Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

15 reviews

bookscatcoffee's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

3.5

There were parts about this book I loved, but it took a long time for it to get started.  And I feel like there was a more concise way to tell the overall story.  That being said, there were some relationship gems:

“She’s taught me communicating doesn’t mean everything is perfect, it doesn’t mean we won’t disagree.  It means we work through the imperfect bit together, and if we don’t agree, we at least know why the other feels that way, even if it’s not going to change our minds.  We’re still individuals, but we’re individuals together, and I never knew relationships could be like this.”

Interesting and I really like the community the author created.  3.5 stars 

Contemporary romance with diverse and lgbtqia+ side characters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Alcohol

jshirley's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

stevienotnicks's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

This one started off strong for me. It had the makings of my fav type of romances: reverse grumpy/sunshine + hockey + he falls first, but it quickly spun out into smut over substance. 

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a nice bit of spice, but I need a strong plot line and character development and both just missed the mark. The subplots were a bit too ambitious, never fully getting the attention they deserved. The characters were pretty cliche and very one dimensional, despite having the most groundwork laid for pretty complex backstories. I’d hoped to dig deeper into Nate’s relationship with his father and Anastasia’s mental health struggles, but we merely got surface level explanations at best. 

A few trigger warnings: There was a LOT of glorification of disordered eating, a hefty bit of slut shaming, and a way too heavy dose of misogyny for my tastes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Sexual assault and Death of parent

dolphinchick93's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Sexism, Vomit, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity, Violence, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

chloeanna's review against another edition

No plot, bad “spice”, and the dialogue is just bad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Dysphoria

cutepatzie's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

This is nice and light book to read. I like that it is a book to really good shows how manipulation can look like not only in relationships between friends like also coworkers. I am really happy that many of the inappropriate situations was addressed and no one made victims look bad. And I like good character development. And I can see how many of the characters have been through it. And it was nice to read that. My only complaint was sometimes the time skips to fast and tha was not enough for me plesurble to read but this is something that came maybe pist me of so will not change my grade. A good book to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Vomit, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

lacanadienneinreads's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

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

1.25

I get why people are excited about the spice in this book (it's definitely there, although nothing wildly inventive). 

For something advertised as fluffy romance, I found the pervasive disordered eating themes to be very uncomfortable, and not lighthearted. I was surprised I didn't see any trigger warnings in advance. 

The book teatered somewhere between highly predictable tropes and touching on more serious themes and topics in a way that felt off kilter. 

The ending was disingenuous. I won't read it again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Gaslighting and Alcohol

sea_tea_books's review against another edition

emotional tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No

3.0

Brief Summary: I'm in the Henry fan club, and I'm not down with binge drinking.
 . . . . . 
Could have done without that particular ending. Also, I'm not a fan of the binge drinking/alcoholism and excessive swearing in this story. Maybe I just don't like college romance books? I would have liked to read more about the connections that developed between the various characters when they weren't drunk. 

Plenty of spice. Seriously, it was a lot. 

Maple Hills had almost cozy vibes . . . but only if the character had a trust fund or was connected to someone with money. We weren't privy to the "other side" of Maple Hills. 

There were so many characters that were introduced but not developed so I tripped on a few characters that I didn't recognize sprinkled throughout the story. As far as characters go, Henry was the most likeable. I'd read another Maple Hills book if he was the main character. (hint hint)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism

Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Accidental pregnancy

kshertz's review against another edition

lighthearted 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? No

4.5

I definitely don’t care about hockey or figure skating but I heard this book was spicy so I was on board. It was a great story with many different characters to love and incest in. Some I liked more than the main characters. Their sexual fluidity and the fact that it was not a big deal was a huge plus for me. I was not a fan of the epilogue and that the only reason it’s not 5 stars. But it’s captivating and I couldn’t put it down so I definitely recommend and pretty high on the smutty scale 🥵🌶

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting