Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Soulmate Equation

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

96 reviews

akswhy's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Enjoyable when it wasn’t morally queasy and nonsensical (which was about 30% of the time). I liked the main characters and the child is well-written, but the business side of things doesn’t add up and the resolution doesn’t feel like much of a fight at all. One character just kind of folds despite their misgivings.

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lindyhopper's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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witcheep's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

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swampmallow's review

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emotional hopeful 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

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sakeriver's review against another edition

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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? No

5.0

There were things I liked about this one—the best friend is very funny, the dynamic between the heroine and her daughter, and between her and her grandparents—but I'm coming to wonder if I'm just not that into contemporaries when it comes to romance. That would be entirely due to my own idiosyncracies, of course, and not any fault of the genre or subgenre.

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loriley's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

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eligru's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.25

i liked the premise of this and the chemistry withe the characters was good. i liked the way that there was no miscommunication trope but

i did not like the ending. the way river completely disappeared and then all the traumatic shit that happened near the end just got brushed over and they got back together after a 5 minute conversation. i also didn’t like that we didn’t get to know the real number just that it wasn’t 98 and above 90; it wasn’t cute just irritatingly ambiguous.

apart from those issues i liked the characters and i liked the pairing, they were cute.

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bookish_leslie's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.0

My rating scale, for reference:

1 Star: Hated it
2 Stars: Didn't like it
3 Stars: Meh
4 Stars: Liked it
5 Stars: Loved it

This book was an enjoyable feel-good read, even if it was a bit predictable.

Overall, Jess and River were cute together and had great chemistry. The physical attraction was obviously there for them both, but I’m glad a bit of depth came through in their relationship, too - for example,

in River’s developing relationship with Jess’ daughter, Juno, as well as in scenes where Jess and River shared vulnerably about their fears, childhoods, and so on

. I only wish we could have had River’s POV too so we knew what he was thinking.

Speaking of River, his characterization felt a little all over the place for me, and I could have done without the focus on how perfect he was. I can't say for certain whether he was straight-up objectively perfect or if that was just the way Jess viewed him, since she was the narrator, but I hate it when characters are depicted as having no flaws or as having/being it all.

Anyway, aside from the romance, I really enjoyed the relationships Jess had with her daughter, as well as with the other supporting characters. Her mom was totally shitty, and I was (spoiler)

relieved when Jess finally cut her out of her life

, but Fizzy, Nana Jo and Pop were all great. I loved the evident care and love that existed between Jess and her grandparents, as well as the banter and support Jess had with Fizzy. I liked, too, how they all pushed Jess to let them help her, especially with Juno.

Jess grew flustered. “She’s my kid. I want to see her.”

“Of course you do,” Fizzy said, “but she’s Jo’s and Pop’s and mine, too. She and I had a blast tonight, and I wish I could see her more. But you act like asking for help is selfish…” (pg. 238)

For a romance novel, I appreciated that the authors touched on more complex issues, like family dynamics (especially with the challenges Jess faced as a single mom, as well as the dysfunctional relationship she had with her own mom) or the exploration of destiny versus choice: how much of our compatibility with others could be genetically encoded into our DNA vs how much intention, choice, hard work and commitment factor into the success of our relationships.

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chelle22's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted

4.0

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