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_bookish_kristy_'s review against another edition
4.0
Like Hate is the third book in The Redwood High series. I really enjoyed Harper and Axel’s story. Friends to enemies to lovers. This college romance had angst, slow burn, drama and steam.
Ever since sweet Harper broke up with Axel on a tragic night, he had made it his mission to bully and hurt her any chance he could. Harper took his bs for far too long but she finally stood her ground. I enjoyed them slowly mending their past hurt and moving forward. Loved all the redwood group. Great ending and definitely recommend.
Ever since sweet Harper broke up with Axel on a tragic night, he had made it his mission to bully and hurt her any chance he could. Harper took his bs for far too long but she finally stood her ground. I enjoyed them slowly mending their past hurt and moving forward. Loved all the redwood group. Great ending and definitely recommend.
roses_andreads's review against another edition
5.0
Another great story from Rachel Leigh. I love her books! I enjoyed this one, really pulls you in and makes you feel all the emotions. I love books with people who are closer to my age so I find I connect with the characters and their feelings more and really feel all the things they are feeling. Once I picked up the book, the times when I had to put it down were reluctant. I recommend giving this book a read and anything else by Rachel Leigh, she's amazing!
elcanaldevenecia's review against another edition
4.0
There is no way to describe how grateful I am for this book because, after so many others that didn't give me the full experience, I was finally able to let out even the tears I had in store for 10 more. I’m crying while remembering certain scenes right now.
From the previous books in the series, it was a foregone conclusion, Axel and Harper. They have both known each other for a long time and share most of their acquaintances and friends. Before everything was perfect but one small mistake changed everything. Now they are both in college and even though Axel doesn't even want to see her, it's all he can think about.
This couple has one foot on the brakes in order to move forward but that makes the wait rewarding because it will all be worth it in the end. As I said before, I cried quite a bit and ended up with a headache but I had to finish the book because my soul couldn't take any more.
Axel is a jerk and he knows it but Harper is no fool and she won't stop until she clears up that mistake. I am accused of being a masochist for enjoying the books that hurt me but I consider them to be the best because growth is what I come for, even when the road devastates me. Besides, the lessons these books teach me are the best rewards.
“I think everyone is born with kindness. The way we treat others is a learned behavior...”
ESPAÑOL
No hay manera de describir lo agradecida que estoy con este libro, porque después de tantos otros que no me hacían vivir la experiencia completa, por fin pude soltar hasta las lágrimas que tenía reservadas para 10 más.
Desde los libros anteriores de la serie, era algo que se veía venir, Axel y Harper. Se conocen ambos desde hace mucho tiempo atrás y comparten la mayoría de sus conocidos y amigos. Antes todo era perfecto pero un pequeño error cambió todo. Ahora ambos están en la universidad y aunque Axel no quiera ni verla, es todo en lo que puede pensar.
Esta pareja tiene un pie en el freno para poder avanzar pero eso hace que la espera sea gratificante porque al final todo valdrá la pena. Como dije antes, lloré bastante y terminé con dolor de cabeza pero tuve que terminar el libro porque mi alma no podía con más.
Axel es un cretino y lo sabe pero Harper no es tonta y no se detendrá hasta aclarar ese error. Se me acusa de masoquista por disfrutar los libros que me lastiman pero considero que son los mejores porque el crecimiento es por lo que vengo, aún cuando el camino me devaste. Además que las enseñanzas que dejan estos libros son las mejores recompensas.
4.5
From the previous books in the series, it was a foregone conclusion, Axel and Harper. They have both known each other for a long time and share most of their acquaintances and friends. Before everything was perfect but one small mistake changed everything. Now they are both in college and even though Axel doesn't even want to see her, it's all he can think about.
This couple has one foot on the brakes in order to move forward but that makes the wait rewarding because it will all be worth it in the end. As I said before, I cried quite a bit and ended up with a headache but I had to finish the book because my soul couldn't take any more.
Axel is a jerk and he knows it but Harper is no fool and she won't stop until she clears up that mistake. I am accused of being a masochist for enjoying the books that hurt me but I consider them to be the best because growth is what I come for, even when the road devastates me. Besides, the lessons these books teach me are the best rewards.
“I think everyone is born with kindness. The way we treat others is a learned behavior...”
ESPAÑOL
No hay manera de describir lo agradecida que estoy con este libro, porque después de tantos otros que no me hacían vivir la experiencia completa, por fin pude soltar hasta las lágrimas que tenía reservadas para 10 más.
Desde los libros anteriores de la serie, era algo que se veía venir, Axel y Harper. Se conocen ambos desde hace mucho tiempo atrás y comparten la mayoría de sus conocidos y amigos. Antes todo era perfecto pero un pequeño error cambió todo. Ahora ambos están en la universidad y aunque Axel no quiera ni verla, es todo en lo que puede pensar.
Esta pareja tiene un pie en el freno para poder avanzar pero eso hace que la espera sea gratificante porque al final todo valdrá la pena. Como dije antes, lloré bastante y terminé con dolor de cabeza pero tuve que terminar el libro porque mi alma no podía con más.
Axel es un cretino y lo sabe pero Harper no es tonta y no se detendrá hasta aclarar ese error. Se me acusa de masoquista por disfrutar los libros que me lastiman pero considero que son los mejores porque el crecimiento es por lo que vengo, aún cuando el camino me devaste. Además que las enseñanzas que dejan estos libros son las mejores recompensas.
4.5
la_vampiresa's review against another edition
4.0
"I have three rules for this school year.
1. Party hard
2.Kick ass in the ring
3.Make Harper miserable"
Axel and Harper, childhood best friends to former couple turned enemies. Axel pushed Harper away after his mom died and has spiraled down from there. After high school, Harper ended up at the same college and let the games begin.
"We all have history, and I don’t mean a Bella, Jacob, Edward kind of history, it’s more of a Katherine, Annette, and Sebastian kind of story. There is no happily ever after for us, neither gets the guy. It’s tragic, but it’s life."
OMFG, this was so angsty. I was getting whiplash from their love-hate relationship. I think the ending was a bit rushed, I'm glad they finally got their happy ending. This series has been pretty good. Just a reminder, you can read these books as a standalone, but it's best to read the previous books because previous characters makes appearances.
1. Party hard
2.Kick ass in the ring
3.Make Harper miserable"
Axel and Harper, childhood best friends to former couple turned enemies. Axel pushed Harper away after his mom died and has spiraled down from there. After high school, Harper ended up at the same college and let the games begin.
"We all have history, and I don’t mean a Bella, Jacob, Edward kind of history, it’s more of a Katherine, Annette, and Sebastian kind of story. There is no happily ever after for us, neither gets the guy. It’s tragic, but it’s life."
OMFG, this was so angsty. I was getting whiplash from their love-hate relationship. I think the ending was a bit rushed, I'm glad they finally got their happy ending. This series has been pretty good. Just a reminder, you can read these books as a standalone, but it's best to read the previous books because previous characters makes appearances.
spicylittleitalian_reads's review
5.0
Rachel really took this one to a level of emotions that I can’t even comprehend. It has angst, forgiveness, growth, and a character that is the epitome of fallen.
Axel is damaged, hurt, irrevocably broken, and just filled with anger. His character growth is my favorite part of the entire book! He’s such a complex and aggressive character that his softer moments make him more human.
Harper has this innocence about her that makes her the beacon for her friends lives, her relationship with Axel is one driven by her being a light to his demons. Even if she herself is one of his demons. If that makes any sense at all.
Like Hate is by far my favorite of the series because of how emotionally attached the characters are to not only each other but the story. It will give you all the heartache while slowly healing you to being almost whole again.
Axel is damaged, hurt, irrevocably broken, and just filled with anger. His character growth is my favorite part of the entire book! He’s such a complex and aggressive character that his softer moments make him more human.
Harper has this innocence about her that makes her the beacon for her friends lives, her relationship with Axel is one driven by her being a light to his demons. Even if she herself is one of his demons. If that makes any sense at all.
Like Hate is by far my favorite of the series because of how emotionally attached the characters are to not only each other but the story. It will give you all the heartache while slowly healing you to being almost whole again.
kfriend's review against another edition
3.0
(3.5 stars)
“Hate is rich and love is poor.” That really is the mantra of our characters as we start on this wild, dramatic second chance love story set in Rachel Leigh’s Redwood world. Like Hate explores what happens when love becomes mangled, when passion and intensity are no longer an expression of your love, but an expression of your hate, of your anger- and when hate becomes the security blanket you need to guard your heart from further pain. If you wrap enough hate for someone else around your heart, will it eventually stop beating for the person that hurt you?
Our story begins in high school, the evening after Axel has just laid his mother to rest. His devoted girlfriend, Harper, wants to be there so support him, to help heal his heart and care for him during his grief, which has included putting up with him being a less than stellar boyfriend over the last few months as his mother got sick. Axel loves Harper, she’s the girl he wants to be a better man for, but his only way of coping is to spiral- only this spiral results in unexpected consequences, and by the end of the night this couple is no more. Both feeling betrayed by the inexplicable actions of the other, their pure and tender love quickly turns to hate. We flash forward a year to find Axel at college- living his playboy dreams with Harper long out of mind. He was cruel to her until they graduated, action that was entirely off page, and has been free of her at school until she decides to transfer to his college. Not only do they have all the same friends, but she’s also now living across the street, so they can’t escape each other.
This is a quick paced read- the overall storyline (enemies to lovers, second chance) with the push pull is something I generally enjoy, and Axel has some alpha tendencies that are yummy. We move pretty quickly into the heart of the conflict without a lot of exposition- which given that I don’t super love second chance romances that are the result of easily-resolved misunderstandings and that span long time periods, I was glad we didn’t dwell there. But, the limited exposition meant that I also had little window into their past relationship, which means I didn’t really feel or buy into their purportedly intense connection in the future until much later- I just saw two young adults being hostile to each other. I did read this as a standalone, so there may have been context in prior books that would have helped me dial in emotionally earlier- characters from prior books appear but there is plenty of context here for me to “get” them without reading the previous books. For this couple though, these two have been friends since childhood, have already dated, but I just didn’t get a strong enough sense that they really knew each other emotionally, which made me less torn by the angst, even though it was entertaining. There are a few key emotional moments where the story does fade to black/off page impact (normally to flash forward), and I think actually being with our characters in those scenes longer and some aftermath moments could have also heightened by connection. Both characters have their charms, although Axel is a much louder, more vibrant character, and his growth is a little bit more substantial and more complex than Harper’s.
The writing style is crisp and accessible- and the plot is focused, which keeps things moving. Thematically, the subtleties of loving and hating- the bizarre sameness of them- comes across clearly. For Axel and Harper- hate isn’t a separate emotion. In Like Hate, hate is actually just a type of loving. The emotional investment, the intensity, the all consuming passionate fixation- it doesn’t exist if you don’t care about someone enough in the first place to exert your energy in hating them. I did start to feel more tied to them later in the story, and I was definitely rooting for them as a couple. The glimpses we had of other characters also made me want to pick up some other books. All in all, this was a fun and fast read- with a lot of angst, but easily digestible. Overall, 3.5 stars.
“Hate is rich and love is poor.” That really is the mantra of our characters as we start on this wild, dramatic second chance love story set in Rachel Leigh’s Redwood world. Like Hate explores what happens when love becomes mangled, when passion and intensity are no longer an expression of your love, but an expression of your hate, of your anger- and when hate becomes the security blanket you need to guard your heart from further pain. If you wrap enough hate for someone else around your heart, will it eventually stop beating for the person that hurt you?
Our story begins in high school, the evening after Axel has just laid his mother to rest. His devoted girlfriend, Harper, wants to be there so support him, to help heal his heart and care for him during his grief, which has included putting up with him being a less than stellar boyfriend over the last few months as his mother got sick. Axel loves Harper, she’s the girl he wants to be a better man for, but his only way of coping is to spiral- only this spiral results in unexpected consequences, and by the end of the night this couple is no more. Both feeling betrayed by the inexplicable actions of the other, their pure and tender love quickly turns to hate. We flash forward a year to find Axel at college- living his playboy dreams with Harper long out of mind. He was cruel to her until they graduated, action that was entirely off page, and has been free of her at school until she decides to transfer to his college. Not only do they have all the same friends, but she’s also now living across the street, so they can’t escape each other.
This is a quick paced read- the overall storyline (enemies to lovers, second chance) with the push pull is something I generally enjoy, and Axel has some alpha tendencies that are yummy. We move pretty quickly into the heart of the conflict without a lot of exposition- which given that I don’t super love second chance romances that are the result of easily-resolved misunderstandings and that span long time periods, I was glad we didn’t dwell there. But, the limited exposition meant that I also had little window into their past relationship, which means I didn’t really feel or buy into their purportedly intense connection in the future until much later- I just saw two young adults being hostile to each other. I did read this as a standalone, so there may have been context in prior books that would have helped me dial in emotionally earlier- characters from prior books appear but there is plenty of context here for me to “get” them without reading the previous books. For this couple though, these two have been friends since childhood, have already dated, but I just didn’t get a strong enough sense that they really knew each other emotionally, which made me less torn by the angst, even though it was entertaining. There are a few key emotional moments where the story does fade to black/off page impact (normally to flash forward), and I think actually being with our characters in those scenes longer and some aftermath moments could have also heightened by connection. Both characters have their charms, although Axel is a much louder, more vibrant character, and his growth is a little bit more substantial and more complex than Harper’s.
The writing style is crisp and accessible- and the plot is focused, which keeps things moving. Thematically, the subtleties of loving and hating- the bizarre sameness of them- comes across clearly. For Axel and Harper- hate isn’t a separate emotion. In Like Hate, hate is actually just a type of loving. The emotional investment, the intensity, the all consuming passionate fixation- it doesn’t exist if you don’t care about someone enough in the first place to exert your energy in hating them. I did start to feel more tied to them later in the story, and I was definitely rooting for them as a couple. The glimpses we had of other characters also made me want to pick up some other books. All in all, this was a fun and fast read- with a lot of angst, but easily digestible. Overall, 3.5 stars.
sandizzlereads's review against another edition
5.0
In this third book in the Redwood High and Rachel
has done it again. I love the characters in this series, they are real, they are young and do stupid things that make me want to shake some sense into them, but 18 year olds can be stupid. At any rate Rachel makes you root for these kids and wish the best for them.
I really enjoy the characters in this series, Rachel is great at character development, she gives us complex characters that makes you want to finish the book all at once!
has done it again. I love the characters in this series, they are real, they are young and do stupid things that make me want to shake some sense into them, but 18 year olds can be stupid. At any rate Rachel makes you root for these kids and wish the best for them.
I really enjoy the characters in this series, Rachel is great at character development, she gives us complex characters that makes you want to finish the book all at once!
raisingrogersbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Harper & Axel
enemies-to-lovers/bully romance
Harper is a sweetheart who silently holds in her hurt.
Axel is vindictive and and harbors hate for Harper since she broke up with him. He thrives off of making her life miserable.
These two have been through so much together and constantly are running into dead ends where Axel just keeps hurting Harper more. As much as she needs to Harper can’t stay away from Axel.
The growth and development of these two and their relationship is one that pushes and pulls at your heart. You see so many dynamics to what could be and what should be. If your looking for an Angsty read, this is it!
enemies-to-lovers/bully romance
Harper is a sweetheart who silently holds in her hurt.
Axel is vindictive and and harbors hate for Harper since she broke up with him. He thrives off of making her life miserable.
These two have been through so much together and constantly are running into dead ends where Axel just keeps hurting Harper more. As much as she needs to Harper can’t stay away from Axel.
The growth and development of these two and their relationship is one that pushes and pulls at your heart. You see so many dynamics to what could be and what should be. If your looking for an Angsty read, this is it!
powerlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Axel and Harper’s love/hate second-chance romance did not disappoint! They’re both very flawed characters, and I love how neither of them was truly innocent in the circumstances behind why they broke up in the first place a year earlier. That said, I loved how Axel really grew as a person. Harper develops more of a backbone as Axel figures out who he wants to be. While this book wasn’t quite as good as the second in the series, I still couldn’t put it down and I was incredibly invested in the relationship. 5 stars!
sandizzlereads's review against another edition
5.0
In this third book in the Redwood High and Rachel
has done it again. I love the characters in this series, they are real, they are young and do stupid things that make me want to shake some sense into them, but 18 year olds can be stupid. At any rate Rachel makes you root for these kids and wish the best for them.
I really enjoy the characters in this series, Rachel is great at character development, she gives us complex characters that makes you want to finish the book all at once!
has done it again. I love the characters in this series, they are real, they are young and do stupid things that make me want to shake some sense into them, but 18 year olds can be stupid. At any rate Rachel makes you root for these kids and wish the best for them.
I really enjoy the characters in this series, Rachel is great at character development, she gives us complex characters that makes you want to finish the book all at once!