Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Forget Me Not by Julie Soto

12 reviews

ellaticonstellation's review

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challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

Oh my! I enjoyed this a lot! Yay! It's super chill and has all the great things I like about a story. This is also my first book from Julie, so I'll be reading all her stories soon. Ama is fun, crazy in a good way, and also relatable to me. I was super naïve when I was younger and always wanted to see the good in people, but some people didn't deserve it, like Ama to Whitney. I also liked the fact that Elliot narrated the past, while Ama talked about the present, and a bit of the past. This book inspired me to write better stories that people can enjoy. Anyway, the characters are pretty interesting, too. Laura, the ML's mom, the influencer bride, Ama's mom, and a pack of half-siblings. Of course, Ama doesn't want to commit because her mom married a lot, but is willing to reconsider for the right one. That's so romantic in so many ways. Thank you, Julie!

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mj_86's review

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.25


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cover2covertx's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-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

5.0


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alexasolis98's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Elliot was consistently rude and yet I'm supposed to believe he can run a business with that attitude. Ama was consistently stupid about Whitney. Like girl stop being suspicious and admit the truth you are experiencing. I didn't really get the romance in this book. I could see the lust, didn't really even get they were in love until way later in the book. I think we needed a bit more time with Ama's thoughts on her averison to marriage. I felt there was a lot that could have been unpacked there. Elliot's background could have been developed a bit more as well. Like why did his mom need to be a senator? Jackie was fine but Hazel was a bit of a brat.
P.S. This whole wedding planning was stressful. 

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ankiaisreading's review against another edition

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

3.75


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amanda_reads13's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-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

Ama is a wedding planner who has just been hired for the biggest wedding of her career. Unfortunately, she has to work with Elliot, a florist, who she had a falling out with and hasn't spoken to in years. 

In the present we get Ama's POV. Her mother, and her million marriages, have instilled a fear of marriage and commitment that she struggles to get past. She falls for Elliot, but cannot overcome her insecurities. She is incredibly driven to succeed professionally and has so much passion for her work. I love her relationship with her ex-stepsister. 

In the past we get Elliot's POV. I really liked this structure because it helps us get to know him better. In the present, he comes across as grumpy, rude, and brooding. But in the flashbacks we learn that he falls hard and fast for Ama. She is his soft spot. He wants nothing more than to build a life with her. That tattoo...OMG! Elliot is steadfast and so supportive of Ama. 

I really loved these two together and
I am really glad that this book didn't end with a wedding. That would have been way out of character for Ama.
 

I would have liked the book to delve a bit deeper into the characters. I felt a lot of the character develop was a bit surface level. 

Tropes: Second Chance, Grumpy/Sunshine, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Workplace Romance, Forced Proximity

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lisa_m's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

I wanted to love this book, I really did! It has so many things that I love and it was one of my most anticipated books this year. But now that I'm done, I just feel kind of 'meh' about it.

What did I like?
I love books with timejumps and I think telling the backstory that way was done really well.
I also do like the idea of a grumpy handsome man who owns a flower shop.
I really like his tattooes and especially the meaning of them.
The peanut butter donut incident was interesting.


What did I not like?
The story? It might just be that I'm not really that interested in weddings but I just got bored while reading this. It felt like I was reading a todo list of a wedding planner and I really did not care about all the details and planning and other aspects of the wedding. 
I also feel like the characters fell kind of flat. I like the idea behind both of them but I just didn't feel a connection at all. Ama is someone I can relate to quite well just because of her busy thoughts but even feeling that connection to her did not make me like her? All the characters felt really flat and everything we do get to know about them has some other relevance for the story.

The whole book was planned out and interconnected really well. But it was just missing the emotions for me. I don't understand why they did what they did and I didn't root for them. I don't even know what exactly the issue was because I like most of the ideas of the story. If someone told me what happened in the book and told me about the characters I would think that I'd love this book, but the way it was written just did not work for me.

The mother who constantly gets married & divorced and has a wedding planner daughter - amazing, but we don't find out anything about her besides that!

Ama having loads of stepsiblings who help her out - I like that idea but even the siblings that have a bigger role in the story just have no personality at all.

Strong ex-boss who is kind of fake nice and supportive - interesting idea but it just made Ama look weak and also her flip from adoring her to hating her went so fast. Their relationship was just not explained well enough for me.


I wanted to like it all but I just couldn't. I strongly considered dnfing about half way through and I'm glad I didn't but also nothing that interesting really happened? I was so excited to find out what the big issue was that came to light at Elliots mother's wedding but then we find out it's just a miscommunication? I was really disappointed at that.

The ending was sweet, I really enjoyed the Tattoo reveal at the end but besides that I just don't understand their motivation. It feels to me like no issues between them really got solved and they're just ignoring them. Either that or Ama just completely turned around in 24hours and decided that actually her fear of commitment is unreasonable and she will stop with that (which is not how that works).

So all I can say is that this wasn't it for me. I was bored by the wedding details and the characters all felt incredibly two dimensional. Also the only interactions between the main couple we see is either smut or story relevant so I didn't understand their mutual obsession at all (but good for them I guess).

If you like weddings, tall and broody man who is obsessed with a small energetic woman, and smut, then this book might be perfect for you. 

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wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0


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starlitpage's review against another edition

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emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0


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takarakei'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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

  • he owns a flower shop
  • she's a wedding planner that doesn't believe in marriage
  • dual pov, 
  • dual timeline, second chance romance
  • narration *chefs kiss* Teddy Hamilton is 🔥 

Since this book is told in past/present, I would've liked a bit more of the present in terms of the second chance part of the romance. Elliot has my whole heart.

you may think everything ends one day, but you haven’t had everything with me

*Note on diversity* side characters are diverse. MCs are planning a gay wedding for the whole book.

3.5/5 🌶️

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