Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Hookup Plan

i loved this book so much. i loved the writing and characters. they didnt feel flat at all. drew and london are perfect for each other. drew is the man of my dreams he has no red flags. i havent read any academic rivals to fwbs to lovers before so this was really great. i loved the ending, as it prioritized londons friendship w taylor and samiah. i liked the third act conflict too because it didnt just focus on an issue between drew and london. it had bigger consequences and affected more than just their relationship, since work is so important to the both of them.

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kaitrates's review against another edition

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

This is one of those books I find incredibly hard to rate. I enjoyed it MOSTLY. It hit all the right note. AND it was also extremely triggering with its conversations about health and food and dieting. AND I know those conversations are important especially for Black women. I liked the romance AND I was confused how quickly they jumped in—felt like I was missing something (might be the 'tism y'all). I loved Drew and how DOWN he was for London...and I hated his wealth...and appreciated how he used his influence.

See?! All the things!

One thing I have 0 ambivalence about is London: I loved her. I know many others have complained but damn I adored her emotional journey. I loved watching her process her toxic relationship with her dad and the many ways that showed up. Her realisation before their meeting towards the end WOOF. And how fucking real is that? These experiences impact us in so many ways. Watching her find her way to herself, her siblings, and Drew was beautiful and powerful.

In the end, I alternated between really loving it and being taken aback/having to tend my heart & mental health. So I'm gonna skip the rating for this and let that be that.

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c100's review

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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khall123's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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aqtbenz's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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? No

4.0

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stephup2thestreets's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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thebookcoyote's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

TW/CW: Sex, language, disordered eating, loss of a parent, illness, children’s illness, misogyny

REVIEW: The Hookup Plan is the story of London Kelly, a pediatric surgeon who at the beginning of the book is in charge of her 15-year High School Reunion. While at the reunion she reconnects and ultimately hooks up with her high school nemesis, Drew Sullivan. It doesn’t seem like a big deal until she finds out at work that next Monday that he will be conducting a financial audit of the hospital where she works, forcing them to spend more time together than she’d ever planned…

I am not a big fan of this book. Partially it’s because I’m not a fan of contemporary fiction in general (except in a few very specific circumstances) but also because this book definitely has its issues.

First of all, I don’t think there’s a single time London eats something in this book without mentioning how bad it is for her. It turns out she has pre-hypertension…which doesn’t mean that she has to look at every food and make moral judgements on it. I was just made very, very uncomfortable by this because I don’t like books that seem to think that disordered eating is a good idea.

Secondly, the way people talk about sex in this book, I’d guess the characters were in middle school. If they’re lucky, high school. Not the adults that they’re obviously supposed to be. The sex talk was literally cringy and I tried to get through those parts as soon as possible.

Thirdly, there was no tension in this book. You always knew what was going to happen. The conflict that there was felt very forced, and not real. Honestly, I found the book pretty painfully boring and the characters mostly unlikable. (London more than Drew).

If you are a fan of contemporary romance/fiction maybe you will enjoy this book, but it was not for me.

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