Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Wszystkie drogi prowadzą do ciebie

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Wszystkie drogi prowadzą do ciebie by Mariana Zapata

30 reviews

itsmemiana's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

new comfort author??? possibly??? and one of my fave romance books too???

this is my first ever Mariana Zapata book and I'm obsessed with it. at first I was drawn to her because we share our first name with the exact same spelling and it's not often that I see someone with my name outside of my country. then I decided to add a few of her books to my tbr over time and then I went to the Lisbon book fair and I saw this one and decided to buy it and I decided to immediately start reading it (yes I have 1100+ books on my tbr and yes I still did this).

and I'm in love. I love Aurora. and I'm in love with Rhodes 😭❤️

I'm not even an age gap girlie (even tho this age gap wasn't that big, she was 33/34 and he was 42/43) but I loved this SO much. I understand why people call Mariana the slow burn queen because WOW. this had me at the edge of my seat the whole time. I mean.... at the 400 page mark they hadn't even kissed yet 😭. I honestly had no idea I would love a slow burn like this as much as I did but omg. I want all my slow burns to be like this now. I'M OBSESSED.

but as I said before, I loved Aurora and Rhodes and their whole relationship from the beginning but I also loved Amos and Clara and Jackie and Yuki and all the other good side characters. these people are my family fr.

can't wait to read more Mariana Zapata books 🫶🏼

Content Warnings

mary_mel's review against another edition

3.75

emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-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

What I liked:

Rhodes, who wouldn’t love him?
A strong and independent woman as FMC, take that patriarchy and famous people thinking money can buy everything
THE ROMANCE!
The found family dynamics, prepare your heart to melt many times
Small town vibes (without the usual neighbour overload that comes with it), outdoor vibes
The growth arc for Aurora, I was truly happy for this character to heal, find herself centered again and loved
The chemistry between both MCs, genuine and strong bond described over the book
No excessive smut scenes used as filler chapters, we cheered! Like they waited until it felt right and not just instincts and attraction?

What I liked less:

Things which were said too many times:
calling him my landlord, Why does she have to pee so many times, why do we get excessive repetitions of how hot is Rhodes (even if I still can’t imagine fully what he looks like), is it a way to compensate the age gap?
I don’t know if it’s the lack of dual POV but I did not see the shift in their relationship, especially from Rhodes’. It’s like he fell before we even knew but just did not show it. I don’t like that shortcut to use a kind of grumpy x sunshine excuse and then make the grumpy say he fell first but did not show. Also he’s not really grumpy. And she’s not really sunshine by default, it’s more she’s become the one she felt was right
going on a hike and get in trouble, trying to put the bat house and get trouble.. it felt a bit reckless from her
the third act break up trope almost? I didn’t get how both guys would get angry when they found out about her ex, by that time they were already on the same page

Content Warnings

jessiecc's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A gorgeously slow burn romance that gave me all the feels! From the grumpy x sunshine dynamics protagonist, Aurora and her temporary landlord, Rhodes, to the adorable, found family vibes that brought soo much needed comfort and joy into Aurora’s life. I could’ve easily read 500 more pages!

I adored Rhodes, whose gruff standoffish demeanour hides his warmhearted and cinnamon roll centre. His love and support for his son was heart meltingly good too and as he and Aurora get to know one another (and Aurora breaks down his defences) we see a quietly protective side to him that I absolutely loved.

And given everything Aurora has experienced in her life, and emotional journey shes still working through — Rhodes, Amos (Rhodes’ teenage son) and the other Residents of Pagosa are just what she needs to fully heal and finally find a place she can call home.

We get some pretty humorous moments too which really helped with easing the tenser more emotionally scenes (my faves being the Bat and golden eagle scenes)

Overall another incredible read that slow-burn romance lovers will definitely enjoy. Just be sure to check the TWs

Also a massive thank you to Sophie (@SophieB_Reads on TikTok) for book fairying this to me, I absolutely loved it 😍❤️

Content Warnings

mariah1's review against another edition

3.75

hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

kateb15's review against another edition

3.25

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense slow-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: No

Content Warnings

kara_bee's review against another edition

1.5

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: No

This read was disappointing on many levels, mainly that 1) it was my first read of 2025 and left me feeling massively underwhelmed/unexcited about reading more, and 2) I LOVE the other Mariana Zapata book I’ve previously read (The Wall of Winnipeg and Me) yet this one felt like it fell so short of her normal writing quality. I don’t know how it got through editing like this, honestly.

Things I did like about the book:
•teenaged characters actually acted like teenagers
•Zapata’s depiction of the fallout of dealing with narcissistic/self-centered adults and parental figures was handled well and in a realistic manner (the scenes where

Ora confronted Mrs. Jones in the diner and later told Kaden to leave her alone once and for all were very satisfying for me, as someone who has had to deal with similar personalities before

).

Things I did not like about the book:
•non-teenaged characters also acted like teenagers; namely, Ora was incredibly immature and WAY overly emotional, to the point of being worrisome. She’d get teary-eyed and gushy about absolutely everything. No one could even pay her a nice, normal compliment without her crying out that it was “the nicest thing anyone ever said” to her and hugging them while snotting on their shirt collar. I get that she’s supposed to be this cutesy, bubbly, sunshine-y person, but… she’s also a 33 year old woman. Take it down a notch or ten. If I knew anyone like this in real life, especially at that age, I’d seriously worry about their mental health.
•The repetition and inconsistencies in the writing. We are told so many times about how 1) Kaden was a bad boyfriend/life partner/whatever they were, 2) Mrs. Jones is the Antichrist, 3) Ora has to pee, 4) Rhodes is grumpy, 5) Ora doesn’t know anything about the outdoors despite wanting to go hiking all the time and working at an outdoors supply store, 6) Ora somehow thinks Rhodes barely tolerates her even after he starts calling her “angel” (the only GOOD nickname he calls her, btw - we’ll get to that)… the list goes on and on. I felt like we were being beaten over the head with certain pieces of information and it felt almost insulting. There was a lot, and I mean a LOT, of telling rather than showing. As for inconsistencies, they were fairly minor - little things like her telling Rhodes at their first meeting that she’d only ever gotten one traffic ticket in her lifetime (in an attempt to convince him she wasn’t a criminal, which, to be fair, he did think she was breaking into his garage at the time) then musing a few chapters later about how she’d never gotten a traffic ticket despite the fact that she usually drove above the speed limit (a random piece of information that we didn’t need to know, and also, is apparently untrue, assuming she was telling Rhodes the truth earlier in the book - and why would she lie to him about having only gotten one ticket if she’d never actually gotten any??). But there was also

the matter of her swearing she’d never do a certain hike by herself again after getting injured on her first attempt, only for her to… do the same hike by herself again later in the book. Then run into Rhodes’ arms after she finished it and cry to him about how she was so scared the whole time (then WHY did you DO IT????).

Just… ugh. Make it make sense.
•The nicknames, oh my god. Yikes. Rhodes calling her “angel” was fine, and I even thought it was cute (at first) that she just thought he’d misremembered her name and corrected him, but the whole ditzy “I didn’t know you were calling me an affectionate nickname this whole time!!!” thing got old real fast. And then he started calling her *shudders* Buddy…. now THAT was the most cringeworthy thing I’ve read in a while.

And his explanation for it is totally lame. She reminds him of Buddy the Elf??? I mean, yeah, given her immaturity, I can kind of see it, but then why is he attracted to her??????

Maybe I’m blowing this out of proportion but it just gave me the ick. I’d love never to see the word “buddy” again in my life.
•all spoilers (and lots of capslock) ahead:

THE THIRD ACT ARGUMENT OVER SOMETHING TOTALLY STUPID AND LAME. UGH. PLEASE LET THIS TROPE DIE. I was so mad about this. Rhodes and Amos find out the ex that Ora had alluded to is actually big country music star Kaden Jones. And instead of processing that information normally, they…. both get super pissed off and stop talking to her for like 24 hours??? WHAT??? “Oh you lied to us” NO SHE DIDN’T! YOU NEVER ASKED HER WHO HER EX WAS!! SHE’S ONLY KNOWN YOU FOR SIX MONTHS!!! IT WAS A TRAUMATIC BREAK UP SITUATION FOR HER!!!!! SHE DOESN’T OWE YOU THAT INFORMATION!!!!!! I literally set the book down, turned to my husband next to me in bed, and asked him if he’d be pissed if, six months into our relationship, I had revealed that my ex was actually Harry Styles. He shrugged and said “I’d be curious how that happened, but I wouldn’t be mad about it” and I said EXACTLY!!! THERE’S NOTHING TO BE MAD ABOUT!!!!!! AAAAAAAAUGHHHH.

Needless to say, I hated that part.
•way, way too many mentions of pee, diarrhea, and farts. Like what the hell. Do people actually find that funny?

I could keep going, but this review is long enough. If you’re new to Mariana Zapata, do yourself a favor and skip this one. Read The Wall of Winnipeg and Me - it’s actually good and has great character development. Nothing at all like this one.

Content Warnings

meli_books's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Very cute. I felt the love was real because it took a while to develop. Even though the book is quite long, I never got bored.
I would love to be able to get something like what Aurora and Rhodes have 😔🫶

Content Warnings

averyconfusedhomosapiensbooks's review against another edition

3.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad 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: No

The slowest of slow burns!

I hate to say this, because I love me a slow-burn romance, but it possibly could have been a little quicker. Near the three-quarter mark, it began to feel like we'd make romantic progress and then back track again and again. But it was still believable and enjoyable. All of the characters have such a great fleshed out back story that you can tell this was a loved book by Zapata. While I don't think that I loved Aurora as much as I was supposed to, it was because she acts like a real person. She's messy and sometimes a little too selfish, but so are a lot of people. And Amos and Rhodes's family situation? Gosh, I wish I had Zapata's skill. Wonderfully created and I will be looking out for other works of hers in the future.

Content Warnings

rainydaysinautumn's review against another edition

2.25

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Slow pace hindered by author's cobstant repetition of the same idea multiple ways and by a "not a whole hell of a lot happens plotline" The first 4 or so pages was the repeating of "I am back home for a new start". I find that MZ's books need an editor like I need air to breathe. The 600 page tome could be cut down to maybe 400ish with proper editing. I read the HarperCollins edition so there was no real excuse for the spelling, grammar, and repition issues. I gave up as not a whole hell of a lot had happened but then got stuck in a 3 hour roadblock with just this book so finished it. Also Amos' messy paternity just felt unnecessary.

Content Warnings

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