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azileotulp's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
First big issue: POV. I genuinely cannot fathom why this book was written in the third person. Don't get me wrong, I can really appreciate a third person book (although I typically prefer first person). In fact, two of my favorite books of all time are in the third person. However, it just did not work in this book. I just feel like third person perspectives in romances don't work for me at all. (Do you know how many times I had to read the words "Alex" and "Henry" on each page because the word "he" couldn't be used?) I think the novel would have worked a lot better and been easier to get into if it had been in the first person. It would be even better if it had been dual POV. I'm not just saying that because I love a good dual POV book, but I think it also would have prevented the book from dragging, which it did in a lot of places.
Second big issue: Characters. My favorite part of romance is falling in love with the characters, which I usually find very easy to do. By the end of this book, I only really loved one character (Henry <3) and liked two others (June and Alex). I don't really hate any of the other characters (except Richards, of course), but I'm just totally neutral on them. I feel like there were just too many of them to be honest. There were multiple instances where the book was discussing certain characters that I had to really rack my brain to try to remember. I feel like this is another reason the first person POV would have worked better for me. I feel like it's a lot easier to love characters when you're inside the mind of someone who does.
Third big issue: Smut. I swear this book has some of the most confusing smut I've ever read. Now, it's not like I actively wanted there to be super graphic smut. I'm really not a huge fan of it in general, so I won't seek out books that contain it, but I also won't avoid it if it's there. My real issue is that it seemed like this book couldn't decide if it wanted to be Young Adult or New Adult, and the smut teeters on the line between those two. It just frustrates me that it was far too explicit to actually be a Young Adult book, but not explicit enough for it to be understandable. It felt like every action that happened was stated so vaguely that I couldn't even imagine the scene. Every time I got to a smut scene, I had to read it at least three times before I could at least kind of form a picture of what was going on, and eventually I just stopped trying.
Those are the main things I would say hold the book back. There are definitely others,
First big strength: Humor. This is actually one of the funniest romances I've ever read. Other romance books usually get an exhale out of me, but very rarely an actual laugh. This book made me genuinely laugh twice. That might not sound like a lot to other people, but it definitely is for me. I feel like the characters played off of each other really well, and there were just a lot of scenarios that led to some really funny moments.
Second big strength: The last quarter. So, you know how I said this book was really hard to get into? That includes a lot of the middle section unfortunately. However, when there were about 100 pages left, the
Overall, this definitely isn't one of the best books I've read. It's not even close. That being said, it's very charming in a lot of ways and I can definitely see why so many people love it. If you think you can get past the issues I talked about, then this could very well be a great book for you.
Graphic: Outing, Homophobia, and Cursing
Moderate: Death, Alcohol, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
Minor: Drug use, Sexism, Racism, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Grief, Misogyny, and Racial slurs
aksvess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia and Outing
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Cancer, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Racism, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders
cats33's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Outing, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Biphobia, Death of parent, Sexual content, Death, Grief, and Homophobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Cursing, Alcoholism, Addiction, Infidelity, and Sexual assault
Minor: Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, Sexism, Colonisation, and Racism
kitty_may12's review against another edition
- 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
McQuiston invites us into the turbulent world of Henry and Alex, who quite possibly two of the best rom-com leads in recent memory, sharing an unbelievable chemistry that just leapt off of the page and into my heart, never to be forgotten. What else is there to except, this was just great, and I can't recommend it enough...
Graphic: Outing and Stalking
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Vomit
foxclcves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Outing, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Alcohol
Minor: Xenophobia, Colonisation, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, and Religious bigotry
erikagibson126's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Hate crime, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Bullying, Alcohol, Biphobia, Grief, Outing, Sexual assault, Cursing, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Sexism, Confinement, Drug abuse, and Misogyny
emilywemily6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Bullying, Sexual content, and Biphobia
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Minor: Racism, Misogyny, and Slavery
lovelycryptid'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? No
1.5
Moderate: Homophobia, Biphobia, Classism, and Sexism
Minor: Racism and Misogyny
pip10'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
4.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Cursing, Grief, and Outing
Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Biphobia, Mental illness, and Terminal illness
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexism
torismazarine'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
3.5
Graphic: Cursing, Outing, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Misogyny, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Biphobia
Minor: Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Addiction, Alcohol, and Forced institutionalization