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vj_thompson's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book started out slow but once the initial plot of Shay and Dominic host the radio show together happened, it got good. Seeing their relationship develop was absolutely adorable. The relationship felt normal aside from the miscommunication. Ugh, that sucked. The story surprised me. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, and Misogyny
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism
Minor: Racism and Cancer
bootsmom3's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer
kcbatts's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Cursing and Misogyny
bbygirl21's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I enjoyed this book. I just probably wouldn't read it again. It was a great story and has some great characters. But my issue is that I've read something really similar to this before and i felt this one was a little too slow for me.
I'd still recommend it. The plot was good, I loved the characters, and there were a lot of really funny moments scattered throughout.
I'd still recommend it. The plot was good, I loved the characters, and there were a lot of really funny moments scattered throughout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Cursing, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Racism, and Death
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Cancer
rebeccaelizabeth94's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
5.0
The whole review is basically a
I loved everything about this book. I love a good office place romance and a work place rivals to lovers is *chef’s kiss*. I liked the radio show setting. As I was reading I wished the pod cast was real so I could binge it too. The chemistry between Shay and Dominic was awesome. I liked the adventures they went on to bond. I felt drawn to Shay in her struggles to be an adult. 29 is a hard age when people are moving at different paces. It’s so hard to know when to say I love you in a relationship. It’s hard to want something so bad and try to fill voids that you feel like should be filled before they were. Shay had a house that felt lonely and a life she felt like she wasn’t living. Shay learned to love life and love it to the fullest. Steve was the perfect edition to her life. I liked how she fought for her grief episode of the pod cast. Dominic despite having a mean door lean was an amazing character. He was kind and gentle and so vulnerable. It was refreshing to see how he was just as nervous as she was. Dominic has a determination to fight for the truth but he was such a softie on the inside. It was so nice to see his love of Beanie Babies, cast iron skillets, and IKEA furniture. His radio grovel was one of the best apologies I’ve ever heard. It was giving 80s boom box in the front yard vibes.
I hated Kent he was terrible and canceling the show the way he did was so horrible. The whole post on the website was the dumbest way to cancel the show. I didn’t understand how everyone hated that they lied. It seemed so trivial in the end. I liked how they ended with a new pod cast series.
I loved everything about this book. I love a good office place romance and a work place rivals to lovers is *chef’s kiss*. I liked the radio show setting. As I was reading I wished the pod cast was real so I could binge it too. The chemistry between Shay and Dominic was awesome. I liked the adventures they went on to bond. I felt drawn to Shay in her struggles to be an adult. 29 is a hard age when people are moving at different paces. It’s so hard to know when to say I love you in a relationship. It’s hard to want something so bad and try to fill voids that you feel like should be filled before they were. Shay had a house that felt lonely and a life she felt like she wasn’t living. Shay learned to love life and love it to the fullest. Steve was the perfect edition to her life. I liked how she fought for her grief episode of the pod cast. Dominic despite having a mean door lean was an amazing character. He was kind and gentle and so vulnerable. It was refreshing to see how he was just as nervous as she was. Dominic has a determination to fight for the truth but he was such a softie on the inside. It was so nice to see his love of Beanie Babies, cast iron skillets, and IKEA furniture. His radio grovel was one of the best apologies I’ve ever heard. It was giving 80s boom box in the front yard vibes.
I hated Kent he was terrible and canceling the show the way he did was so horrible. The whole post on the website was the dumbest way to cancel the show. I didn’t understand how everyone hated that they lied. It seemed so trivial in the end. I liked how they ended with a new pod cast series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, and Death of parent
mirandap442's review
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Sexism
Moderate: Cursing, Grief, and Misogyny
Minor: Mental illness and Cancer
peachani's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Medical content, Alcohol, and Cancer
cassielaj's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.75
I loved this book. In addition to truly excellent workplace/enemies-to-lovers banter, it has great insights about grief and adulthood.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
thatswhatshanread's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This was my first Rachel Lynn Solomon book and while it did give me the break I was looking for from some of the heavier books I’ve read recently, it didn’t entirely steal my attention as much as I thought it would.
The Ex Talk has everything you expect from a novel of this genre—it pretty much follows the romcom formula to a T. In my head I was checking off this list below as each thing happened, waiting for the next, knowing it would be coming.
* Enemies-to-lovers
* Fake dating
* Forced proximity/stuck together
* Workplace romance
* One bed
* Ridiculously petite MC and ridiculously tall male lead
* Age gap
* Several pivotal work crises
* The eureka moment of clarity and self-discovery
* The romantic grand gesture
In this way, relatedly, I was never super invested in the main couple. Everything felt a little too on the ball. There was some great banter and some great spice, but overall I never really got that empathetic-butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling while reading about them. Still, they were cute.
Miscommunication does run a little rampant at times, which sort-of stunts the flow of the story near the middle-end. Of course, this is common in an enemies-to-lovers fake dating novel, and I understand the reason for the easily avoidable conflicts that arose, though it did annoy me. JUST ADMIT YOU LIKE EACH OTHER. HOW CAN YOU BE THAT OBLIVIOUS??!
Anyway. This is not to single The Ex Talk out. Many romcoms do this. I think maybe I’ve just gotten to the point where I’ve read too many books with similar plots to this one, so it’s not as exciting anymore. And maybe also I will forever compare every one of them to Beach Read and/or The Love Hypothesis. Oops.
The Ex Talk has everything you expect from a novel of this genre—it pretty much follows the romcom formula to a T. In my head I was checking off this list below as each thing happened, waiting for the next, knowing it would be coming.
* Enemies-to-lovers
* Fake dating
* Forced proximity/stuck together
* Workplace romance
* One bed
* Ridiculously petite MC and ridiculously tall male lead
* Age gap
* Several pivotal work crises
* The eureka moment of clarity and self-discovery
* The romantic grand gesture
In this way, relatedly, I was never super invested in the main couple. Everything felt a little too on the ball. There was some great banter and some great spice, but overall I never really got that empathetic-butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling while reading about them. Still, they were cute.
Miscommunication does run a little rampant at times, which sort-of stunts the flow of the story near the middle-end. Of course, this is common in an enemies-to-lovers fake dating novel, and I understand the reason for the easily avoidable conflicts that arose, though it did annoy me. JUST ADMIT YOU LIKE EACH OTHER. HOW CAN YOU BE THAT OBLIVIOUS??!
Anyway. This is not to single The Ex Talk out. Many romcoms do this. I think maybe I’ve just gotten to the point where I’ve read too many books with similar plots to this one, so it’s not as exciting anymore. And maybe also I will forever compare every one of them to Beach Read and/or The Love Hypothesis. Oops.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Sexism
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Cancer
Minor: Vomit
filipa_maia's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-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
I enjoyed, but did not love, this book. The classic "enemies-to-lovers" trope that is, apparently, in fashion now... very cliche.
The story is nice, they are a very cute couple, I really enjoyed their relationship and was rooting for them. But at the same time she is really annoying with that "age difference" thing - it's 5 years, not 50! Calm down! He is not annoying, but is described like every other man in a romance: tall, strong, hot, and even though is sexually inexperienced off course that he was the full Kama Sutra mastered! Ok, he is honest and really, really, likes her which makes him very desirable and redeems his other characteristics.
My favorite couple was, obviously, her mother and the new husband. Their stories of loss broke my heart. I would read a full book just telling their stories.
The story is nice, they are a very cute couple, I really enjoyed their relationship and was rooting for them. But at the same time she is really annoying with that "age difference" thing - it's 5 years, not 50! Calm down! He is not annoying, but is described like every other man in a romance: tall, strong, hot, and even though is sexually inexperienced off course that he was the full Kama Sutra mastered! Ok, he is honest and really, really, likes her which makes him very desirable and redeems his other characteristics.
My favorite couple was, obviously, her mother and the new husband. Their stories of loss broke my heart. I would read a full book just telling their stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Sexism, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Cursing