Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Rovnica lásky

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Rovnica lásky by Helen Hoang

17 reviews

jerbarger's review against another edition

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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baileycheshire's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Content Warnings

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

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funny 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

4.0

This was a very sweet book. The main strengths are the characters, which I thought were really interesting and easy to connect to. It does suffer from a great deal of the miscommunication trope to the point where it can start to get annoying. I also think the book delights in teasing you in regards to spice which started to get annoying after a while but it did feel real. I overall just had an enjoyable time.

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teatunesandtales's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad 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

5.0

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

1.5

This book started out so well and was on the way to being a solid four-star read, but alas, did not work for me in the end. I enjoyed the autistic representation (written by an autistic author), Michael’s family and the portrayal of Vietnamese culture, and Stella. I loved her — she’s such a complex and unique character and had a great character arc. Hated the rest, lol. Stella and Michael’s attraction seemed almost purely physical; I wanted to see a stronger emotional connection, more substance. I was uncomfortable with the way that sex work and sex workers were portrayed at several points. I don’t think the topic of sexual assault was handled very well or really unpacked properly by Stella. Michael says his mother dying would ‘free’ him, framing sick/disabled people as burdens on their family (granted I have no experience with the American healthcare system but surely that’s the real issue here).

Mostly, though, it was Michael who ruined the book for me. He’s pushy, domineering, overly possessive, and can’t take no for an answer. He literally stalks Stella and follows her home, repeatedly goes after her and presses his romantic attentions on her after she turns him down and tells him to leave her alone MULTIPLE TIMES. That’s not sexy; it’s creepy and scary. Yet when another man won’t take no for an answer, he’s angry even though it’s a very similar kind of behaviour as his own. One is portrayed as wrong and the other OK purely based on who is perpetrating the behaviour. Make it make sense. Not only that but after being sexually assaulted which is obviously very upsetting for Stella, does he offer her support or comfort? No, he feels the need to ‘mark her as his’ as if she’s his property. She initially tells him no to kissing after such a traumatic event and is clearly uncomfortable with it but does he respect that? Of course not, he forces her into it anyway and then fucks her because HE needs it! Fuck Stella’s needs, I guess.

Of course, he knew she didn’t really want him to leave her alone because he knows better. Same with the sex scenes: he overrides her own wishes (that she states to him clearly) and pushes her into doing things she dislikes and feels uncomfortable with because he apparently knows better than her about her own body. He tells her to dress and do her hair how he likes it rather than how she prefers. She can’t even eat what she wants without him trying to control it. He knows she has a hard time in loud/social situations and she tells him she’d rather go home because she’s tired, but he forces her to go to his large, boisterous family’s house anyway. He’s just forever violating her boundaries even (and especially) when she says she’s uncomfortable with doing something. Yeah, he says all the right things about respecting her consent, but his actions and thoughts don’t line up so it just feels manipulative and patronising. He may be teaching her how to be in a relationship but it’s certainly not a healthy one. The controlling behaviour, questionable consent, and complete disregard for Stella’s agency really put me off and made me feel uneasy.

There were also a few things that bothered me in terms of writing. Michael is described as looking like a specific celebrity, which is not only a lazy way to describe someone but just something I despise, especially in romance. Much of Michael’s inner monologue comes off as immature with dude-bro style casual misogyny (e.g. ‘the only reason a woman should wear a pencil skirt is to show off her ass’). The book is laden with bizarre lines such as ‘a natural talent for fucking’ (LMAO) and ‘she had the kind of nipples men and babies dreamed about’ (what??). The dirty talk was... not good.

I can’t believe this book got recommended to me as having a kind, gentle hero and good consent. I am genuinely baffled. If that is what you want then this book is not it.

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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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

3.5

Writing: 3.5⭐️/5

The writing shined at certain moments and at others, it felt forced and trope-driven. The dialogue suffered at moments as well, reading more like strained conversations than natural communication. That being said, some moments were very well written and kept me engaged until the end.

Characters: 3.75⭐️/5

I loved the inclusion of a woman with autism as the main love interest. The slow reveal of her autism felt nice as well, as the readers become comfortable with her “quirks” rather than just as a woman with autism. I think, while the main characters were intriguing, they did lack a bit of human quality to make them fully believable.

Plot: 3.5⭐️/5

The plot was fun, as long as you don’t think too hard about certain aspects. I felt the backstory of Michael’s dad was both withheld for far too long and also less significant than all the foreshadowing seemed to imply it would be. I did, however, love the handling of the fake dating trope, even if it started from a slightly ridiculous spot.

Who Should Read This Book?

Fans of romance novels with a bit of heat
Those looking for a romance novel with a unique narrator

Content Warnings?

Sexual content, ableism, sexual harassment, toxic relationship, toxic friendship,

Post-Reading Rating: 4⭐️/5

Very fun to read.

Final Rating: 3.5⭐️/5

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serendipity421's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

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jazzseeks's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.75

I am not a fan of contemporary romance usually but this is certainly the best one I've ever read. What I really loved was how relatable the Main Character was as a woman with Autism and how much <Michael loved her for the ways she was unique and not inspite of who she is>. I found the romance believable, funny, and deeply enjoyable. <Michaels family is lovely.> The only things I didn't like were how horrible a lot of the tertiary characters were such as the parents, the coworkers, the ex clients. Those parts were painful to get through and didn't always feel vital to the story or characters development. Also Helen Hoang is really pro-capitalist and I'm never into that though I enjoyed flipping the trope so that the Woman had the money.

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kmrose's review against another edition

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funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.0

I’m not sure this was worth the hype in my opinion, but it was a fun read. Very interesting to be inside the mindset of someone on the spectrum. I enjoyed learning how she approached her interactions with everyone around her.

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library_of_al's review against another edition

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The way the author forced the MC to do things she was uncomfortable with was not ok. This book was absolutely awful. I did skip ahead to the romance scene and it made me extremely uncomfortable. I wouldn’t recommend this book to my worst enemy.

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