Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Wenn aus Funken Flammen werden by Abby Jimenez

34 reviews

lillieeereads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Car accident

Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol

mirandaburel's review against another edition

emotional funny sad fast-paced

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

3.0

This book is an interesting read. In the one hand there were things I really liked (josh, primarily) and other things I really didn’t (the entire existence of Tyler, the purposeful miscommunication). Sometimes this book reached for 4 stars and other times I wanted to rate it a 2. 

I think the author’s note gave a lot of insight and empathy toward the fertility plot line. but the pacing of it, the way Kristen refused to have a proper conversation about it with Josh, the late OCD reveal (which makes a lot of sense and makes me think she’s an unreliable narrator and almost want to reread it through that lens)… to me it was just frustrating to read. I feel like a lot of things could have been explored more but were brushed aside to make it a ~romance~. 

Speaking of the romance…again I have mixed feelings. I think they had great chemistry, but they also fell for each other ridiculously quickly. I feel like the central conflict being her fertility would have been better than if it was just that. But instead she had this not-exactly-cheating plot line with Tyler and Josh (that  led to her eventual pregnancy iirc), and Tyler’s proposal, her “thinking about it” only to immediately refuse. It’s just felt unnecessary when the central conflict could have just been her working through her health issues while grappling with her growing feelings for Josh. (To be clear, a lot of time is still spent in that conflict, but it felt  like stonewalling and not actual progress). 

Them the thing with alone and Brandon….felt gratuitous. Now that I know it’s a setup for book 2 it makes sense, but it was A Choice for the third act conflict and i just didn’t really like it! 

TLDR this book tried to do too much, instead of digging deep with the most interesting bits. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Vomit, Alcohol, and Classism

ms_read's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

3.0

I loved the representation of women’s health issues but I was bothered by unrealistic physical descriptions of the main characters, some overused tropes, and some background characters that felt like caricatures. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol

akswhy's review against another edition

emotional tense 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

2.75

I love how believable these characters are, but the refusal to communicate trope is tired. The drama ramps up dramatically in the second half and the tone shifts SERIOUSLY. Be mindful of the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Stalking, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse and Death of parent

purplenoodlepie's review against another edition

emotional funny informative sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This was way longer than it needed to be. Overly repetitive. Ended up skimming sections caused I got sick of reading "we can't be together". Kristen is very annoying & self serving. Not one of Abby's best works. If I'd read this one first I wouldn't read anymore of her stuff. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

thecandiegirl's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

netaliv3's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

cutepatzie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.5

It's a nice book. And I understand the feelings os female lead but sometimes I think she was just so cruel to ml that I was honestly want to drop of reading this book. And also I wish that the side character the female best friend at the end of the book become like a nothing to the author. Just was like the main point and twist of the whole book, but she was sure just for that purpose and left behind like a garbe that no one want. but from a positive aspect I like that this book is not scary to talk about periods and femeal diseases of the reproductive system what was huge plus to me. Overall I am happy that book finishes with happy ending and shines the light on infertility and how hard it is to be a girl. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

amateur_bookworm's review against another edition

emotional funny sad 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? Yes

4.25

Genre: Contemporary romance, fiction 

My summary: Josh is a firefighter and fresh off of a break-up. He relocates from South Dakota to California to work with his best friend, Brandon. Brandon and his girlfriend, Sloan, are getting married soon and Josh finds himself thrown together with Kristen, Sloan’s best friend and her maid of honor, in his best man duties. Kristen has a long-term boyfriend who has been deployed, putting Josh solidly in the friend zone. As Kristen and Josh become friends and circumstances change, the attraction becomes undeniable between them but not without plenty of obstacles in their way of finding a happily ever after together. 

My thoughts: This book felt like such a journey. Sitting here and reflecting on the plot, it seems that the early events of the book happened a lifetime ago. Equal parts hopeful and heartbreaking, it wades into some heavy topics while also weaving together a love story. I enjoyed the witty banter, and I appreciated the realistic life events and the handling of some touchy subjects as main plot points. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Infertility, Grief, Car accident, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Alcohol