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turnthepages_nl's review against another edition
5.0
Maar voor nu, absoluut een aanrader!!
Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Medical content
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcohol
now_booking's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The premise is that Harper is a high-achieving final year dental student struggling with an intense anxiety disorder, PTSD and a fear of failure who meets Dan, a former financial sector guru turned dental student bearing the crushing weight of expectation to carry on the family dental business. Sparks fly immediately and “Dental Dan” is all in till their unresolved issues get in the way of their happiness.
I think this was written with a lot of understanding and empathy for people with anxiety disorder. It dealt with themes of parental death and grief and anxiety and pressure really well and I think those parts of the book were dealt with the best. I really enjoyed the secondary characters (Thu, Indira, Lizzy, even Alex) but I felt like more could have been made of them to make a richer, more balanced story. Everytime they were on the page, they shone but I think sometimes they disappeared a lot. I also felt that for being so nosy, they kind of didn’t speak up to Harper in ways they could have before things got really bad. I couldn’t tell if this was because they didn’t know how bad her mental health was or if it was that they didn’t want to rock the boat, but there was some dissonance with how intrusive they otherwise were as a trait of their friendship. I think Alex could have been better utilized as a friend for Dan, giving him someone else to talk to and to develop as a character within his complex relationship with his mother rather than just Harper and internal monologues. I also think it would have been good to see that relationship in person especially since she wasn’t live particularly far away so that we could make our own judgements.
One thing I really liked about Harper and Dan was that they were (eventually) good commmunicators and the development of the friendship and transition to lovers was a delight to read. For an Instlove-based plot, their coupledom was very believable. I’m glad I read this and would read something else from this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publishers.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism and Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
collie98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
bookswithca's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail