shadyeglenn's review against another edition
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
4.0
donttakemybooks's review against another edition
2.0
Well. I kind of liked this in spite of the fact that so much of it was... problematic. First off, I couldn't really get on board with the TA-student relationship. I thought before I read this that the romance took place AFTER the class ended (I don't know why), so I didn't really realize what I was getting into here, but... sorry. I'm married to a professor, I work with college students, that's just a power dynamic that isn't conducive to a healthy romance. Also, that whole set-up seemed like it was just a way to manufacture drama.
And then, the brothers... they are children, yet somehow Lizzie has all kinds of free time away from them and somehow they babysit themselves. Again, they felt like a way to manufacture drama, especially as they were so easily passed off onto someone else by the end of the book.
And, I mean, while we're on the topic of manufactured drama... there is this whole subplot about the girlfriend of the boy Lizzie was doing on the side and how she tries to take Lizzie down and ruin her life in revenge for Lizzie's cheating with her boyfriend. And I don't know, but this is a book where the main character's parents both die when she is in college and she is forced to leave her rock and roll lifestyle behind to take care of her brothers and maintain her scholarship and she falls in love with her TA as she tries to pick up the pieces of her life. That's kind of enough angst, drama, tension for one book.
BUT... all that aside, I liked Lizzie and Connor and the romance was hot. I dunno. Take out some of the subplots here and get rid of the ethically questionable student-teacher relationship and I probably would have liked it without reservation.
And then, the brothers... they are children, yet somehow Lizzie has all kinds of free time away from them and somehow they babysit themselves. Again, they felt like a way to manufacture drama, especially as they were so easily passed off onto someone else by the end of the book.
And, I mean, while we're on the topic of manufactured drama... there is this whole subplot about the girlfriend of the boy Lizzie was doing on the side and how she tries to take Lizzie down and ruin her life in revenge for Lizzie's cheating with her boyfriend. And I don't know, but this is a book where the main character's parents both die when she is in college and she is forced to leave her rock and roll lifestyle behind to take care of her brothers and maintain her scholarship and she falls in love with her TA as she tries to pick up the pieces of her life. That's kind of enough angst, drama, tension for one book.
BUT... all that aside, I liked Lizzie and Connor and the romance was hot. I dunno. Take out some of the subplots here and get rid of the ethically questionable student-teacher relationship and I probably would have liked it without reservation.
mikrokosm0s's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 but upped to 4 stars for being an enjoyable read. I'm extremely picky about the NA I read because they tend to be plotless and mind-numbingly repetitive but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I wouldn't say it's the best NA I've read (I honestly can't recall a NA that has wowed me) but I would definitely recommend this over most of the more popular titles!
elysareadsitall's review against another edition
sad
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? Yes
3.0
brokenrecord's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. The beginning was slow, but I liked the banter between Connor and Lizzie a lot, and they were really cute together.
zinelib's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
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? No
4.0
Within the first few pages of the book, college sophomore Lizzie Brandt is caught with her cheating lover and informed that her parents have died, leaving her in charge of her younger siblings (13 and 7). Lizzie is transformed by her new role, but the girl whose boyfriend she was fucking isn't and has it in for Lizzie going forward. Luckily Lizzie has good friends in her two suite mates, a caring next door neighbor at home, and, surprisingly, her tight ass TA turns out to be pretty empathetic.
Adjusting to change and maintaining a GPA while parenting are about more than Lizzie can handle, so of course there's a complicated romance to make things all the more...difficult? Easy? It takes a while to sort that out.
Adjusting to change and maintaining a GPA while parenting are about more than Lizzie can handle, so of course there's a complicated romance to make things all the more...difficult? Easy? It takes a while to sort that out.
aortiz0519's review against another edition
4.0
Loved this book! I found the characters to be very likable and the perfect amount of steam that you look for in a romance. I did find some of the push and pull of their relationship to be repetitive in the beginning but it got so much better towards the end. I didn’t want the book to end!
bookishinidahome's review
2.0
Overall I enjoyed the narration of the audiobook and thought it was an enjoyable listen but my reasons for the lower ranking is due to the plot.
This book centers around Lizzie picking up the pieces after her parents die and she is left to take care of her 13 and 7 year old brothers as an 18 year old college freshman within her first two months of her first semester which she is already ruining. She is a social pariah due to the events of the night she was notified of her parents death (hooking up with another girls boyfriend and humiliating the girl)…
Lizzie begins to get support from one of her classes TA’s who is 25 and very quickly the relationship turns sexual. I had problems with this dynamic personally due to the grieving process, the age gap, the power differential of the teacher-student relationship and it felt icky to me. Also, she was clearly extremely immature in how most things were handled that shows that Lizzie should not have been in a sexual relationship with someone in their mid twenties let alone someone in a position of power over her within two months of her parents death.
Other than that, if I would have listened to this when I was younger, I wouldn’t have had an issue with it as I too had a crush on a professor freshman year, but at 30 it came across as icky. That aside, I did really enjoy the book when I just focused on it being two adults in a complicated relationship… it had some pretty good steamy scenes so if you like that and are okay with the premise I would highly recommend it!
Thank you NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio for the ARC of this audiobook! I am so thankful to obtain a copy to read in advance of its release!
This book centers around Lizzie picking up the pieces after her parents die and she is left to take care of her 13 and 7 year old brothers as an 18 year old college freshman within her first two months of her first semester which she is already ruining. She is a social pariah due to the events of the night she was notified of her parents death (hooking up with another girls boyfriend and humiliating the girl)…
Lizzie begins to get support from one of her classes TA’s who is 25 and very quickly the relationship turns sexual. I had problems with this dynamic personally due to the grieving process, the age gap, the power differential of the teacher-student relationship and it felt icky to me. Also, she was clearly extremely immature in how most things were handled that shows that Lizzie should not have been in a sexual relationship with someone in their mid twenties let alone someone in a position of power over her within two months of her parents death.
Other than that, if I would have listened to this when I was younger, I wouldn’t have had an issue with it as I too had a crush on a professor freshman year, but at 30 it came across as icky. That aside, I did really enjoy the book when I just focused on it being two adults in a complicated relationship… it had some pretty good steamy scenes so if you like that and are okay with the premise I would highly recommend it!
Thank you NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio for the ARC of this audiobook! I am so thankful to obtain a copy to read in advance of its release!