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sarahac'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
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Grief, and Car accident
Moderate: Infertility and Sexual content
Minor: Blood and War
senga15'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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Medical content
Minor: Miscarriage, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
kgregg88's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Graphic: Infertility
Moderate: Death and Car accident
Minor: War
chicprincess03's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death and Infertility
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: War
Coma, Drunk Driving, Widow, Uterine Fibroidscutepatzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War
sammymilfort's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Vomit, Pregnancy, and War
hannahbrixton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I loved the connection between Josh and Kristen but I felt like her steadfast refusal to be with him went on a little longer than necessary... even after they endured a traumatic event that should have been eye-opening, she stuck to her guns and it got a little frustrating.
The HEA ending was lovely for them and yet I would have liked to see it handled differently because it felt like the rug was pulled out from under the entire premise... I'm being vague on purpose so as to avoid spoilers here :)
The characters felt real, natural, and genuine and I loved the banter between the MCs. The writing was good, sometimes intense or suspenseful and emotionally evocative, which kept me listening and made it overall an enjoyable listen.
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, and War
nicolewithbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Infertility
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Blood, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Violence, Death of parent, and War
Ocd, breakuprickireadss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
let me start by saying i was very excited for this book and series after reading “part of your world” by jimenez which i absolutely LOVED. with that being said, i absolutely LOATHE this book and am very glad i never purchased a copy but instead borrowed from libby.
i’m just going to list each point that i hated and go into detail of why.
⚠️tw/cw: infertility, car accident, death of side character, chronic illness, medical trauma, injury/injury detail, grief, emotional abuse, toxic relationship, infidelity (not mcs), gaslighting, miscarriage, pregnancy, body shaming, sexism, stalking/breaking in, war
⛔️SPOILERS BELOW⛔️
⛔️SPOILERS BELOW⛔️
⛔️SPOILERS BELOW⛔️
infertility/fertility issues: this was the MAIN (and really only) conflict between kristen and josh. he wanted kids, made it abundantly clear in multiple conversations (by saying he wanted them the “natural way” and didn’t want to adopt… RED FLAG, BRO, RED FLAG), and it was why he left his ex girlfriend because she didn’t want them. BECAUSE OF THIS, kristen decided to keep her fertility issues from josh - which is in her right - and made it clear to josh that if they were to have any type of relationship, it would only be a friends-with-benefits deal, no romantic feelings. they both enter that and then of course both catch really feelings for each other. my issue is that she doesn’t disclose WHY she can’t be with josh until like the 80-85% mark. he repeatedly confronted her to see why she felt like they couldn’t be together and she just kept not telling him. MISCOMMUNICATION AT ITS FINEST. i was getting so upset at her for not just saying it because she felt like it would break his heart and he wouldn’t want to be with her, but she kept pushing him away???? like girl, you’re are confusing yourself and everybody around you.
ALSO- with that being a main conflict between them but then they finally decided to get together and that it was okay, they have a miracle baby…. are. you. fvcking . kidding. me. i understand that this is fiction. i understand miracle babies happen. but i wanted a more realistic outcome and ending. it felt like the fertility issues at that point were just thrown into the plot to create conflict and used as a ploy. why did they have to miraculously have a baby??? why couldn’t they just be happy with the two of them?? why couldn’t they have adopted children?? why couldn’t they have used one of the sisters (like they talked about) as a surrogate??? just that entire thing made me angry.
OCD representation: it wasn’t revealed until the like 85/90% mark that kristen had OCD and i felt like it was a vvvvvvery poor and stereotypical portrayal of someone with OCD. when she first said something about her “manic-bess” and “OCD self”, i thought it was one of those times where people just use ACTUAL MENTAL ILLNESSES/DISORDERS in everyday convo and i was about to get really angry. come to find out, she has OCD??? where? how? why is this JUST now being brought up?
brandon’s death: i felt like this came out of left field to create chaos. it also felt like a ploy to shove the two mcs together like “this made us realize how short life is” and josh even mentions how he doesn’t want her to end up like sloane and having no say over him if he were to just die AND THEN PROPOSES??? fvçk no.
impromptu proposal: literally wtf. this was unnecessary, way too fast, and made the ending that much worse.
family trauma / lack of therapy: kristen’s mom was a grade-A b!tch and a horrible mother. we were introduced to the sh!tshow that was her, but then it was never addressed again until sloane told kristen to grow tf up and go after josh. um excuse me??? why was that not unpacked at all… like her mother clearly fvcked her up with her comments and how she treated kristen but also kristen mentioned that she didn’t go to therapy (or did a long time ago but doesn’t anymore, i honestly don’t remember) but also if she has OCD, i would think going to therapy on a regular basis would be normal for her because she has the means to go to therapy - she makes good money this is referenced several times throughout the book, and the fact that she doesn’t go to therapy regularly makes the whole OCD diagnosis feel like it was also just thrown in there for sh!ts and giggles.
okay, i’m done. i honestly don’t want to expend anymore brain power on this. i did not like this book. i would not recommend if any of the cw listed below trigger you. the 2 stars are for the mere fact that i did not DNF this, and the fact that this could have been a good book if the author had taken a few different approaches and had some good sensitivity readers (idk if she had some or not, but if she did, i do not feel like she had the right ones.)
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: War
thefatpaperback's review against another edition
1.5
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail