Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun

16 reviews

cats33's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Grief

Minor: Racism and Vomit

kelly_e's review against another edition

funny 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

3.25

Title: Kiss Her Once for Me
Author: Alison Cochrun
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: November 1, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Thoughtful • Nostalgic • Messy

📖 S Y N O P S I S

One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money.

Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days—until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellie’s financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancée to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover it’s Jack—the mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real.

💭 T H O U G H T S

The Charm Offensive was an absolute hit for me, so of course, I was keeping an eye on new books from Alison Cochrun. It just may have taken me over a year to finally pick up Kiss Her Once For Me. Unfortunately, this one didn't have the same experience as her debut.

Honestly, the premise sounded kind of ridiculous, so I knew going in, I'd have to suspend belief in order to appreciate this big hearted romcom. Marriage-of-convivence is a trope I often struggle to become fully invested in and it was no different with this one, especially when you add in the love triangle and lack of communication elements. Additionally, I wouldn't necessarily classify this as a holiday read, rather it just has strong winter vibes.

This book delivers an incredibly diverse cast of characters with representation spanning ADHD, anxiety disorders, bisexuality, demisexuality, and nonbinary. It was just all very well done. I also found myself appreciating the growth of the main character, the self-discovery theme, and the quirky family more than the actual romance aspect.

Overall, Kiss Her Once for Me didn't live up to my expectations, yet I don't know if it was really the book itself or rather just it containing elements that I don't love. I am curious and looking forward to see where Here We Go Again, Alison Cochrun's upcoming 2024 release will land for me.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• cozy romance
• queer romcoms (demisexual rep)
• love triangles

⚠️ CW: toxic parental relationship, emotional abuse, child abuse, biphobia, transphobia, lesbophobia, homophobia, mental illness, generalized anxiety, panic attacks/disorders, alcoholism, infidelity, sexual content, alcohol, abandonment, cursing, drug use, classism, bullying, gaslighting, ableism, racism, body shaming, fatphobia, death, misogyny, sexism, divorce

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Your trauma is something that happened to you; it’s not who you are."

"We all have seasons of needing and seasons of giving." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Biphobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Alcohol, and Classism

generalized anxiety, divorce

uranaishi's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Vomit, Death of parent, Outing, and Gaslighting

taynicole2698's review

emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Biphobia, Bullying, Infidelity, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

readandfindout's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.5

Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 2.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Moderate: Biphobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Transphobia, and Gaslighting

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

Adorably sweet, this book follows Ellie as she attempts to work through all the fears she has that keep her from truly living. The characters are lovable and interesting, especially the grandmothers. This book would make a fantastic movie so I really need Netflix to get on it, like yesterday. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Child abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, and Classism

itsheyfay's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Child abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Drug use, Racism, and Transphobia

imstephtacular's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy

madanxiety's review

slow-paced

3.5

Generally, I liked this book. I liked the going back and forth between the comic and the present. It had some good steamy scenes too. It kept me occupied for a long road trip. 

I found it a bit odd that Ellie was demisexual but fell in love/lust in one day. Ostensibly, it's possible, but to me, as someone who's I guess questioning/might be demisexual, it makes for a kind of disappointing representation of this experience. On the one hand, this is my total fantasy situation, but on the other hand, it is SO unrealistic that it ends up making me kind of sad lol. Also, unrelated, but I cringed SO hard when the family made Jack and Ellie kiss under the mistletoe, which was already super weird of them, and then they kissed all passionately. Like that was such a crazy out of pocket moment lmao.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

skudiklier's review against another edition

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

5.0

I didn't know almost anything about this book going in, and wow was I pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. I read almost the entire book in one sitting, because I couldn't put it down. The romance was perfect, and also it was weirdly and unintentionally relevant for me, as someone who just moved to Portland less than two months ago. I loved the bi rep, the anxiety rep, the demi rep, the nonbinary rep, the way they try (and fail) to not fall victim to unnecessary miscommunication as horribly as the straights always do in romances. (Also is it just me or is Ellie also autistic??? I both have anxiety and am autistic so sometimes it's hard for me to tell what social anxiety things are related to which haha. But idk she felt extremely autistic to me and I'm gonna say I also loved the (maybe unintentional) autistic rep as well.) This was a perfect book to start the year with, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a lovely queer holiday romance.

Edit to add: I actually kind of forgot what The Charm Offensive was about, and now that I went back to look at my (5 star) review for that book, I'm even more convinced that Alison Cochrun is one of my new favorite romance authors. In both books, I was super sucked in and read them basically in one sitting. But even better, in both books I felt like even the parts of romances that I don't like (e.g., when they have a fight and break up near the end, usually over some miscommunication) were handled much better in these books than in most romance novels. Like, Cochrun clearly puts a lot of effort into making sure the relationships are as healthy and realistic as possible, while still giving us all the normal pieces of a romance and keeping the drama amped up. I'm just so impressed! And I can't wait for Cochrun's next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Toxic parents, cutting off family members