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Reviews tagging 'Grief'
The Rom-Commers: The instant New York Times bestseller! by Katherine Center, Katherine Center
112 reviews
paulapppp's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
jelkebooks's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I received a galley of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Oh boy, I am truly going to have to hold myself back on this one to keep me from fully ripping this one to shreds. When I tell you that this book made me rethink every 1 star I have given recently because none of them messure up to the absolute ANGER I felt while reading this I mean it. In fact I would argue I'm underselling you. The only reason I didn't DNF this was because I had heard so many good things about this book and part of me just kept thinking it had to get better. No, it only got worse. I truly don't even know how I need to properly convey to you just how terrible this book is.
Let's start with our main character. Emma was unbearable. I genuinely think she was the devil, no exageration. At the start I didn't think she was that bad. I still didn't like her though. She flip-flopped between being the most egotistical person you have ever met and being the most insecure, whiny person you've ever met. I don't know how that possible. However, when it comes to the third act conflict, and what goes down in the storyline with her dad I truly do not know how to descibe her actions as anything else but just pure and uther evil. I also just felt so incredibly gaslit by this book as our main character faced 0 consequences, never apologised, nothing. In fact she was apologised to. It gave me such a massive ick. I'm also convinced she's a narcissist. That's not a term I throw around lightly. But the way she manages to make every single situation about herself and just throw a fucking temper tantrum when it isn't just makes it impossible to say anything else. I hated her so much. My eyes literally started producing tears out of pure anger. I don't think I've ever experienced that at a book.
Charlie wasn't much better, it's just that we are never in his head so it can never get just as bad. However, I still found him such an incompetent manchild who on top of that also just is misogynistic and elitist. There quite literally is a character in this book that is even more sexist and elitist and I'm 100% convined that is to not make Charlie seem as bad as he is. He also just was incredibly rude, and I couldn't. I don't know if it is because I absolutely DESPISE both of our leads but I just saw 0 chemistry. 99% of their conversations are them just arguing for arguments sake. I truly did not get it. I didn't see it. The fact that their first kiss happens after a major guilt trip also just doesn't really help. It's ironic that this book is about Emma fixing Charlie's rom-com script to make it actually into something romantic, because there just wasn't anything romantic in this book. I do not get it. I don't know how many times I can say that but I truly do not get it.
Also it is an incredibly minor thing about this book but it really pissed me but Charlie has a guinea pig whose brother recently died. Whenever this guinea pig gets mentioned it is mentioned how he has been utterly depressed since then, and never really eats. It is even mentioned that guinea pigs are such big herd animals. However, the extremely simple solution of GETTING ANOTHER GUINEA PIG is just never brought up. There are certain countries in which it is literally ILLEGAL to only get one guinea pig because they literally get so lonely they die, but no one ever comes up with the idea to get this poor animal a new friend. As mentioned before I know this is just such a small part of this book but it just perfectly examplifies to me just how frustrating the reading experience of this book was in general.
Oh boy, I am truly going to have to hold myself back on this one to keep me from fully ripping this one to shreds. When I tell you that this book made me rethink every 1 star I have given recently because none of them messure up to the absolute ANGER I felt while reading this I mean it. In fact I would argue I'm underselling you. The only reason I didn't DNF this was because I had heard so many good things about this book and part of me just kept thinking it had to get better. No, it only got worse. I truly don't even know how I need to properly convey to you just how terrible this book is.
Let's start with our main character. Emma was unbearable. I genuinely think she was the devil, no exageration. At the start I didn't think she was that bad. I still didn't like her though. She flip-flopped between being the most egotistical person you have ever met and being the most insecure, whiny person you've ever met. I don't know how that possible. However, when it comes to the third act conflict, and what goes down in the storyline with her dad I truly do not know how to descibe her actions as anything else but just pure and uther evil. I also just felt so incredibly gaslit by this book as our main character faced 0 consequences, never apologised, nothing. In fact she was apologised to. It gave me such a massive ick. I'm also convinced she's a narcissist. That's not a term I throw around lightly. But the way she manages to make every single situation about herself and just throw a fucking temper tantrum when it isn't just makes it impossible to say anything else. I hated her so much. My eyes literally started producing tears out of pure anger. I don't think I've ever experienced that at a book.
Charlie wasn't much better, it's just that we are never in his head so it can never get just as bad. However, I still found him such an incompetent manchild who on top of that also just is misogynistic and elitist. There quite literally is a character in this book that is even more sexist and elitist and I'm 100% convined that is to not make Charlie seem as bad as he is. He also just was incredibly rude, and I couldn't. I don't know if it is because I absolutely DESPISE both of our leads but I just saw 0 chemistry. 99% of their conversations are them just arguing for arguments sake. I truly did not get it. I didn't see it. The fact that their first kiss happens after a major guilt trip also just doesn't really help. It's ironic that this book is about Emma fixing Charlie's rom-com script to make it actually into something romantic, because there just wasn't anything romantic in this book. I do not get it. I don't know how many times I can say that but I truly do not get it.
Also it is an incredibly minor thing about this book but it really pissed me but Charlie has a guinea pig whose brother recently died. Whenever this guinea pig gets mentioned it is mentioned how he has been utterly depressed since then, and never really eats. It is even mentioned that guinea pigs are such big herd animals. However, the extremely simple solution of GETTING ANOTHER GUINEA PIG is just never brought up. There are certain countries in which it is literally ILLEGAL to only get one guinea pig because they literally get so lonely they die, but no one ever comes up with the idea to get this poor animal a new friend. As mentioned before I know this is just such a small part of this book but it just perfectly examplifies to me just how frustrating the reading experience of this book was in general.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Cancer
fieldofsummer's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? Yes
5.0
This was my first 5 star of 2025. I always love Katherine Center’s writing, and the way she balances a fictional story with real life things, but this one takes the cake. I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes, I was frustrated, all of the emotions. I think what’s so amazing about her writing is how real her characters feel. This one the most out of any I’ve read. They feel like actual people with dimension and back story, and growth, and sometimes no growth.. it feels like I know them. This storyline felt quirky enough for me to pick it up, but the backstories and expectation of growth kept me in it. Things were highlighted. It does touch on heavier topics, but in a way that feels like it would really happen. Like when you sit down with a friend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Car accident
emwebz's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
bgrow's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
mamasuereads's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a bit disappointing to me. I think I figured with that title there would be a lot more comedy but, in my opinion, there wasn't enough light hearted humor. I was surprised by the serious subject matter and I did not appreciate Emma's character. I did enjoy Charlie's character (and Cuthbert!)
I listened on Libro so maybe the narration made a difference.
I listened on Libro so maybe the narration made a difference.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent
nerdscanfight's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
2.5
Really should’ve had a trigger warning I think? I would’ve rather known about the little sub-plots that are quite tragic 😬 oh yeah check my content warnings below lol
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
jenniferbowman's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing
adduncan's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
smash511's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Medical content
Minor: Cursing and Infertility