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ashlightgrayson's review
emotional
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
4.0
Elodie and Lucas were pretty well established characters in Nairne and Zed's story and it was nice to finally see them together. Lucas is dealing with an emerging disability and ties his self worth to being able bodied. He has a lot of denial that he has to work through, part of which affects his relationship with Elodie. Despite how stubborn he was throughout the story pertaining to his disability, I think he is a good representation of what a lot of people that become disabled later in life feel. The idea of having to change the way you function on a day to day basis is nothing short of overwhelming. Lucas goes through some amazing character development once he accepts that his disability is inevitable and takes steps to change his life that behoove him. It was brave and beautiful to see and reinvigorated my sense of admiration for people who learn to deal with the challenges that come with disability. Through Elodie we also see how people around those dealing with disability can try to be helpful in ways that enable rather than improve the situation. There comes a point in Elodie and Lucas's relationship that she feels like he is not communicating with her and is refusing her help. He does to an extent, however, part of it is also because nobody can deal with the reality of Lucas's disability except for Lucas. As supportive as Elodie is, the person most affected by the disability is Lucas. Therefore, he has to take time to deal with it himself, otherwise he is being enabled by someone else. It's a great lesson to be learned and paints disability in a much more nuanced light that I haven't seen in many other works. I actually enjoyed this spin-off more than I did the first book in the Tough Love series.
I'm looking forward to seeing Teo's story as well as learning more about Lucas's coach. It would be fun to get them both in a room together honestly. They seem like they would have explosive energy in a room, even if it was platonic. They would at the very least make good friends, I think.
It was also great to see how well Elodie's miscarriage was handled. The scene where she has the miscarriage and the depression she goes through following it is understandable and created a sense of empathy. It was also great to see her be able to recover from that and grieve together with a supportive partner.
It was also great to see how well Elodie's miscarriage was handled. The scene where she has the miscarriage and the depression she goes through following it is understandable and created a sense of empathy. It was also great to see her be able to recover from that and grieve together with a supportive partner.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Sexual content