobia
Minor: Drug abuse
azileotulp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
First big issue: POV. I genuinely cannot fathom why this book was written in the third person. Don't get me wrong, I can really appreciate a third person book (although I typically prefer first person). In fact, two of my favorite books of all time are in the third person. However, it just did not work in this book. I just feel like third person perspectives in romances don't work for me at all. (Do you know how many times I had to read the words "Alex" and "Henry" on each page because the word "he" couldn't be used?) I think the novel would have worked a lot better and been easier to get into if it had been in the first person. It would be even better if it had been dual POV. I'm not just saying that because I love a good dual POV book, but I think it also would have prevented the book from dragging, which it did in a lot of places.
Second big issue: Characters. My favorite part of romance is falling in love with the characters, which I usually find very easy to do. By the end of this book, I only really loved one character (Henry <3) and liked two others (June and Alex). I don't really hate any of the other characters (except Richards, of course), but I'm just totally neutral on them. I feel like there were just too many of them to be honest. There were multiple instances where the book was discussing certain characters that I had to really rack my brain to try to remember. I feel like this is another reason the first person POV would have worked better for me. I feel like it's a lot easier to love characters when you're inside the mind of someone who does.
Third big issue: Smut. I swear this book has some of the most confusing smut I've ever read. Now, it's not like I actively wanted there to be super graphic smut. I'm really not a huge fan of it in general, so I won't seek out books that contain it, but I also won't avoid it if it's there. My real issue is that it seemed like this book couldn't decide if it wanted to be Young Adult or New Adult, and the smut teeters on the line between those two. It just frustrates me that it was far too explicit to actually be a Young Adult book, but not explicit enough for it to be understandable. It felt like every action that happened was stated so vaguely that I couldn't even imagine the scene. Every time I got to a smut scene, I had to read it at least three times before I could at least kind of form a picture of what was going on, and eventually I just stopped trying.
Those are the main things I would say hold the book back. There are definitely others,
First big strength: Humor. This is actually one of the funniest romances I've ever read. Other romance books usually get an exhale out of me, but very rarely an actual laugh. This book made me genuinely laugh twice. That might not sound like a lot to other people, but it definitely is for me. I feel like the characters played off of each other really well, and there were just a lot of scenarios that led to some really funny moments.
Second big strength: The last quarter. So, you know how I said this book was really hard to get into? That includes a lot of the middle section unfortunately. However, when there were about 100 pages left, the
Overall, this definitely isn't one of the best books I've read. It's not even close. That being said, it's very charming in a lot of ways and I can definitely see why so many people love it. If you think you can get past the issues I talked about, then this could very well be a great book for you.
Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Genocide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
pizzaisjesus98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Outing, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Classism
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Colonisation