Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Toi, moi, elles

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Toi, moi, elles by Rachael Lippincott, Alyson Derrick

63 reviews

jayecard's review against another edition

This book should work, but doesn't.

In concept, Alex is a woman with commitment issues due to emotional trauma who struggles to make relationships work. In practice, she's a walking red flag who finds it "challenging" not to "accidentally" flirt with other girls.

In concept, Molly is an awkward goody two shoes who can't talk to her crush. In practice, she gives up at any minor inconvenience to feel sorry for herself, then thinks that she shouldn't do that, and then does it again.

I like flawed characters. I do not like it when I'm meant to sympathize with characters who know exactly what their problem in life is and then do nothing about it anyway. It's "okay", because those problems go away when they meet each other. And I absolutely hate how this book treated Alex's and Molly's false love interests: One has her character retconned entirely, the other gets strung along all story and then left standing alone with no explanation.

The dialogue is just forced enough to feel off. The way Molly is put in egretiously awkward situations for the sake of making her look like a sad puppy gets annoying way too fast. Bestie, you're not the doormat, you're a floor black hole. The only person sabotaging her is herself, yet it feels like we're meant to sympathize with her for all the hard situations she's in. Girl, if you went to sit in the back, because your crush didn't hear you when you asked: "Is this seat taken?", then you most literally only have yourself to blame. I know it's hard, but at some point, you have to put in the effort. Which is her entire character arc, which becomes all the more insufferable by how she knows EXACTLY that this is her problem from the very beginning, and then spends the entire book doing fuckall about it, until Alex literally forces her.

There are redeeming qualities in this book, but I was looking for a cute queer read, and I got so thoroughly disappointed and had to DNF (I skimmed the rest) the book and go write an angry rant. If you want the aesthetics of a cute romance, this is ok. If you want a romance with well written characters, you can find better.

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shector1's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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readandfindout's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars (wrapped up too quickly)

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lexibar's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.0

I was going to give up on it around 50% because Alex was just so annoying to me, although I feel like others would say Molly was annoying, but I kept going and grew to at least appreciate her. It was an overall well-written book at least. Not my favorite and not exceptional, but good.

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vasha's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

A high-concept book, and the premise hooked me: Molly's a shy and awkward college freshman who's been pining after Cora for years, and Alex needs to prove to her sort-of-ex-girlfriend Natalie that she's not a heartless flirt, so Alex gets the idea to use her seduction skills selflessly: coach Molly in how to get her girl. We can all see where that's going...

The romance is solid in this book. I suppose it can't hurt that the authors are a married couple -- they claim in an afterword that they put something of themselves into the story. Molly and Alex shine when it's just the two of them interacting, starting out by butting heads but finding that they've startled each other into being "real"; the moments when they "click" and the slow growth of strong feelings are quite natural. Check out the very pretty cover: it appropriately depicts one of the warmest moments in the book, Molly and Alex roller skating with Molly holding out her hands to keep the inexpert Alex on her feet.

Both women have a fraught relationship with their mothers, for different reasons, and this provides some additional emotional heft, although those strands of the story were wrapped up rather too neatly, especially the one about Alex's mother's alcoholism.

If this was a gentler sort of book I might have loved it. Unfortunately, it aims to be a comedy, and the comedy hijinks grated on me. Awkward Molly is put through WAY too many humiliations. (Gotta say, though, the thing with the bananas was the one genuinely funny bit in the book--perhaps because it ended well for Molly, with her unexpectedly making a friendly connection with someone.) The authors even had her fall flat on her face when about to talk to someone significant -- c'mon guys, be more imaginative than that. I cringed, too, at Alex flirtatiously winning over people she knew she wasn't going to follow up with.

All in all, I rate this book a solid "so-so."

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sinaprst's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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? No

4.0

I just finished it and all I have to say is that I love this book.
Are there flaws? Sure
But am I willing to completely and utterly ignore them? Hell yes
I don't care what anyone says, but this was so cute and fluffy and exactly what I needed right now.

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kshertz's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.25

Oh this book is just so cute and sweet. Awesome romance book. Two girls who are trying to fall in love with other people and become best friends. I love their story. I love how they work through everything so realistically. It was great!

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jo_lzr's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

This was such a cute story! It is rather predictable but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. You honestly root for both of the possible love interests for Molly and just love Alex. I wish I had this relationship in my life.

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miss_vonnegut's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

5.0

I LOVED this book.

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