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annie_tonk's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Grief, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness
hunkydory's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Grief, and Ableism
ashleyvaleria's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
4.0
2nd book i read after a long reading slump. different from the other 2 books in this series but still very much enjoyable. a lot more tense and sad than the others but still amazing writing as always. anna’s journey was difficult to read as her journey in this book is very tense but her character development is amazing. again there is autism representation that helps me understand it a little more which i appreciate. overall a pretty easy read with a lot of character development :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit, Infertility, Medical trauma, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment
dorhastings's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I quickly and recently read both The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test. It's fair to say that I came to this book with some expectations. And while it's possibly unfair to rate this book based on it not meeting my expectations, I also think it deviated so significantly and in ways that I think I may not have read it if I'd known more about it. (Well, I might have read it, but I'd set myself up different. This was not a book to read before bedtime, for me.)
Before going more into this book, I want to emphasize that Helen Hoang is an amazing writer. As much as I did not enjoy this book, I enjoy her writing immensely. I am grateful that she is calling attention to some really hard-hitting, crucial issues, and I applaud her attention to detail and integration of often unseen fictional characters. The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test did have their light moments, but they had some darker ones as well (particularly The Bride Test and grief). I would heartily recommend Helen Hoang as an author and will read pretty much anything she writes.
That said, this book just did not do it for me, perhaps due to my earlier expectations. It was just so deeply dark that I did not enjoy it. The author's note doesn't particularly help here, which is funny, because her author notes have made me appreciate her other books more. I think the danger of writing a book (even a fictional book) that has so much of you and your experience in it is that it's a bit less about the enjoyment of the reader. And maybe that's not important to Hoang, and it sure doesn't have to be. (Or the enjoyment is truly her goal, and she's succeeded, because a ton of people love this book.) But it felt like she was loading so, so much into this book, and while it was all no doubt authentic, it was exhausting for me to read. I was ready for a medium-light read, and this was not it.
Again, this is not to say that she did a poor job writing it. But if you're trying to convince me that the relationship between Quan and Anna is a good one, good luck to you. The instant Quan and Anna got together after everything happened, I was out. I finished the book, but I didn't find Quan and Anna to be a compelling couple. For one thing, Quan was really shafted in this book. I was pretty happy to read a book about him; I've enjoyed reading about him in the previous two books. There wasn't a lot of depth here, or exploration into his own story. He was in every way secondary to Anna. (Granted, she's never been first in her life, and she deserves to be, but there's a better way to do it.) Arguably, Hoang has primarily focused on her female characters in the previous two books, but it really did feel that Quan got pushed back in a book where he's a main character. I appreciate that he's a positive force in Anna's life, the best one she has, but it just felt forced.
This book was not about them. And they said the right things to each other. This book was about Anna.
There are a few aspects of this book that I really liked. First, I liked that Anna needed a lot of time to get healthy. And she took that time. So that felt very realistic. It's awful that her family's reaction to her seeking help was to push her aside, and it was really nice to see her mom grow and try to establish a relationship with her. As nearly everyone has mentioned, I thought Hoang's portrayal of caregiver depression was spot-on. And I like that Hoang has focused on different aspects of autism with every book. In The Kiss Quotient, Stella is very familiar with her personality and behavior, and her parents support her. In The Bride Test, Khai's autism is different, and not everyone in his family understands or accepts who he is, but his immediately family does. In this book, Anna's therapist tells her that she might be on the autism spectrum, so she is stunned with that diagnosis, and her immediate family (really, her sister, Priscilla) rejects the diagnosis as being an excuse for laziness and stupidity. I think this is excellent range, and I like that it shares different perspectives.
Before going more into this book, I want to emphasize that Helen Hoang is an amazing writer. As much as I did not enjoy this book, I enjoy her writing immensely. I am grateful that she is calling attention to some really hard-hitting, crucial issues, and I applaud her attention to detail and integration of often unseen fictional characters. The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test did have their light moments, but they had some darker ones as well (particularly The Bride Test and grief). I would heartily recommend Helen Hoang as an author and will read pretty much anything she writes.
That said, this book just did not do it for me, perhaps due to my earlier expectations. It was just so deeply dark that I did not enjoy it. The author's note doesn't particularly help here, which is funny, because her author notes have made me appreciate her other books more. I think the danger of writing a book (even a fictional book) that has so much of you and your experience in it is that it's a bit less about the enjoyment of the reader. And maybe that's not important to Hoang, and it sure doesn't have to be. (Or the enjoyment is truly her goal, and she's succeeded, because a ton of people love this book.) But it felt like she was loading so, so much into this book, and while it was all no doubt authentic, it was exhausting for me to read. I was ready for a medium-light read, and this was not it.
Again, this is not to say that she did a poor job writing it. But if you're trying to convince me that the relationship between Quan and Anna is a good one, good luck to you. The instant Quan and Anna got together after everything happened, I was out. I finished the book, but I didn't find Quan and Anna to be a compelling couple. For one thing, Quan was really shafted in this book. I was pretty happy to read a book about him; I've enjoyed reading about him in the previous two books. There wasn't a lot of depth here, or exploration into his own story. He was in every way secondary to Anna. (Granted, she's never been first in her life, and she deserves to be, but there's a better way to do it.) Arguably, Hoang has primarily focused on her female characters in the previous two books, but it really did feel that Quan got pushed back in a book where he's a main character. I appreciate that he's a positive force in Anna's life, the best one she has, but it just felt forced.
This book was not about them. And they said the right things to each other. This book was about Anna.
There are a few aspects of this book that I really liked. First, I liked that Anna needed a lot of time to get healthy. And she took that time. So that felt very realistic. It's awful that her family's reaction to her seeking help was to push her aside, and it was really nice to see her mom grow and try to establish a relationship with her. As nearly everyone has mentioned, I thought Hoang's portrayal of caregiver depression was spot-on. And I like that Hoang has focused on different aspects of autism with every book. In The Kiss Quotient, Stella is very familiar with her personality and behavior, and her parents support her. In The Bride Test, Khai's autism is different, and not everyone in his family understands or accepts who he is, but his immediately family does. In this book, Anna's therapist tells her that she might be on the autism spectrum, so she is stunned with that diagnosis, and her immediate family (really, her sister, Priscilla) rejects the diagnosis as being an excuse for laziness and stupidity. I think this is excellent range, and I like that it shares different perspectives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness
slavic_bookworm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
Once again Hoang doesn’t disappoint! And there she goes, onto my too favorite authors list. I am just sad that there is no more books of hers I can read. She is a brilliant romance author.
Now onto this book. There were moments where Anna made me a little frustrated, but I do not struggle with the same mental issues as she did and I think that frustration that I felt made me a little closer to the main character since clearly that is what she felt a lot of the time. This book deals with a lot of triggers so be sure to be in a good mind set when reading this book. Now onto Quan. Quan,Quan,Quan. Life would be so much better if everyone had a Quan in their life. Hell, I wish my husband could take a couple lessons from him in dealing with people with compassion and understanding like he does. Wow! This is definitely a make me feel good book, especially for someone that does deal with mental health issues.
Now onto this book. There were moments where Anna made me a little frustrated, but I do not struggle with the same mental issues as she did and I think that frustration that I felt made me a little closer to the main character since clearly that is what she felt a lot of the time. This book deals with a lot of triggers so be sure to be in a good mind set when reading this book. Now onto Quan. Quan,Quan,Quan. Life would be so much better if everyone had a Quan in their life. Hell, I wish my husband could take a couple lessons from him in dealing with people with compassion and understanding like he does. Wow! This is definitely a make me feel good book, especially for someone that does deal with mental health issues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders
amissabellator's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Ableism, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, and Medical content
The text follows Anna Sun - a woman who is diagnosed with autism with low-support needs - (and, to a lesser extent, Quan Diep - a man who has recently overcome personal illness (jill_r_317's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
mcsturgeon40's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Medical content, Death, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Classism
analenegrace's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
My local bookstore is doing a Romance Book Club this year and this was the first book, which I was pretty apprehensive about since I did not Love the previous Helen Hoang book, The Kiss Quotient, I read. I tried to take my time with this book as often I struggle with books about women who lose their fathers, as mine passed when I was a teenager. I ended up resonating with this book quite a bit even though I did not love it.
After reading the author's note and the acknowledgements, I can see that Hoang wrote this book as part memoir and that it was deeply personal, which I thing shows throughout and is quite possibly why the end does not read as well as the rest of the book. As someone who is also exploring the possibility of autism as an adult women, Anna's character and her motivations made sense to me, although her relationship with therapy throughout was upsetting and at times made me want to reach through the page and shake her.
I wanted to touch on the use of Aspergers throughout the book. Although the author is autistic herself, she uses Aspergers in her bio and it is mentioned multiple times throughout the book. While she acknowledges it is no longer the term used, and that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is, she uses the term without acknowledging the inherent damage of the word and its history. Aspergers is a term that divides the ASD community and comes from the name of a Nazi Doctor who used it to decide who was useful or not and who lived or died. It either needs to be acknowledged or left out.
Quan was a fantastic love interest who was perhaps too good for this world and for this book. I was picturing him throughout as quite muscly so it was little shocking when they said lean runners muscles. I really enjoyed his and Anna's dynamic, although I wish we'd had more actual dialogue between the two in the last section as it felt like he really disappeared at the end. On his non-romance plot throughout, I thought that the resolution with LVMH at the end felt very happy ending resolution when I quite preferred the choice to stay a small business and continue working together, it felt like an author's cop-out and not knowing how to end that story, when I felt that that plotline had been resolved.
The final section of this book is really where Hoang lost me, and why this book is rated what it is. I genuinely believe that Hoang was trying to write an ending to her own story while she is still in the middle of it, and it feels rushed, the time jumps do not work, and the lack of dialogue and almost only inner monologue is frustrating. We also lose Quan's perspective in the end and it stops feeling like a Romance novel at all. I also wished we would have gotten a resolution for her relationship with her sister, although I understand that sometimes interpersonal relationships cannot be resolved and the best choice is to move on, but when a book is trying to wrap up and give us happy ending, it seemed like an odd thing to ignore.
I'm very excited to talk to my book club about this book and see their perspective on the story.
After reading the author's note and the acknowledgements, I can see that Hoang wrote this book as part memoir and that it was deeply personal, which I thing shows throughout and is quite possibly why the end does not read as well as the rest of the book. As someone who is also exploring the possibility of autism as an adult women, Anna's character and her motivations made sense to me, although her relationship with therapy throughout was upsetting and at times made me want to reach through the page and shake her.
I wanted to touch on the use of Aspergers throughout the book. Although the author is autistic herself, she uses Aspergers in her bio and it is mentioned multiple times throughout the book. While she acknowledges it is no longer the term used, and that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is, she uses the term without acknowledging the inherent damage of the word and its history. Aspergers is a term that divides the ASD community and comes from the name of a Nazi Doctor who used it to decide who was useful or not and who lived or died. It either needs to be acknowledged or left out.
Quan was a fantastic love interest who was perhaps too good for this world and for this book. I was picturing him throughout as quite muscly so it was little shocking when they said lean runners muscles. I really enjoyed his and Anna's dynamic, although I wish we'd had more actual dialogue between the two in the last section as it felt like he really disappeared at the end. On his non-romance plot throughout, I thought that the resolution with
The final section of this book is really where Hoang lost me, and why this book is rated what it is. I genuinely believe that Hoang was trying to write an ending to her own story while she is still in the middle of it, and it feels rushed, the time jumps do not work, and the lack of dialogue and almost only inner monologue is frustrating. We also lose Quan's perspective in the end and it stops feeling like a Romance novel at all. I also wished we would have gotten a resolution for her relationship with her sister,
I'm very excited to talk to my book club about this book and see their perspective on the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Ableism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
zoiejanelle's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
(listened to audio book from library)
REVIEW TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS BOOK!
i devoured this book. i was up until 3am reading this and good LORD was it worth it.
i would definitely classify this as contemporary fiction and not a romance because the main focal point was Anna’s struggle to accept and honor herself, not the love story. though i liked the love story—which added fantastic levity to the serious topics presented here despite also being pretty rocky—i was completely sold by Anna’s arc: her diagnosis, accepting a caretaker role, the epiphany about her needs, her growth.
once again, Helen Hoang perfectly captures the neurodivergent experience. Anna’s relationship with her family, her friends, herself, and her art were so relatable and heart-wrenching. i can only describe my feelings/reactions towards the ongoing conflicts related to her autism as VISCERAL. chapter 41 literally caused me to sob into a pillow. i am not kidding. i had to try very hard to stifle my weeping.
the ending, though extremely fast-paced was satisfying and realistic. i appreciated that, unlike The Bride Test, not every plot point received a sparkly, happy conclusion. grief and healing are not linear, and it makes sense that Anna‘s experiences with them were not either.
i will admit, criticisms of Quan’s story are valid. though i liked that his chapters were brief, i would happily read an entire novel about his journey surviving cancer. i did not feel like his POV was needed at times, which led me to want his storyline to be fleshed out more, to be more on par with the tone and severity of Anna’s. i think each arc could have better paralleled the other and his story could have had a stronger impact. maybe Anna’s story was heavy enough and Helen Hoang felt the need to write something lighter to help the reader escape that darkness, but i think it still could have worked.
wrt the sex scenes: this book was much steamier and more satisfying (wink wonk) than The Bride Test. it also showed realistic sexual dysfunction and healthy communication of boundaries/needs. i liked the pining as much as i liked the sex scenes themselves, and i never turned the page and felt let down or disappointed by how the scenes ended. they all tended to make sense and feel complete.
overall this was a fantastic, quick read that i recommend to nd romance readers looking to see and authentic story in a new genre.
CW (not included below): autism meltdown, autism burnout, career burnout/career issues
REVIEW TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS BOOK!
i devoured this book. i was up until 3am reading this and good LORD was it worth it.
i would definitely classify this as contemporary fiction and not a romance because the main focal point was Anna’s struggle to accept and honor herself, not the love story. though i liked the love story—which added fantastic levity to the serious topics presented here despite also being pretty rocky—i was completely sold by Anna’s arc: her diagnosis, accepting a caretaker role, the epiphany about her needs, her growth.
once again, Helen Hoang perfectly captures the neurodivergent experience. Anna’s relationship with her family, her friends, herself, and her art were so relatable and heart-wrenching. i can only describe my feelings/reactions towards the ongoing conflicts related to her autism as VISCERAL. chapter 41 literally caused me to sob into a pillow. i am not kidding. i had to try very hard to stifle my weeping.
the ending, though extremely fast-paced was satisfying and realistic. i appreciated that, unlike The Bride Test, not every plot point received a sparkly, happy conclusion. grief and healing are not linear, and it makes sense that Anna‘s experiences with them were not either.
i will admit, criticisms of Quan’s story are valid. though i liked that his chapters were brief, i would happily read an entire novel about his journey surviving cancer. i did not feel like his POV was needed at times, which led me to want his storyline to be fleshed out more, to be more on par with the tone and severity of Anna’s. i think each arc could have better paralleled the other and his story could have had a stronger impact. maybe Anna’s story was heavy enough and Helen Hoang felt the need to write something lighter to help the reader escape that darkness, but i think it still could have worked.
wrt the sex scenes: this book was much steamier and more satisfying (wink wonk) than The Bride Test. it also showed realistic sexual dysfunction and healthy communication of boundaries/needs. i liked the pining as much as i liked the sex scenes themselves, and i never turned the page and felt let down or disappointed by how the scenes ended. they all tended to make sense and feel complete.
overall this was a fantastic, quick read that i recommend to nd romance readers looking to see and authentic story in a new genre.
CW (not included below): autism meltdown, autism burnout, career burnout/career issues
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Ableism, Grief, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Cancer
Minor: Cursing, Car accident, Excrement, Xenophobia, and Vomit