Reviews with content warning for Medical content - The Kiss Quotient

Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

49 reviews

katiecoconut21's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.25

The Kiss Quotient is the first contemporary romance I have read, and I really enjoyed it!

This story is essentially a gender-swapped Pretty Woman, with a more diverse set of lovable characters.

Stella is an econometrician with autism. Michael is serving as an escort to help

pay for his mom's cancer treatment

. Pushed by her mom, Stella hires Michael to help her

learn to be better at sex and relationships

. Seeing their romance develop was incredibly heartwarming for me, and I truly enjoyed this story.

The main criticism I saw before reading was that their relationship felt like insta-love. I would agree with this sentiment, but I did not find it to be bothersome. With this premise, I think it might be a little difficult for the romance to progress without a little insta-love, and thus did not find it to be particularly problematic.

I found this romance to be delightfully unique due to the set of circumstances and diverse cast. I recommend it for any contemporary romance reader!

Content Warnings

alexelli's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

Content Warnings

gabyhat's review

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hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

The romance in this book was GOOD. Loved the ASD representation, though as someone without the disorder I cannot speak on whether it was accurate or not. Will definitelyyyy be reading more from Helen Huang.

I removed a star because I started to get frustrated with Michael’s character. He was so frustrated by Philip’s nonconsensual kisses toward Stella but did the same thing at the end in an act of “love”. Stella still said no & at this point Michael was showing more toxic possesiom of her than cute, sexy posession. Also hated Michael’s little obsession with fucking a teacher. It’s not cute and sexualizes my profession 🙃 no thank you.

Content Warnings

hayleyvem's review against another edition

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emotional 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

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just_jess02's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring tense slow-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

3.75

This was not at all what I expected. Usually the emotional aspects of romance novels feel like a formality to connect the erotic moments to me. This book is 90% emotional and mental descriptions with about 10% smut. I surprisingly really enjoyed it! The author did a fantastic job weaving tension through the story and keeping me engaged. I was able to empathize with most of the characters and really connect with the nuances of the relationships. While I strongly resonated with Stella on a personal level and enjoyed the representation of her POV, there was something about the depiction of her character that bothered me… I just can’t quite figure out what.
Definitely worth the read if you’re looking for something casual and short. It’s not very spicy but it is very hot.
🌶️1.5/5

Content Warnings

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.

Content Warnings

helfire124's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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

racheyreads's review against another edition

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challenging 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

3.75

For a romance, this book was beautiful, steamy and spicy!

The relationship between Michael and Stella was adorable and his affection for her had me falling in love with them as a couple. This would also be my first read featuring a person who is, in story, diagnosed with autism and I have found myself learning a lot from Stella as a character.

Though this book was spicy, I loved the dynamic they shared as a couple. Most romance novels really make you feel like a fly on the wall, witnessing verbal drawl of intimacy. However, Helen really brought these characters to life with her writing and I felt invested in their relationship. When they were happy, sad, awkward or troubled I felt it with them and the experience of the book was so much more than what I expected.

Definitely will be looking into the other books Helen has written, and if she has made the others just like this one I'm in for a treat!

Content Warnings

serendipity421's review

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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

Content Warnings

camillarossi's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

Content Warnings

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