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bookishmillennial's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
I loved the Spoiler Alert series by Olivia Dade, but I had issues with the pacing in some of those books. Months or weeks would pass, we would be thrown into a whirlwind of exposition, and then boom! Conflict! Resolution! Alert the presses, they have *fallen in love* !!! I had very similar issues with this book, and that's not to say that I didn't appreciate or like this book. I really did! I thought it was heartbreaking and represented one person's experience with depression so carefully and bravely. I just wish we had less exposition, and more showing on-page.
The pacing let me down in the prologue and first few chapters of this book especially. I am an unimpressed, judgmental, pretentious asshole so when I learned that the main character Athena moves in right next door to her ex-fiance Johnny's older brother Matthew, I immediately got the ick. I don't want to yuck anyone's yum, and I don't want to act as if I am better than anyone (I'm not, and I can't say I wouldn't do it!), but even though it was so clear that Athena and Johnny weren't each other's "person," it felt too jarring and too quick to posit his brother Matthew as her new love interest. I adore a little forced proximity and some forbidden love, but this just felt too soon. I literally jumped from the prologue into the first chapter thinking, 'Oh my GOD, is she going to get with his brother? The same one who convinced Johnny to break off their engagement, which commenced this current spiral of heartache and ennui?!'
Besides the romance, I didn't feel invested in or pulled into the book until about 60% in, which I think is too long to begin to care about characters or feel enticed to read your book. There is a massive tragedy that happens in Matthew and Johnny's family during their childhood and infancy (Matthew is 7 years older than Johnny), which essentially rips the entire family apart, so I felt that devastation and the desperation to hold onto any semblance of family that one had. I can only imagine the horror of what this family endured.
When it came to the steamy scenes, I think we can all agree the window scene was chef's kiss. It was the belle of the damn ball. Nobody is taking that away from Miss Olivia Dade. However, the dirty talk in some of the other scenes felt like I was watching a 70's porn video, I am SERIOUS! I was like, 'wait wait wait, WHO talks like this?' Maybe I am outing myself as a pillow princess or something, but come on. Some of that dialogue was so goofy hahaha.
I will say that the way Olivia Dade wrote the representation of experiencing the ebbs and flows of going in and out of depression was quite thorough and with great care. The scenes of Matthew tending to and caring for Athena were this couple's shining moments. He is truly a big ol' sweetie, even if he is a grumpy curmudgeon, but he's very soft for Athena.
Steam rating: 3/5
see content warnings below!
I loved the Spoiler Alert series by Olivia Dade, but I had issues with the pacing in some of those books. Months or weeks would pass, we would be thrown into a whirlwind of exposition, and then boom! Conflict! Resolution! Alert the presses, they have *fallen in love* !!! I had very similar issues with this book, and that's not to say that I didn't appreciate or like this book. I really did! I thought it was heartbreaking and represented one person's experience with depression so carefully and bravely. I just wish we had less exposition, and more showing on-page.
The pacing let me down in the prologue and first few chapters of this book especially. I am an unimpressed, judgmental, pretentious asshole so when I learned that the main character Athena moves in right next door to her ex-fiance Johnny's older brother Matthew, I immediately got the ick. I don't want to yuck anyone's yum, and I don't want to act as if I am better than anyone (I'm not, and I can't say I wouldn't do it!), but even though it was so clear that Athena and Johnny weren't each other's "person," it felt too jarring and too quick to posit his brother Matthew as her new love interest. I adore a little forced proximity and some forbidden love, but this just felt too soon. I literally jumped from the prologue into the first chapter thinking, 'Oh my GOD, is she going to get with his brother? The same one who convinced Johnny to break off their engagement, which commenced this current spiral of heartache and ennui?!'
Besides the romance, I didn't feel invested in or pulled into the book until about 60% in, which I think is too long to begin to care about characters or feel enticed to read your book. There is a massive tragedy that happens in Matthew and Johnny's family during their childhood and infancy (Matthew is 7 years older than Johnny), which essentially rips the entire family apart, so I felt that devastation and the desperation to hold onto any semblance of family that one had. I can only imagine the horror of what this family endured.
When it came to the steamy scenes, I think we can all agree the window scene was chef's kiss. It was the belle of the damn ball. Nobody is taking that away from Miss Olivia Dade. However, the dirty talk in some of the other scenes felt like I was watching a 70's porn video, I am SERIOUS! I was like, 'wait wait wait, WHO talks like this?' Maybe I am outing myself as a pillow princess or something, but come on. Some of that dialogue was so goofy hahaha.
I will say that the way Olivia Dade wrote the representation of experiencing the ebbs and flows of going in and out of depression was quite thorough and with great care. The scenes of Matthew tending to and caring for Athena were this couple's shining moments. He is truly a big ol' sweetie, even if he is a grumpy curmudgeon, but he's very soft for Athena.
Steam rating: 3/5
see content warnings below!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Grief
craftyhilary's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
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
Athena, in her late 30s, has never quite settled on her path in life. With multiple graduate degrees and a string of short employment stints, she falls for and plans to marry handsome and charming pediatrician Johnny Vine. That is, till Johnny's older brother, Matthew, persuades him otherwise. While Johnny jets off on Athena's dream honeymoon, on Matthew's dime, Athena moves to Harlot's Bay and into the spite house that shares a wall with Johnny's house and, unexpectedly, an alley with Matthew's. Understandably furious, Athena immediately goes on the offensive with Matthew, but he's not quite the man she thought he was, and vice versa.
Sparkling with Olivia Dade's signature wit, this is a surprisingly funny novel for one with such heavy themes (grief over the death of sibling in childhood, depression, feelings of abandonment, and low self-worth ) and relationship angst. Those felt a little bit incongruous with the rom-com set-up, and I felt like the depressive episode and Athena's serious issues were dealt with a bit too neatly with some pills and a little therapy , but I felt like the ending was earned.
Extra points for a hilarious cast of local weirdos, lots of librarians, and the fact that monster-f*cking erotica was a major plot point. Oh, and healthy diversity, and a generously proportioned heroine whose body is not an issue for her or for anyone else (and a hero who loves her curves without fetishizing them).
Sparkling with Olivia Dade's signature wit, this is a surprisingly funny novel for one with such heavy themes (
Extra points for a hilarious cast of local weirdos, lots of librarians, and the fact that monster-f*cking erotica was a major plot point. Oh, and healthy diversity, and a generously proportioned heroine whose body is not an issue for her or for anyone else (and a hero who loves her curves without fetishizing them).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Mental illness
Moderate: Child death and Suicidal thoughts
cover2covertx's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- 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
4.0
This one is a tricky one for me to review, so let's just dig in.
The Plot
We have a plus size & spunky Athena Greydon, lover of absolutely everything who wants to experience everything she can & has never held a job for more than 4 years. Her latest being teaching which caused her to experience such burn out that she's desperate for a time out. So, when the handsome small town pediatrician of Harlot's Bay, Johnny, catches her up in a whirlwind romance & proposes, she gladly accepts. Johnny promises to give her an adventure in his small spirited town and a much needed rest after a difficult few years in education.
The only problem? Johnny's older brother & surrogate father, Matthew, doesn't like Athena's "flaky" history and makes it known, even after spending a perfect meet cute moment with her at her own engagement party before realizing who she is. So, when Matthew is ultimately successful in convincing Johnny to break off the engagement she does what any sensible woman whose plans have burned to the ground would do- moves next door to her ex.
What I Loved
Who wouldn't love that plot? Plus this is Olivia Dade we're talking about here and I absolutely LOVE her books. Like always, her plus size characters give great fat joy rep in the story, with the FMC's body being so casually described throughout the book that it's effortless and gives her readers the rep they crave without the fatphobia side plot that some books do (and there's absolutely room for books about fat struggles, but fat joy is where my heart is).
The humor and wit in the story is spot on what I expected with an Olivia Dade book. She's proven once again she writes geeks and nerds well. In this book we got to see a more academic and curious minded nerd with Athena lovingly referring to her nightly Google habits as "consulting Professor Google" as she writes down things she's curious about all day and spends her evenings winding down and learning new things.
The side characters!! If Karl the baker who listens unapologetically to monster romance audio books at LOUD volumes isn't the MC of her next book in this series then I will revolt. Everything about the town of Harlot Bay is like Gilmore Girls if we had more Kirks than Lorelais and I was HERE for it. :)
Things I Struggled With
I'm going to call this part things I struggled with instead of things I didn't love because to be honest after talking this out with some of my closest reading buddies I realized the problems I did have with this book that kept it from being a 5 star read for me (which I always have done in the past with Olivia Dade's books) were personal.
My problem was that Athena's character goes through quite a struggle with depression in the story and it's explicitly on the page for a good chunk of the story. Olivia Dade gave very comprehensive trigger warnings and I appreciated this but I did struggle quite a bit with how heavy this content was in a story I was expecting to be a little more comedic given the blurb of the book. However, I do believe a lot of this was due to the fact that Athena's character- from her personality, situation and even her career choice- mirrored my own life so very much that it hit me harder. I definitely had to be a lot more careful with myself due to the content about depression since a lot of her reasons for her depressive state were ones I struggled with myself when I was battling depression. So again, this was on me as a reader to just be a little more careful.
Final Thoughts
Is this book one I would recommend? Whole-heartedly.
Will I be reading the next book in this series? 100% ESPECIALLY IF IT'S KARL!
Do I think paying attention to the Trigger & Content warnings of this book is especially important? YES. There's also child death and it was jarring as a parent. While it was not explicitly "on the page", a character tells the story through their own memories and it was a little too detailed for my reader tastes. It hit way too close to home.
Thank you so much to NetGalley & Avon books for the chance to read yet another amazing book by Olivia Dade.
The Plot
We have a plus size & spunky Athena Greydon, lover of absolutely everything who wants to experience everything she can & has never held a job for more than 4 years. Her latest being teaching which caused her to experience such burn out that she's desperate for a time out. So, when the handsome small town pediatrician of Harlot's Bay, Johnny, catches her up in a whirlwind romance & proposes, she gladly accepts. Johnny promises to give her an adventure in his small spirited town and a much needed rest after a difficult few years in education.
The only problem? Johnny's older brother & surrogate father, Matthew, doesn't like Athena's "flaky" history and makes it known, even after spending a perfect meet cute moment with her at her own engagement party before realizing who she is. So, when Matthew is ultimately successful in convincing Johnny to break off the engagement she does what any sensible woman whose plans have burned to the ground would do- moves next door to her ex.
What I Loved
Who wouldn't love that plot? Plus this is Olivia Dade we're talking about here and I absolutely LOVE her books. Like always, her plus size characters give great fat joy rep in the story, with the FMC's body being so casually described throughout the book that it's effortless and gives her readers the rep they crave without the fatphobia side plot that some books do (and there's absolutely room for books about fat struggles, but fat joy is where my heart is).
The humor and wit in the story is spot on what I expected with an Olivia Dade book. She's proven once again she writes geeks and nerds well. In this book we got to see a more academic and curious minded nerd with Athena lovingly referring to her nightly Google habits as "consulting Professor Google" as she writes down things she's curious about all day and spends her evenings winding down and learning new things.
The side characters!! If Karl the baker who listens unapologetically to monster romance audio books at LOUD volumes isn't the MC of her next book in this series then I will revolt. Everything about the town of Harlot Bay is like Gilmore Girls if we had more Kirks than Lorelais and I was HERE for it. :)
Things I Struggled With
I'm going to call this part things I struggled with instead of things I didn't love because to be honest after talking this out with some of my closest reading buddies I realized the problems I did have with this book that kept it from being a 5 star read for me (which I always have done in the past with Olivia Dade's books) were personal.
My problem was that Athena's character goes through quite a struggle with depression in the story and it's explicitly on the page for a good chunk of the story. Olivia Dade gave very comprehensive trigger warnings and I appreciated this but I did struggle quite a bit with how heavy this content was in a story I was expecting to be a little more comedic given the blurb of the book. However, I do believe a lot of this was due to the fact that Athena's character- from her personality, situation and even her career choice- mirrored my own life so very much that it hit me harder. I definitely had to be a lot more careful with myself due to the content about depression since a lot of her reasons for her depressive state were ones I struggled with myself when I was battling depression. So again, this was on me as a reader to just be a little more careful.
Final Thoughts
Is this book one I would recommend? Whole-heartedly.
Will I be reading the next book in this series? 100% ESPECIALLY IF IT'S KARL!
Do I think paying attention to the Trigger & Content warnings of this book is especially important? YES. There's also child death and it was jarring as a parent. While it was not explicitly "on the page", a character tells the story through their own memories and it was a little too detailed for my reader tastes. It hit way too close to home.
Thank you so much to NetGalley & Avon books for the chance to read yet another amazing book by Olivia Dade.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Gore
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