Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Kiss the Sky

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Kiss the Sky by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

11 reviews

chels984's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

love them and their little family but also so excited for daisy and rykes book!!🤑🤑

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fallnginluve's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

i don't find rose and connor an attractive couple generally. i didn't enjoy how connor essentially forced rose to "submit herself" so that she could fulfill one of his fantasies. i also didn't enjoy how connor excused pedophilia by essentially saying, "daisy is mature, so any relationship with anyone older is fine." it's weird and gross.

i didn't like connor in this book at all. he was better when he was a side character with barely any lines.

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breaklikeafish's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.5

I think this might have been the worst book I have ever read. However, I also want to note that reading it was an experiment and an attempt to read outside my comfort zone, so maybe that's not a huge surprise.

The characters were okay, for the most part, excluding all scenes in which the men were seemingly competing for the title of Most Toxically Masculine Alpha Male. Sadly, that was a lot of scenes. There were so many moments where the women had to be saved by some knight in shining armor, and I was decidedly not into it.

Just as an example, there was a bit of a rat problem going on in the house, and this was leading man Connor's reaction:

„Lo, Ryke, and I can set rat traps tomorrow.” But I add this just to rile her, “The perks of having three men living under one roof.“

Is there a specific reason why only men can set up rat traps? Do rats react well to testosterone?

Or is Connor just really that much of a dick? The answer to the last question is definitely yes since he spends a large part of the book fighting for his girlfriend's virginity with a guy she is not even remotely interested in. This is portrayed as cute and honorable. I personally couldn't help but wonder why Rose and Connor agreed to live with the guy when both of them seem to be genuinely scared that he will rape Rose??? Like what? Please go to the police instead. In fact, I'm pretty sure Rose and Scott's first meeting already contains enough sexual harassment to press charges. Needless to say, all interactions with Scott and the insinuations that he might take what he wants without asking made me deeply uncomfortable.

Also, Scott brings Rose food one time, and she immediately wonders whether she's misjudged him?? Is she really that stupid? No, obviously not, but Scott, Connor, and even the narrative itself treat Rose like a prize to be won and not a person.

Staying on the topic of being deeply uncomfortable, why is Daisy, a sixteen-year-old, continuously sexualized?

I appreciate that everyone in the book seems to realize that teenage Daisy dating a adult man in his early twenties is problematic. However, nobody seems to have a problem with Ryke being interested in her?

„It’s okay to like her.” Hell, I like any guy that makes my sister happy and treats her well. Julian does neither.“

What's the message here? Grooming is bad unless the guy is your sister's boyfriend's brother?

Even ignoring all of that, I did not find Rose and Connor's relationship cute at all. One major conflict is that

Rose doesn't want kids, but Connor does, and instead of talking about it and breaking up due to different plans for their respective futures, Connor pressures her until she agrees to have children with him. It would be different if it was Rose's own internal character development. She's in her early twenties, and of course she's allowed to change her mind about things. What bothered me was that Connor never seemed to take her perspective seriously. From their first conversation about it on he seemed absolutely certain that he could change Rose's mind about it. That's not how having children works! You can't change someone else's mind about a topic like that.

But Connor seems to have no problem pressuring people into doing what he wants.

He also pressures his therapist into prescribing him drugs (what kind of therapist would do something like that?! I get that he pays you, but you're the professional in this context, please act like it) and his girlfriend into having sex with him. Yep. It's like that. I hate Connor.

It is by far not my biggest concern with this novel, but I still was annoyed at the incredibly heteronormative mindset with which it was written.

Just as an example, at one point, Rose thinks about how she would be more comfortable having sex with a woman than a man. This thought is not further explored, or even taken as any indication that Rose could identify as anything other than straight. Something similar happens when Daisy explains that she doesn't really enjoy sex, and instead of validating her (very valid!) feelings, Rose says:

“And that’s ridiculous. [...] You can orgasm[.] [...] You just have to find the right person.“

And later:

„Oops. Tact. I lose it sometimes. “You’ll find someone,” I tell her, squeezing her shoulder encouragingly. But I think I squeeze a little too hard because she winces. I let go. “…Just keep dating. And when you find a loser, ditch him quickly. Please.“

That is genuinely such terrible advice.

The only positive thing I have to say is that Lily and Lo were actually kind of cute together.

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amanda_mh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

Rose and Connor have captured my heart!!!! I love this series. The drama was amped up this book with the unexpected celebrity status! And omg it was everything getting to know rose and Connor and be in the minds of them was so fascinating!

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meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I hate to say it but I'm not going to be continuing this series. I'm done. I really wanted to like it, but this book has turned me off from the entire series. My gosh, this book!😖 This book ruined Rose and Connor for me. I think I enjoyed it when they were just casually flirting and teasing one another.

As for the rest of the characters:
Daisy - I worry for her so much. It seems like she never had a childhood and in turn, I think that's also one of the main reasons for her unhappiness. And it doesn't help that she's constantly hanging out with her sisters friends who are 21+ while she's freshly 17 (in this book) as well as all her modeling friends.

Ryke- I don't care how much this book tries to spin Ryke as a "protector" of Daisy he's still a ephebophile (I wanted to get the term right because I know these books have a wide fanbase). Now although I know this is a piece of fiction and there are probably many viewers that are willing to look pass the age difference for the sake of their own entertainment. Good for them, I guess, but I am not one of those viewers. There are just certain things that I can't brush aside just because it's fiction. I just can't root for an adult-minor relationship, fiction or not. (also Ryke's a prick at times and is so unlikeable) And I know the next book is about them. Another reason why I won't be continuing the series.

Loren - probably the most tolerable character out of this book (however I don't appreciate what he did to Rose when

he knocked down all her childhood fashion drawings on the ground in an angry rage

and I also just don't like how he pokes fun at Rose's virginity because it's quite frankly none of his business)

Lily - I do really like Lily, but I feel like this book dubbed her down and turned her into a whiny, sensitive crybaby who always needs someone to comfort her; like she was always attached to Loren and never really voiced her opinion that much. This applies to most of the characters, but this appeals especially to Lily I feel like we never get to know Lily as a character. She doesn't have much personality aside from her addiction. I just wished in the first three books they would've flushed out their characters more.

In this book, althought for the most part I really did like Rose I found that her character regressed in here. For such a supposed smart girl she would make some idiotic decisions

like not having a lawyer look over their contracts and excusing that behavior on the fact that she didn't want to look weak in front of Scott and took some law classes at Princeton; like girl, if it was that easy to decipher a legal contract like that then many people that took "a few" law classes could be lawyers, but they can't so what made her think she was above the rest?🤦‍♀️Or about Connor's cat. It kept harassing her and all the other girls and when they sell her they buy her back. Make that make sense.

. And one common tactic that I can't stand is when author will go out of their way to portray a girl as smart then her actions don't match her intelligence. And this book made me dislike and be more repulsed by Connor than I was in the first book.

Like for example, the first time Connor and Rose actually have sex is anything but romantic.

. First of all the first time they have sex comes out of nowhere, very random. And their whole sexual encounter made me feel so uneasy. Throughout the book, it is widely known by the group that Rose has major intimacy issues. Literally, they mentioned that although Connor and Rose have been dating for over year Rose was still hesitant in letting Connor simply touch her (like holding hands, hugging, simple touches, etc). So when they finally do have sex, Connor goes all BDSM on her and starts tying her up with his belt, making her wear a dog collar, and goes full dominatrix on her. And what I found even more jarring was that when she would protest he would never take what she says into consideration unless she was saying "more" or praising him. Reading that was so disturbing.

However, I want to clarify that I have nothing against BDSM practices (there's nothing wrong with the fact that Connor is obviously a "dom" and Rose is a "sub") as long as all the parties are consenting and that all parties sentiments, worries, and concerns are taken into consideration. That, in my opinion, wasn't what was happening between Rose and Connor. I felt like whenever Rose was trying to gain control, Connor would dismiss her and "put her in their place" not allowing her to have a voice in their sex practice unless she was agreeing with him. Passages such as C- " ' I'll be the judge of when you're ready,"....." ' That's debatable, and competitive. Two qualities that make you a terrible judge." R- " ' I can do it myself." ' For context, this happened after they had sex so many times that he exhausted her body and Rose was sore all over. After he insists on going again instead of making sure she's okay. I respect Rose and her choice. She's a big girl if she wants sex then she can have it, but I'm just disgusted by how Connor handled her first time. What type of guy pulls out a dog collar, ties a girl up, and performs rough sex to a girl when it's her first time experiencing fornication?

Also, what also unnerves me is that I felt like Connor was pushing Rose to have sex instead of waiting until she made up her own mind about it. Instead of working and talking about her problems with intimacy and working out how to solve that, he just kept gradually pressuring her to have sex with him by manipulating her innate sexual impulses. I found the whole ordeal to be distasteful.

And the whole dilemma with Connor not being able to love Rose (or anyone for that matter) in my opinion was a viable plotline and was a trait synonymous to Connor's personality. However, I think the execution was handled poorly. Why would Rose (a smart, confident, and pragmatic) settle for someone who explicitly stated that he could not love her? I couldn't count the number of times I kept shaking my head at her. And apparently, in the future books she ends up giving everything up for him and having children when she's stated multiple times that she doesn't want any, what a character assassination. I already feel like the power imbalance between Connor and Rose (Connor's always portrayed to be one over Rose every time) and now you're telling me she gave up her livelihood for him. Ridiculous!

Overall, I didn't hate this book. I thought it was okay. I was entertained, but that's all I'm willing to endure. It took all my strength to finish it. I find that there's not much depth when it comes to the characters. The books are like 70% smut or talk about sex (and while I understand Lily is a sex addict and they're all sexually active adults that doesn't mean the books have to lack character development, backstory, and complex characters). And I'm honestly just not a fan of the writing and quite frankly don't care about the character to continue.

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