Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Rovnica lásky

I feel like I'm not 100% satisfied, but still satisfied enough that even rating this 4.75 stars doesn't feel right, so I'm still giving it five full stars.

I didn't fully like Michael, he felt a bit off at times, but I did enjoy the autism representation and I always adore seeing autistic characters handle relationships in different ways, so that part kind of overshadowed my uncertainty about the mmc.

I wish there had been more discussion about both Stella and Micheal's insecurities and misunderstandings towards the end. We saw them tell those things to themselves and kind of figure them out on their own, but I wanted more of actual conversations about them with each other.

Content Warnings: fatphobia, ableism, sexual assault, cancer (side character/family member), abandonment, infidelity, mention of stalking, panic attack.

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jerbarger's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

My expectations were really high because of the hype around this book… let me be the first to say that it’s FINE, it’s not AMAZING like I have been led to believe. First of all, there was not enough tension. Most of the problems stemmed from lack of communication- which I suppose is a trait of autism BUT that can’t be the biggest problem for a story to work! They just needed to talk for 97% of the book and everything would work itself out. Secondly, if you made Stella neurotypical, this would be just like any other bad 90s romcom where the nerdy girl is just absolutely perfect at everything and there are no issues. Which btw, is actually so unrealistic and honestly a bit harmful toward women, ESPECIALLY neurodivergent women, who ~most of the time~ will not have an easy go at it like Stella does. The biggest problem at the end of the day is that there just aren’t enough romcoms or even fiction about women with autism, so when your limited options are not all perfect, then it becomes a bummer and it’s easier to see the flaws. Sure, autistic women deserve to see themselves represented in a romcom- but at what cost when it’s one of the only ones available?

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wanderlust_romance's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Truly delightful! I am embarrassed at how long this book had been on the periphery of my awareness but remained unread. I loved the premise of The Kiss Quotient, and I'm totally a sucker for fake dating/fake relationship. That aspect combined with the sex lessons, the autism spectrum representation in the FMC, the MMC's Vietnamese family and cultural dynamics, layered with the humor and (oh my!) the spice made this really enjoyable. It was also a very reflective take on living life on your own terms, medical debt, and what it means to overburden yourself to protect your family. I listened to this in it's audio version and found the narration to be well done.

My only gripe about The Kiss Quotient is that Michael starts off as a CONSENT KING, which I absolutely loved, and towards the end of the book that emphasis on explicit consent faded out. I also found the resolution towards the end a bit rushed in comparison to how the rest of the plot/character development had played out.

Still, I cannot wait to read/listen to the remainder of the books in this series.

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bertrandlm's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

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m4rtt4's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

the first half of the book would have been closer to 5 stars for me, but the rest of the book was closer to 3 stars as it started to annoy me and the ending was unnecessarily stretched — so an average of 4 stars.

The spicy scenes were well written, considerate over both consent and contraception, and also surprisingly non-awkward to listen to on an audiobook — I mean, who wouldn't like Michael? I didn't appreciate some of his word choices though; who on earth finds terms like "pornstar nipples" sexy?? The characters' insecurities felt raw and relatable in the beginning, but over time it felt like their insecurities became their only personality trait as they both were so stuck in their ways and bathing in self-loath.

side note: I also saw (too) much of myself in Stella especially regarding to her relationships — should I finally go get a proper diagnosis?

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carlyjoann's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-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

2.75

I had a lot of mixed feelings about this one from the beginning. The spice takes over most of the start of the book so it felt like it took awhile to get to the story and get to know both characters. I mostly had a hard time with some of the story elements and how things played out.

The main plot that the FMC is paying the MMC as escourt to help her become “good at sex” felt icky at the beginning. I was glad to see that he didn’t take the money even if I hated how the FMC took that as “pity” for her being autistic. Also the heavy implications that the FMC has been sexually assaulted by previous lovers was just glossed over. The MMC having a “stalker” who shows up twice and is revealed as the mother of the FMC’s workplace romantic interest was just a bit much for me. The over characterization of the FMC’s workplace romantic interest was also just a lot. I understood he was a misogynistic womanizer immediately but it got a lot of page time for a tiny side plot in the end. The MMC had a pretty constant self loathing narrative which is resolved with a few words from the FMC, her profession of love just felt like a magic fix for all his problems. The FMC being super rich is mentioned a lot and at the end you find out just how rich she really is which was a very very high number. I did like what she did with it in the end though.

It was a quick read and had cute moments but with the writing style and certain story issues it was not something I really enjoyed overall.

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gpfot's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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m_a_j's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

2.0

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