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chainsiren's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, Sexual content, Drug use, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Physical abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Mental illness, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Terminal illness
acourtofstarsandmoons's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
One being the first 20% of the book, with Lennon’s insecurities a huge aspect of the book, was very very triggering for me. Being a bigger, bullied girl myself everything she said rang true - a little too true. Though I liked her mini glow up after the four year time jump it also felt a little gut wrenching for me. It was good for the character to become confident but it made me feel just that little bit shittier. But that’s a me problem.
I liked that this book straddled the line of dark/toxic and light. I’ve read much much worse than this in terms of dark and toxic but this still had elements of it that allowed me to be drawn in while also providing a strong emotional background that I don’t always read.
This book didn’t shock me with any of its ‘twists or turns’ but that also isn’t the goal of this novel. It’s a romance through and through, not a mystery.
I would recommend people read this book, it was emotional, the spice was great, there’s a HEA. I would just advise any curvy girls out there struggling as much as I still am with my insecurities, shame and self-hatred proceed with caution. This one hit me a lot.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Death of parent, Violence, Drug use, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting
bbygirl21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really love characters for the most part as well. Each one has their asshole moments except for maybe the girls. I mean they can get pretty frustrating at times. But they didn't really do anything that's really mean(aside from the bullies like Sabrina and one of the groupies). The guys on the other hand, they're always being rude in some way, but for the most part they all care about the girls to some extent.
I did almost cry at multiple parts of this book. It was sad reading about Lennon Father. I loved how close Lennon is with her dad. And to see her struggle with his diagnosis throughout this book and watch him slowly deteriorate in front of her was heartbreaking.
One thing I really loved about this book was that Lennon really made Phoenix work for her forgiveness and that she didn't get back with him easily. This was really slow paced in every way. And while they may have sex together often they don't actually get together until near the end. Phoenix really had to work for Lennon's trust forgiveness and love again. Which was a great thing about this book. While I don't mind an easy forgiveness in a book when it makes the story fast, it's nice to read a book once in a while where the characters make reach other work for it.
It's safe to say I'd absolutely recommend this book. I was very hesitant to read this for to the fact I heard there was a cheating element to this story and I don't really like when the MC's cheat. But I actually really enjoyed this book. It is pretty slow going at first like I said, bit once you get through those first 20 chapters, everything from that point on is pretty go go go and there's hardly any breaks. There's always something happening. But that's another thing I loved about this book.
Graphic: Car accident, Blood, Body shaming, Death of parent, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Sexual content, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Addiction
Minor: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Vomit, and Pregnancy
chelle22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Vomit
unicornofthesea'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
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Dementia, Eating disorder, Grief, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, and Pregnancy
mjdedevis24'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
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Grief, Rape, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Dementia, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse
megallenbooks'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
4.5
This story is told in two parts; the first follows the FMC (Lenon) and MMC (Phoenix) in high school and the start of their burgeoning relationship. I have to say I thought I had crossed an age threshold where stories, particularly romances, set in high school held no sway over me but I think reading them as a flash back that sets up the adult relationship for me might be a new catnip for me. Something about seeing the trauma that highschool is for so many people laid bare on the page, knowing we are going to see how it affects this person as an adult is deeply engaging.
Teen Phoenix and Lennon are pretty endearing too, particularly teen Phoenix, because you can see two sides of his personality at war with each other, the ass and the dream and how they war with each other and how they are tried by Lennon is kind of lovely. Likewise, seeing the seeds of the kickass heroine Lennon is going to grow up to be is also endearing.
Flash forward 4 years and we're into part 2, Phoenix is a rockstar and Lennon has found an inner confidence that we were dying for her to get in Part one. Their relationship has broken down in a big way (won't say how due to spoilers) but safe to say when Phoenix's manager hires Lennon to be Phoenix's sober companion, no one is worried that he will sleep with her and scare her away like the others. Let the force proximity games begin.
There was a lot to like about this book. Jade has great character voices and the angst and tension was just perfect. This was very spicy (🌶🌶🌶🌶) without feeling like erotica. The world building and secondary characters were great (side note: I have read she's not going to give Rock his own book which is a shame because I found him to be the most intriguing secondary character)
So why not 5 stars? A couple of this bugged me and I would have like them to change; the first was the short amount of time between part 1 and 2. Sure 4 years sounds like a lot, but given Phoenix had to form a band, record an album, win grammies, develop a serious substance abuse problem, it seems very fast. Likewise the amount of personal growth that Lennon went through is a lot to jam into 4 years. Having the characters be in their late 20s would have been even more impactful.
The other bit that didn't do it for me was the ending, the pacing was off and some parts dragged and others were so quick and out of left field I got a bit of whiplash.
That said, this was a great angsty read and a recommend.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Dementia, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Infidelity
hq_reads'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
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Death, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Infidelity and Domestic abuse
marybsimp'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
4.5
Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Infidelity, Medical content, and Terminal illness
katsbookedout's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Fatphobia and Sexual content
Moderate: Drug use and Addiction
Minor: Infidelity, Car accident, and Death