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dhanon's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Abandonment
chloebear21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Vomit, and Abandonment
Minor: Death of parent
roorooreads'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
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Vomit and Death of parent
kaitidid's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment
Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, and Fire/Fire injury
akswhy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Car accident
mwilder's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Minor: Death, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
carbs666's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
I feel like in an effort to highlight Emma's attachment issues and unresolved trauma, Justin gets somewhat flattened into a Good Guy who will Do What It Takes, despite the fact that he, too, is dealing with a LOT and has been for several years. I also felt like Maddy spends the first third of the book just relentlessly delivering extremely harsh truths to Emma in a way that seems designed to push Emma away (which is clearly NOT Maddy's intention) and made it hard for me to find her likeable. I also felt like the level of self-delusion that Emma is living with regarding her own upbringing the impact it had on her felt a bit unrealistic for someone in her line of work and with the skills, knowledge, and experience she has. (Also, and this is just a contemporary romance pet peeve of mine, Maddy's initial characterization is somewhat meme-ified for me by her use of internet lingo - one time she says "unalive" out loud unironically - and the way she tells Emma prevailing millennial internet wisdom as if Emma is not a woman in her late twenties with her own internet connection.)
All of that nitpicking aside, I enjoyed Jiminez's writing a lot. It was very clear that the topics of mental health and trauma were thoroughly researched and extremely sensitively handled. I liked the way life got messy for the MCs and there wasn't any sugar-coating about it - that all felt very real. Usually I find plots where the main barrier to the HEA is that one MC has a deeply seated personal issues to address tend to have a reconciliation feels like a hasty, but in this case I genuinely felt like Emma was committed to healing, keeping her chaos demon mom out of the picture, and showing up for her new family. (I also had no idea that Amber and Neil were villians in previous Jiminez novels until I read the Q&A but that is an extremely clever choice on her part!) Basically, if you like a romance thats 95% emotional turmoil and internal conflict and, like, 2% very non-explicit sex, 3% family bonding scenes, this is a perfect book for you!
Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent
tguccione's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Death of parent
streberkatze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity, Car accident, and Pregnancy
meganm1587's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism and Child abuse
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent