Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake

81 reviews

thaliareads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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 think it was likely that this could match the quality of the first book, but it really did. I really enjoyed the way the characters grew throughout this book and I liked having the renovation as the backdrop. 
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le3713's review

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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

The meet cute in this set the stage for an exceptionally fun enemies to lovers romance. I was so excited to return to Bright Falls after the first book, and I was not disappointed. The historic home renovation was an added bonus - I only wished I could see the rooms they were describing!
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kylieqrada's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad 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

5.0

*face palm* Another five star romance in the last week of 2022. I really loved Delilah Green, but Astrid Parker was EVERYTHING. Not only was it such an HGTV moment, but the themes of finding yourself and trauma just hit me right in the feels. Also, if Iris Kelly isn't poly, I will riot. 
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duckyreads's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was so excited to finally get to Astrid's story! There was so much to enjoy with her and Jordan. I loved that Astrid was surrounded by queer friends that helped her and gave her advice as she had her bi-awakening. This was also the first time that I've seen compulsorily heterosexuality mentioned and discussed in a book!
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uraveragelesbianreader's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.5

Perhaps an unpopular opinion but I actually enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed Delilah Green doesn't care.   The plot felt well placed, the relationship felt more naturally evolving and felt like a more major focus of the novel. It could be because I am more of a veteran romance reader at the time of reading this than I was when I reads the first book, but the relationship felt like a larger focus and felt more built up to and worked for. The book however in my opinion does kind of crash and burn towards the end, this did not ruin the experience for me personally however I could see how it would for someone else. The ending felt a bit rushed and flip floppy and overall very unrewarding for what had been established by the main narrative, I think the last 50 pages could have easily been stretched into 100 and that would have benefited the book. That is not to say however that I thought the pacing of this book was bad, it wasn't. The pacing accurately reflected the events and up until the ending nothing felt rushed. The characters in this book were both more and less compelling than the ones in Delilah Green (This is ironic considering it is a mostly returning cast). On the positive side, I felt much more attached to Astrid and Jordan than I did Delilah and Claire, I felt their relationship was more of a satisfying build and pay off for me. This could be because they are closer to my personal preference, however I think the way their relationship is written also puts more focus into their individual characterizations than was done in the first novel. The novel did a wonderful job developing Astrids character overall however I do think her coming out storyline was slightly rushed. I did have some qualms with the overall queer rep in this novel but they weren't major enough to ruin the novel for me just make me raise an eyebrow every now and then so I will mention them at the end of my review. Jordan felt like much more of a dimensional and loveable love interest to me than Claire did and Astrid and Jordan feel much more compatible than Delilah and Claire. Where I think the novel suffered is that although I was very attached to Jordan and Astrid, the main characters, there was far less of a side/supporting cast presence. Where as in Delilah Green Doesn't Care, I felt the supporting cast played a major part and I felt far more attached to them, in this book their role is far more minor so if you really enjoyed that aspect of Delilah Green you will probably like this book less for me however this wasn't a major issue. Now for my gripes with the queer rep, having every single character in your novel (ESPECIALLY your novel focusing on WLW romance) be ambiguously queer is NOT as progressive as wlw romance authors seem to think it is. Firstly, just like how Delilah was very clearly lesbian coded, Jordan was also very clearly coded as a lesbian, in fact she was even referred to as being "butch" at multiple points, never once is she actually called the L word and it is only said once in the entire novel. On the note of Delilah, her sexuality was handled AWFULLY in this novel. Slight spoilers here but she makes an offhand comment when Astrid is asking her about sexuality that the only people she is not into is "cisgender men". This is a weird doubly layer transphobic and lesbophobic comment all stuffed into a fun (albeit unintentional) package. Lesbians are not into MEN wether they are trans or cis does not matter and a man is a man regardless of what  sex organs they were born with. It would have conveyed the same message if Delilah had simply said that she was just not into men but instead it came off as very fake woke and even harmful. Overall I think Astrids sexuality was mishandled in this book. She is directly referred to as bisexual which I liked however in that same conversation with Delilah there is a comment about how sexuality is fluid and it is somewhat implied that she became bisexual over time. This is disproven as we see Astrid think back into her youth however the message itself is still very harmful, for some people sexuality can change overtime in the way they express it, but you don't just wake up one day and become attracted to the same gender or lose your attraction to the same gender. None of these issues are massive but they peeved me and are something I wish I could have anticipated going into the book. I do not think they were intentional (as these are very pervasive in the wlw romance genre anyways) but they were harmful and could have been easily avoided. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and if you're looking for a good hallmark romance but make it wlw this is for you! It has a very compelling main romance and generally steady pacing and writing and there is SEVERAL spicy scenes (in many locations to!) but the issues with pacing and representation kept me from giving it a full five stars.
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bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

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

4.75

I did NOT like Astrid in Delilah Green Doesn't Care, so I was definitely a bit wary of this book, which is focused on her finding love and figuring herself out. Fortunately, Astrid comes to life as a very complex and sympathetic character in this book, and I loved it.

Some more things I loved:
  • Jordan! Such a good love interest. Just the right balance of trauma and passion. Sensitive and understanding without compromising her own boundaries or needs. 
  • The reality TV show plot was actually very fun. I liked Natasha Rojas and her team. And at least this book has actual named people of color in it, unlike book one.
  • Yay for queer siblings and all-queer friend groups!
  • This is very much a romance book, but it's much more internal than most romances, and Astrid's personal growth and journey of self-discovery is very much the main thing going on here, and I love that a lot.
  • Baking bi
  • Sapphics going into business together!
  • Jordan's character arc/career trajectory was also really satisfying to read
  • Love that Ruby and Josh are still characters in this book and that Josh's character development from book one carried over
  • Very happy that we spent more time with Iris in this one. I feel like I'll actually care about her when we get to her book.
  • Clit necklace
  • The first two sex scenes are SO GOOD
  • The clear references to other popular sapphic romance books in Iris's library were really cute
  • I liked whatever was going on with Iris and Simon's dynamic as well. They were fun.
    And I'm glad that Simon got a bit of development and his own romance, even though it happened off-page
  • I just generally thought that the character dynamics and general story structure were even better in this book than in Delilah Green Doesn't Care

Things that I did not like:
  • The opening was really rough
  • I know it was thematically significant, but the love confession stuff got a bit too woo woo for me (and I say this as someone who does own a tarot deck)
  • I NEVER want to hear about two characters "rubbing their pussies together" and then spontaneously orgasming together ever again. That's not how anything works, and it was especially weird when the earlier sex scenes felt so realistic in the very best way.
  • Letting the audience think that Meredith had DIED OF CANCER for over a third of the book was a very odd choice and I was not a fan
  • I am once again BEGGING Ashley Herring Blake to just say "lesbian" and "sapphic" instead of constantly saying "women and nonbinary people." This book was better about that than the first one (like Jordan is actually described as a lesbian at least once and some of the books were actually described as sapphic), but it was still weird and I wish authors would just use the very useful labels that already exist to describe their characters' queer identities. It's smoother and better and doesn't make it seem like you have something against the word "lesbian."

Misc thoughts:
  • FUCK YOU MEREDITH
  • FUCK YOU JILLIAN

Anyway, if you like antagonists to lovers sapphics with a small-town renovation show setting and a large dose of self-exploration, you should definitely pick up Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail.
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mandaraffe's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

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author2223's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

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eamily's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.5

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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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

3.75

originally, i really liked this. however, after reading all the reviews and seeing the complaints about Jordans character and also the issues with the certain terminology used by the author, i started to agree and change my mind about my original rating. i agree with those saying Jordan is slightly frustrating in that she always gets what she wants in the end and kind of makes Astrid the villain when it is not all of her fault. it was frustrating seeing Astrid take all of the blame and Jordan taking all of the credit. I wish Astrid would have gotten a slightly different love interest. aside from this, i really enjoyed Astrid's storyline. I loved how she came into her sexuality and started living her life for herself.  
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