Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - November 9

This book proved to me Colleen Hoover’s first psychological thriller was not Verity.

After finishing the book I wondered to myself, why did I read this? The truth is I get fomo and my curiosity of understanding what gives writing mass appeal got the better of me. Colleen Hoover wrote the worst romantic male lead I’ve ever read. I remember when he was fucking his dead brother’s wife I was screaming with rage, but babes I was in for an even worse storm and I didn’t know it.

Also the fact that he got an agent to potentially publish his story detailing the very criminal action he committed without fear of law enforcement is peak white privilege.

ALSO THAT CLUB SCENE. Remember girlies it’s not SA if you like it. Even if you’re saying stop or nothing at all. It’s not assault if you’re wet due to a natural physiological response the body does to prevent injury not out of arousal (read Come As You Are by Dr. Emily Nagoski Colleen Hoover Stan’s PLEASE). In case you don’t understand the tone I’m being sarcastic. Fallon was assaulted in the club by Ben and her moaning does not change the fact that she was not consenting ESPECIALLY BC SHE WAS DRUNK AND HE KNEW IT. UGHHH IM SO ANGRY

In the words of Taylor, “I wish you’d left me wondering”

Content Warnings

routheboat's review

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dark emotional fast-paced

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

1.0

instead of reading this crap with a main love interest who's a walking red flag and actions/themes that are not treated with any critical thought or narrative nuance, consider going to your nearest ao3 fandom tag and filter for the most kudos-ed 5+1 fic. i reckon you'd pick up more value there and if not, at least u could excuse it for being written by an amateur most-likely-teenage writer instead of a published married adult author.

Content Warnings

jokehelldo's review

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-1000000/5 stars. Please, delete this book.

Are you trying to tell me that the book about
*Cough*
Abuse, sexual assault, gaslighting, stalking, scar (that are you falt) fetishizing, dead-brother-wife-who-you-see-as-your-sister fucking, marking people who attend suicide as „attention seekers” and much, much more shit is a „romance book”?
You must be joking

Content Warnings

katy157's review

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hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

dwon_reads_a_lot's review

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

WOW!! This book was absolutely toxic from the first chapter to the last. As my first Colleen Hoover book, it has left a very bad taste in my mouth. If this is how she writes her male characters as toxic, misogynistic assholes, and the female characters letting them walk all over them and being forgiving for their horrible and blatant mental and in this book physical abusive behavior; this needs to be the first and last of her books that I ever read.

Honestly, after everything that happened to piss me off about Ben and his totally inappropriate behavior and mental degradement of Fallon, the plot twist wasn't that surprising. But Hoover's completion of Fallon's complete boundaryless personality by her forgiveness of Ben just put a nail in the coffin of this so-called "romance" novel.

Content Warnings