A review by kb33
The Goal, by Elle Kennedy

tense slow-paced
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was not the lighthearted, accidental pregnancy trope read that I expected. It highlighted a lot of the negative things that women experience with an accidental pregnancy, especially doubt, accusations, and cruelty from friends and her boyfriend’s mom. 

Another thing that bothered me was that while Sabrina is very intelligent and hard working, and Tucker is smart enough to take her history of family trauma into account during their relationship, neither of them is smart enough to think that maybe therapy would benefit her, and by extension, their family?? Really?? So many romance tropes include characters with extraordinarily traumatic pasts, and very few of them ever go to therapy to find healthy ways to heal and move on. Please normalize therapy for traumatized characters. 

That said, I liked Tucker and Sabrina. They both cared about each other and only wanted the best for the other, even if they weren’t sure how to get there and weren’t willing to go to therapy, meaning they took the entire novel to admit they love each other. 

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