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jxzmine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual content
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Self harm
Minor: Child abuse and Homophobia
baeb_'s review against another edition
4.75
When a straight dude realizes he loves cuddling his roommate
TAGS & TROPES:
-Grumpy/sunshine
-Touch starved
-Found family
-Sub/dom
-Protective/obsessive
-Hurt/comfort (emphasis on the comforting)
-cuddling when sick
-no angst from the straight guy realizing he’s into a man
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Self harm, and Homophobia
Minor: Suicide attempt and Eating disorder
madscientistcat's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
Minor: Stalking
wildatheart1339's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Death of parent, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Homophobia, Medical content, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cancer, Stalking, and Vomit
tragicgloom's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Also, I couldn't ignore the unrealistic "suddenly gay for you and perfectly fine with it" characterization of one MCs. His sexuality and his journey of coming to terms with it are completely brushed aside. It is actually so painfully obvious when an author is a cis het fetishizing woman who knows nothing about queerness except how to write tons of sex scenes.
What I also found odd was the weird attitude one of the MC's has towards a gay character who is smaller in size and wears feminine clothes. I don't know what that was all about.
Also, I believe that both main characters would benefit greatly from some therapy.
Despite all of that, I still enjoyed this book and it made me emotional.
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, Classism, and Medical content
ravenanjell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Child abuse and Homophobia
friends2lovers's review against another edition
4.0
Hands are on my scalp, rubbing, gently pulling at my hair. On my back, my face. I lean into it. Purr like a fucking cat because I’m an animal now, apparently. But it feels so good, so right, that I just go with it. When I finally wake from my mini-coma, Whit is asleep beneath me. I’m wrapped around him like a koala on a tree. I don’t even want to tell him I’m awake because he feels so nice underneath me.
Whit is a debut novel and it kind of shows. The writing is flawed and the plotting is a bit messy. This is a very trope-y story, which I think is a trap that a lot of new romance authors fall into. They have these ideas bouncing around in their head and end up cramming them all into one book, which results in underdeveloped plot threads and characters.
I think the weakest part of Whit is the titular character. Because Whit is keeping secrets and has a traumatic past that the author doesn't want to reveal until later, we don't get much of his POV. What little we know of him comes mostly from Caleb's perspective, and Rose isn't an adept enough writer to create a well-rounded character in such an indirect way. So, Whit remains a closed-off, distant character throughout. Plus, it's really easy to guess what Whit's been hiding, so when all is revealed it's pretty anti-climactic.
Also, this has a couple of my M/M romance pet peeves: (1) too much emphasis on top/bottom roles; and (2) conflating the enjoyment of anal sex with being gay.
All that being said, I thought this was pretty great, especially for a debut novel. I was able to suspend my disbelief and overlook the weaknesses. I laughed out loud quite a few times. I found Caleb to be an endearing, loveable character. The physical affection between them was really sweet. Overall, an amusing, enjoyable read that I devoured in less than 24 hours.
Endnotes: M/M Contemporary Romance, college, roommates, opposites attract, gay for you, class difference, caretaking, secrets, traumatic past, meddlesome family, grumpy x sunshine, fake dating (sort of), cuddle sluts, 1st-person dual POV (mostly Caleb), present-tense, short novel (75k words), Kindle Unlimited
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Cancer, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt
chilivanilli28's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Self harm and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child abuse and Homophobia
lovelyinnature's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Self harm and Homophobia
sabinehunter's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Grief, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm