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girlreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
juttaleupe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
ekern1991's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
quillyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Sadly, it just wasn’t for me. 🫠
There were some nice elements, but a lot I couldn’t forgive. Porticularly the portrayals of Charlie’s anxiety and panic disorders, and Dev’s depression. I know these are complex, varied conditions. But to me, it felt stereotyped and unrealistic. But, it was good to see some representation for two guys that struggle with mental health conditions, support each other, and eventually seek the help they need to start recovery.
It just feels a shame that so much of the plot relies on miscommunication (or complete lack of communication), and there is little character development until the close. 🤕
Felt like a bit of a slog tbh!
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood
courtsport's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Bullying, Vomit, and Alcohol
lucyhargrave's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Vomit
wardenred's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
“There is nothing wrong with believing in happy endings.”
“Isn’t there, though, when statistically, you know half of those endings are actually divorce?” Jules sucks on a lime. “Shouldn’t orchestrating love stories for our crappy show spoil the magic for you a bit?”
“No! Never!”
I expected something fairly lighthearted from this book, but I ended up spending most of it feeling upset and worried for the characters. I'm not saying this as a bad thing; if anything, it means that I cared for these fictional people. Just a case of misplaced expectations, I guess? I should really stop trusting the packaging and pay more attention to reviews. Especially, apparently, when it comes to romcoms. I swear some of the most nerve-wrecking books I've read were marketed as romcoms.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the mental health representation here. Both Charlie's anxiety and Dev's depression were described in a way that I found really relatable, as well as their respective journeys to getting better. There was so much attention put into how certain things appear on the outside and how they actually feel when your brain is actively working against you. Despite being intimately familiar with depression, I was kind of tricked with Dev when it came to the portrayal of this dichotomy. I was genuinely growing frustrated with him for a big chunk of the book for his dedication to orchestrating the reality show love stories. How could he be directly involved in all the staging and framing and nudging people toward specific actions and outcomes, and still believe in those happily ever afters? And then it was revealed just how depressed he was, and it all clicked. Like, oh. Of course. He's not so much ignoring what's right in front of him, he's avoiding what's *inside* of him, until it becomes too personal to go on. To make it clear, I liked this effect a lot.
All the inner workings of the dating show were fun to read about, too, in that somewhat darkly entertaining way. There was exactly as much cynicism and manipulation as I expected, but there were also some sweet moments amidst it all between the core group, as well as some witty dialogue that made me smirk.
I'm not sure I bought Charlie and Dev as a couple by the end of the book, though. They're both wonderful characters, but I feel like Charlie put it best right before the ending:
In many ways, this story reminded me of Alexis Hall's Winner Bakes All books that are also marketed as romcoms and are very much not. Great books, all of them! Just. Misleading packaging.
Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Moderate: Vomit
ktame001's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Vomit
athenian_frog's review against another edition
- 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
Also another thing this book did that I don’t see very much: Dev seems very considerate of Charlie’s physical boundaries, and he asks permission a lot when it comes to contact. He also makes an effort to clean his hands/be extra sanitary around Charlie bc he’s aware it sth that bothers him. The affectionate little touches and the sleeping in the same bed without it necessarily being sexual, just intimate…I ADORED this aspect of their relationship.
The dates were also very personalized to each character, and focused on them opening up, which I thought was really cool. That sounds like a “duh” kind of thing to have in a romance but I can’t recall the last time I kicked my feet up for a single date like that…
Another plus: Diverse cast in general, but also the women who were in the show were pretty solid. I really liked watching their dynamic and I wish I saw more of them TBH.
I think the main things that bugged me were:
- the amount of vomiting/mentions of vomiting that happened (it gets better in the latter half but the start feels p noticeable).
- Maureen felt a little flat and kind of like an obvious evil figure 😭 wanted a little more depth to her.
- I wanted some more out of Dev and Charlie’s families, they felt pretty glued to the background of everything.
NOTE: if you’re looking for something steamy and explicit, this doesn’t have a lot in that department. There’s plenty of kissing and making out but the sex is fairly vague. I didn’t really care kissing and cuddling is my shit but just as a heads up!!
Even with these issues in mind I still had a blast reading this. Kudos to Ms. Cocheron!
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Child abuse
Some mentions of biphobia and homophobia from one of the lead producers. This is not at all supported, it is actively condemned by the story and its characters. Several descriptions/mentions of dry heaving or vomiting. One of the main characters suffers from an anxiety disorder and OCD. There are (what I personally found to be) respectful discussions about living with these conditions. One of the main characters has a form of depression. There are discussions around this topic (that also seemed respectful)mattyb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit