Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Застенчивость в квадрате by Sarah Hogle

22 reviews

sage_alexandra's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was really cute.

Maybell has a very vivid and whimsical imagination that she uses to escape her subpar, mundane, and sometimes sad life. When her great aunt Vivian dies and leaves Maybell her entire property, Maybell finally gets the fresh start she deserves. Pair that with a broody, grumpy dude (Wesley) who might have a hard exterior, but is actually squishy soft, and you get an adorable enemies to lovers romance.

I loved learning bits and pieces of Vivian and Victor's (her husband who passed about 2 decades prior) love story and experiencing Maybell's memories through rose-colored glasses (literally).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content

Minor: Confinement, Racism, Vomit, Car accident, and Abandonment

The only racism mentioned in the book is in regards to Vivian and Victor's romance. Victor was black, I'm not positive on the timeline, but they were together years before they were allowed to legally marry. The two faced a lot of discrimination, leading them to purchase their remote property to escape.

aurora4847's review against another edition

funny 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Misogyny, Racism, Terminal illness, and Vomit

katievallin's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Racism, and Sexism

anielabooks's review against another edition

funny hopeful 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? Yes

3.0

It was entertaining, but I wasn’t hooked. The narrating that Maybel does can sound a bit cringy at times. However, I really like Wesley’s character and the mental illness representation. As someone that experiences panic attacks, I felt it was handled very respectfully. While I wasn’t in love with this book, Hogle’s other work, “You Deserve Each Other” is one of my all time favorite contemporary romances. If you were disappointed with this one, I recommend to still give the other a chance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Racism, and Death of parent

thk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, and Abandonment

viviundworte's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death

Minor: Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Car accident

leahfoko's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

This book was very cute. It was a quick read for me because I always read romances fast because I need to know what happens next with them. This book was really gratifying to read as a very anxious person. It spoke to me and made me feel seen because while my anxieties are not the same as either Maybell or Wesley’s, a lot of their anxieties cross over with mine and it was nice to see characters who weren’t extremely confident or outgoing and have them get their happy ending as well. 

Some of the descriptions were sometimes a little much for me and it of course didn’t feel perfectly realistic because there are too many coincidences that brought them together, it is a book after all. But it had that fun whimsical feel, the grumpy male lead who has to open up to show he is sweet underneath, and a sweet happy ending in Scotland. What more could you want? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, and Car accident

hanz's review against another edition

The catfishing part of the plot is very strange and adds an uncomfortable dynamic to the relationship between the two leads. I also found Maybell very annoying, which is difficult to get past in a romance book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Car accident

cait's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

wilybooklover's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

Reading this felt like drinking a mug of hot chocolate; comforting and sweet in a simple yet charming way. 

I found both main characters really relatable. As a daydreamer myself (albeit not to this extent), I enjoyed reading a main character who daydreams in such vivid detail and loses herself in an imaginary world. Contrary to some other readers, I didn’t find it difficult to tell when the daydreams began or that the daydreams took over the narrative compared to the plot. Also, like Maybell, I do appreciate a man in a nice cardigan. 

Wesley was just the most adorable cinnamon roll ever despite his grouchy exterior, especially after the 40% mark when he starts to open up. I appreciated that the ~power of love~ didn’t miraculously cure him of his social anxiety like it does so often in romances. His dislike of socialising definitely spoke to me. 

I did think the side characters were a bit too cruel to be real, although they didn’t take up much page time and the cruelty was tempered by the sweetness of the romance. The house renovations were also completed unrealistically quickly with remarkably few hiccups. That never happens. 

Overall, this was a really cute, fluffy read that still had a lot of depth and heart to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Misogyny, and Racism