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lucky_readr's review against another edition
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent
The adult/minor relationship is not actually an adult/minor relationship, but there is a graphic sex scene between him and his ex-wife while she pretends to be a 16 year old and he's 37 years old. You don't find out until the very end that it's his ex-wife.falafellaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Car accident, and Pregnancy
mariskyjy's review
- 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
Phoebe is a wonderful, stubborn heroine, who finds a way to deceive men into thinking she's a "sex bomb" and a "bimbo" - always a good trope in my book! She's not a brat or uptight about it, she's very funny and kind.
Dan is fairly complex as a hero, and while his beliefs about marriage were antiquated, they weren't unexpected. Their banter is great, and I love, love how stubborn Phoebe gets, as well as how sweet Dan can be with her.
I also really enjoyed the side characters - Ron, Molly, and Darnell in particular! Also, the sex scenes (with the except of the first one
Cons: Everything was tied up very nearly in the last chapter/epilogue, which seemed a little cheesy to me (but again, not unexpected). Also a minor con but as a romance reader, I did NOT understand any of the football talk - I kind of just fumbled through those parts (get it?). Mentions of a certain orange man gave me heartburn. Also the "big bad" reveal was... Not great.
Regardless, this book definitely exceeded my expectations. I think it'll be sticking with me a while.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Grief, and Death of parent
Listed sexual assault / rape as graphictrashbinfluencer's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
harmonj3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
There are multiple plots playing out and the ways they converged was well done. I also didn’t feel like the characters that were introduced that make up the other books in this series made things hard to follow
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Misogyny and Stalking
literaryintersections's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
There are so many issues (the rape is extremely graphic, the fatphobia (internalized and external), the misogyny and sexism a lot of it from the main love interest 🥴🥴, the random remarks about the Deep South (like the comment about the football players being lined up like plantation slaves to their owner who has just died……). I mean I know this was the 90s but WHEW. But there are also things where SEP and s ahead of her time: support of queer and gay people, mentioning people with AIDs as being left behind with the main character working with them, befriending, donating. Like they are her friends not people she pities. The idea that women are more than just pure/madonna or bimbos. The idea that Black young men who are athletic are taken for their abilities but their intellects are completely disregarded and not fostered. Now is there some white saviorism in here? Sure. But again, I think a lot of it is a product of the 90s.
I love Phoebe. I used to love Dan in a nostalgic way. But yall he is a mess and needs to grovel and change in order to be good enough for her. And the jump scare of him messing with a 16 year old (he’s not it’s kinky games with his ex wife) really got me this time 😂😂.
Overall I think this book needs to be looked at as a reflection of the mess and problems of the 90s, but also as a book that really started the sports romance genre. And also SEP really is one of the early starters of a super messed up man who is problematic and misogynistic but just needs the love of a good woman to change him. Like the alpha man stuff started with her.
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Violence
Minor: Racism
sten89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The writing was pretty good. Some chapters would switch perspectives with no clear transfer that took me a while to get used to.
Graphic: Bullying, Fatphobia, and Rape
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, and Death of parent
navisti's review
1.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment
mabelvv's review
Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, and Rape