Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

What If You & Me by Roni Loren

5 reviews

lauren_mccune's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-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

4.5


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dwinn5's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Another great one from Roni Loren! 
I felt like the characters were well-developed and genuine, and their struggles both internally and externally seemed legitimate and made sense with their backstories. I can’t say I’ve ever read a book with Andi’s particular history, and it both drew me in and crushed my heart. I love the emphasis on learning how to move through trauma together, instead of an insistence that everything be perfectly wrapped up and healed before they can be together (as if that ever truly happens). 
Can’t wait to read Eliza’s story next.

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texassizedreads's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0


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aliasbooklover's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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amym84's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

4.5

Years ago, Andi experienced a horrific relationship and was lucky to get out of it, but she still suffers from extreme anxiety when certain situations present themselves. She's been able to channel some of her anxiety into her podcast where she talks about lessons-learned from popular horror movies, plus she also write her own horror novels under a penname. While on a deadline for her new book, Andi discovers her new neighbor's stomping around at all hours of the night does not help her get her work done.

Two years ago while on a call, former firefighter Hill Dawson was injured and that resulted in the loss of his leg and his career. While Hill is now on the mend physically, mentally he's not doing so great. But his new neighbor is not the type to let him be alone and brood.

Andi and Hill meet each other at just the right time. They're both still healing from past trauma and both on the precipice of moving forward, that is, if they can both just believe in themselves enough to take that step.

Andi was a standout character for me from the first book [b:Yes & I Love You|53439441|Yes & I Love You (Say Everything, #1)|Roni Loren|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593619484l/53439441._SX50_.jpg|83098605]. I was happy that she got her own book. It's a little bit of serendipity that I was concurrently reading this book - which deals with a character that kind of uses horror movies to help deal with their real-world anxiety - while also reading a book that deals with the "Final Girl" survivors that are immortalized in those horror movies. It was an interesting juxtaposition.

That being said, I liked how Roni Loren tackles both Andi and Hill's traumas. Seeing how they each handle their situations in their own way and the bad and good parts of that. Of course Andi's occurred quite a number of years before Hill's and while that doesn't mean that she should be further along in her recovery, it does mean that she's had more time to find the tools that work good for her in coping. Hill's is more recent and still raw. Not only did he lose a career he loved, and suffered a bodily injury that changes the rest of his life, but his fiancé also left him shortly afterwards, which also changes the trajectory he saw his life heading towards. Hill is still going through the why's and how's, doubting himself and it's made him very depressed.

Seeing both Hill and Andi help one another out of their almost self-imposed exile from the world was just sweet. Seeing their connection and their belief in the other was just written so seamlessly and could have not been done any other way.

I've so far really enjoyed this series and I'm hoping we'll get more books. I think Roni Loren has a deft hand at taking these various issues and circumstances that people deal with and making them seen and heard. Giving a different idea and perspective that I haven't experienced in the romance genre before. Taking some of the bad times and showing that, that is not all there is. There can be healing.

*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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