Reviews with content warning for Violence - Behind the Net

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Behind the Net by Stephanie Archer

16 reviews

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.25

I've had this book on my tbr since like the beginning of the year. It's literally October now.😩 You know I tried to read this once before, months ago, but I only got maybe 3% in and then I stopped because I found the writing to be atrocious (which is really funny considering I'm not picky when it comes to writing). I could've easily taken it off my tbr, but I was curious considering a few of my favorite booktubers love it. Hmm............I wish I could say the same. 🥴

Now, this book isn't the worst thing ever, but it wasn't the greatest by any means either. I think I came in with the wrong expectations. I don't know why I expected this book to be deep and emotional. With the length and the way people gush about it, you'd think there'd be more to it; that was most certainly not the case.

For starters, this book took me AGES to get through (other factors contributed to that; I didn't really have time to read this month). Although I didn't really have the time for reading, when I was reading it I didn't really find myself intrigued with the story. I wasn't connecting to the characters. Especially in the later half, there were times when I just wanted it to be over. Again, I want to reiterate that this book wasn't awful. The way I'm talking about it makes it seem like it's a 2-star.

It's not. There was just nothing to this book. For starters,

We get into the plot wayyyyy too quickly for my liking. Like in ch.1 we're finding out all these things. That he found a dog in the alley, he adopts the dog, he moved to Vancouver cuz his mother has problems with anxiety and panic attacks, he has a problem where he feels he has to fix things all the time, he has problems with interacting with his teammates. And we're getting into the plot of him wanting an assistant very quickly as well when a few pages ago he was literally against the whole ordeal. All this is in chapter 1 which subjectively is fine, but me personally I like a little build-up when entering my stories.
In addition to that, this book is very insta-like/attraction and I really wish we build up to it more. Like I was on ch.5 and he was already SUPER down bad for her. Like can we slow it down a bit? I'm not even a slow-burn girly, but there's not much build-up to their feelings for one another aside from the fact that they went to high school together (which we don't even get enough information about to feel about their "larger-than-life" connection).
And to play on top of that, in the beginning, I was so annoyed with Pippa. I felt like she needed to get a grip badly. She's way too attracted to a guy who's been nothing but rude to her since they met.
Sis, gets fired and then decides it's a good idea to spend 2 hours baking cupcakes for him, like girl STOP! You're embarrassing us!😭

We're about to get into my main grievance with this book. Everything is just so surface-level. Nothing is expanded upon in-depth for me to really FEEL for these characters.

We know Jamie's a fixer and needs to fix cuz of the tumultuous upbringing with his mother and her episodes. Is that expanded upon through the book and how it can potentially affect his future relationships, no!
We mostly focused on Pippa's problems, but even hers was lacking for me. For (1), I feel like Jamie was forcing Pippa to come out of her shell a bit too much, especially in the beginning. Like you can tell she's not ready and instead of having a discussion about her trauma and the effects it has on her self-worth and value, he just immediately makes her jump into the deep end hoping that she has the ability to swim. Like I know it's supposed to be sweet and endearing that he believes in her and sometimes you really just need that little push to get you back in the running, but I don't think he's patient enough with her. Of course, towards the latter half of the book, I recognized how altruistic his efforts were, but still. (2) Pippa doesn't want to disappoint her parents and they're pretty unsupportive of her dreams of being a singer. That gets wrapped up very lackadaisically and that's all we get on it. (3) Same with the Zach storyline.
Another thing as I mentioned before, we don't get much depth on Jamie as an individual. Like in Pippa's POV, we see how she views him, but we don't see how Jamie views him. He doesn't recognize his faults. Also, there is a plot point about his former best friend and teammate, Rory Miller. And how they had a falling out and whatnot. That part of the book is definitely not expended at all. We don't learn more beyond the fact that they had a falling out. They have a few interactions here and there but nothing of significance that would provide any insight into their dynamic or if Jamie even missed Rory. All this makes their fight towards the end of the book very anticlimactic cuz it happens, but then nothing really comes out of it. In addition to that, we get this large tidbit of Jamie being so noncommittal that he only does hookups and can't commit to his last girlfriend but all that is solved once he realizes his feelings for Pippa. Alright.😒
And there are so many anticlimactic moments in this book due to the lack of emotional build-up.
(1) Like I stated previously his fight with Rory. There wasn't even a resolution towards the end. We're just going to assume that they're okay now. (2) Jamie finally has that conversation with his mother. Was it endearing, yes? But did they really go in-depth about just how much Donna's neglect affected him, no. (3) And the worst offender was Pippa standing up to Zach. She literally says like 8 words to him and that's it. (4) Pippa finally telling her parents that she doesn't want a generic job. Bruh! They accept it immediately and that's that. Why make these things plot points if you're not gonna expand on them? Ughhhhhh!

These are just small little things, not grievances per say, but just some bits and bob:

I KNEW from the get-go that Jamie was being self-centered into thinking that he ruined Erin's career. Like sir, you're not that special that she's just dropped off the face of her career because of you.
the sex takes away from the plot, there I said it. I don't care for smut in books as long as it serves a purpose, but the amount these scenes took away from the plot was unnecessary considering the smut scenes were not good (again, not picky on smut scenes either). I even note in my notes that "it's very convenient the amount of times they come into the apartment at the exact same time the other is masturbating (yes this happens)."

Again, I feel like I've talking only about the negative of this book. I usually have to get all that out before I harp on about the positives. There aren't that many😅 (I swear I didn't hate this book), but they outweigh a lot of my grievances hence the 3.25/5 rating instead of a 1-star. To reiterate from before, there really isn't anything inherently bad that goes on in this book (aside from Jamie's grumpy attitude; he annoyed me a lot in the beginning). The MCs are obsessed with each other. Love each other. Put each others' needs into consideration. They have good communication skills which can't be said for most books in this genre. Again, the book isn't bad, I just came in with the wrong expectations. And I just didn't vibe with the main characters (mostly the guy) and the way the author told the story is all. But if you want to give it a try. I would still say give it a shot.

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 (the level and quantity of spice is a 3/5; however, nothing crazy goes on in my opinion; I think penetration literally only happens once)

Content Warnings

smartcookiesca's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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rebakesl's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

4.25

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lauraelovesbooks's review against another edition

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lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

This was a lovely read with a very sweet romance. Pippa and Jamie were so great together and their relationship was free of miscommunication (except maybe before they get together but that’s more them making their own assumptions rather than specific miscommunication) and unnecessary drama (no third act break-ups here). It was really great to see them overcome some past trauma and heal together. I also loved their dog Daisy

I will admit, though, I was hoping for something a little angstier and with a slower burn. This is fully on me and my reading mood, but this book is marketed as a slow burn and I personally didn’t find it was (but, like spice, this is a very individual threshold so don’t take my word for it). I also didn’t love ‘songbird’ and just generally prefer more traditional terms of endearment (these days I feel that authors are always striving for these unique nicknames and the effectiveness is very hit or miss).

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britwalsh16's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? Yes

4.0

Romance, Music, Hockey, this book weaves together some of my favorite things! I just loved it from page 1! I need to read more hockey romance books! I’ve read other sport romance books but I know nothing about football, and I’m not a genius with Baseball or Basketball. But I LOVE hockey! Blackhawks all the way!!! And this is my first hockey romance book & it just makes me want to read sooo many more hockey books!!! I’ve found a new sub genre I love!!! 💜
As for this story, I love how Pippa & Jamie are there for eachother & once they decided to stop fighting their feelings they didn’t let anything get in between them, they fought for eachother no matter what! I love relationships like that, & that is the kind of relationship I dream of having one day, & reading books with that relationship just make me overjoyed! 🥰😞

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gabs_parr's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? No

4.5

LOVED their friendship and their romance. I loved the slowburn buildup so much that I could even tolerate the miscommunication between them without wanting to bang my head against the wall too badly. Their relationship is one of the healthiest I’ve ever seen portrayed in a romcom novel. I love them. They really felt like a real and genuine couple that you know and admire in real life, like your friends that your not-so-secretly a little jealous of but are so happy for them that they found each other because that’s how good they are together.

The side characters were fun and almost solid enough when they were shown, but they could have been fleshed out more. That was one of my biggest hang ups throughout the book. They didn’t have friends. Either of them. I get that she was coming off a 2-year tour and he was moving back after 10-years of playing somewhere else, but STILL. They grew up in Vancouver. They didn’t have any childhood friends to reconnect with? Pippa’s only friend is her sister who she doesn’t spend much time with? Jamie made no friends while he was away for 10 years? He just had one friend, Rory, and when that friendship spoiled, he never made another friend? Hayden on the team seemed like a promising character, but he never became fleshed out or a real friend, which made me think he was introduced more as a set-up for the 3rd book than anything else. Their lack of friends is a red flag, for both of them. I would have such serious reservations about dating a man without ANY friends. But she didn’t have any either, so idk. It’s weird to not have friends. I’m hoping to see more developed friendships in further installments of this series, especially amongst the players. That’s half the fun of sports romcoms.

My only other critique is more of a personal preference, so it’s not something that impacted my star rating. There were too many smut scenes. Every scene included was incredibly well written. In fact, I was impressed. She’s one of the best romance scene writers I think I’ve ever read. But maybe sticking to 3-4 scenes would have been sufficient. 5 would have been a lot but like, okay, sure, if they’re very good. I lost count of how many this book included but it was a shocking amount and I think I read like 80 romance books last year alone. I’m not new to the genre. Maybe if some of them had at least been shorter, that would have been better. There were definitely several scenes that I when I was reading them I was actively thinking, “This could have been closed door.” Like I said, it’s personal preference, so I can’t knock a star for it, but it was just a lot. 5/5 on the spice scale not because anything was so dirty or scandalous but just because of the sheer endless amounts of it once it starts.

Overall, I would recommend this book to my romance reading friends, especially to anyone looking to enter the hockey romcom world. Just with the warning of full spice (and a lot of very sweet, wholesome love) ahead ⚠️

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kfmcf's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I just want a sports romance with actual sports. And a FMC that is like...more that just milquetoast.

We barely get to see these characters as characters. I read romance expecting that the romance is going to be at the forefront of the book, but this one couldn't decide if it wanted to be a cute romance or an erotica and I think it suffered on both counts. We didn't get to see what actually made them connect emotional and not just sexual chemistry. They have history but only in that they both thought the other was hot in high school. Hm.

Also the thing with his mom was uncomfortable. Not for her having panic disorders or anything like that but how the author handled it and then it was just brushed off at certain points until it was just like "tada she's going to be fine." It felt like drama for drama's sake and a bastardizarion of ptsd.

I wanted more for these characters. This felt very formulaic and the characters 2-dimensional. I'll read the sequel because I like the dynamic between Hazel and Rory more. I recommend this if you just want something spicy and cute with no real stakes or substance beyond that (which is fine, to each their own).
I just need more character development in my romance.

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