Reviews with content warning for Cancer - The Score

Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

jj_readstoomuch's review

emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

3.5

"He knows how to score, on and off the ice...
...It’ll take more than flashy moves to win her over."

Allie Hayes is nursing a broken heart but ends up on the rebound. She spends one night with Dean Di Laurentis, the king of one-night stands, and the rest is history. Just like the previous two books, The Score is pretty much the standard romance book. However, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the others.

The plot for this book was fairly predicable as it was so similar to her previous books in the series. A girl goes through a life changing event, she catches the eye of the bad boy hockey player, they try to resist each other and then boom, they fail. I know this is pretty much the basis for a lot of romance books out there (don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a good old good girl/bad boy trope) but the writing itself just seemed quite repetitive. At times I often felt like I was having deja vu because it just seemed like I'd read the exact same story before. However, the author has said that you can read these books as standalones. In my opinion, you wouldn't understand parts of book 3 without reading book 2 and you wouldn't understand parts of book 2 without reading the first book etc. so I'm glad I read them as a series.

The main characters in this book are Allie Hayes and Dean Di Laurentis. I personally just didn't gel with these characters as much as I did with the main characters from the previous books in the series.
Allie is ok. There are certain aspects of her personality that I find admirable, like her loyalty towards others. However, that also happens to be her downfall. She's loyal to a drastic fault and puts others' needs before her own. I did like Allie's character development. She became more certain about what she wanted and did things for her self, knowing that it would impact other characters, and didn't second-guess herself.
Dean. The only thing we really learn about Dean in the previous books is that he's a massive player, a humongous flirt and is very rich. In this book, you don't learn much more about Dean until maybe the last third of the book when a major event happens (no spoilers) and you see how he handles it and how his character develops because of it. I'm not a massive Dean fan despite how he's made out to such a popular person in the book. I found his personality to be quite garish and stereotypical. Yes, he has a character arc and grows as a person as we reach the end of the book but I don't know, his character just isn't for me.
As for other characters, we see more of Garratt and Hannah, Logan and Grace and more side characters from the previous books (which is why I would recommend reading the books as a series and in order). One character we didn't read a lot about in this book though is Tucker. He had the odd piece of dialogue and then dropped a major bombshell at the end of the book so I'm guessing book 4 is going to be about Tucker. We don't really know alot about this character besides that he's the 'mum' of the group and is a decent cook so I'm looking forward to reading more about him in the next book.

Ultimately, I thought this book was okay overall. A bit repetitive with the scenarios and writing but learning more about the different characters and how their lives have progressed at Briar University was very interesting. Overall, I'd probably rate this book 3.5 / 5 stars. It wasn't a bad book by any means but it didn't make me go all giddy and stay hooked like the previous books. I would recommend reading this book if you don't mind a bit of repetitiveness or if you're going to read it as a standalone. I would also recommend this book (and the series as a whole) to adults (18+) as it contains explicit content and tackles some pretty heavy issues throughout.

Content Warnings

ashley_1206's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

3.75⭐️

y’all let me just jump into this. my bbg allie? i love her. she is literally one of the strongest main characters you will ever meet. ngl i finished the book just because of her.

dean was literally my bae until like the last hmmmm 10%. i hold grudges so fresh out of the book sure i have a place in my heart for dean but i feel a bit hurt.

the side characters and i were attached at the hip. ALLIES DAD? THATS MY HOMIE BRO. i literally learned so much from that man it’s crazy. like he genuinely made me think and feel safe. i love that man. also in this book my respect for garrett just increased.

sean can jump off a cliff. like actually idc. if anyone deserves hate it’s this man.

but yeah 88% of this book is literally smutt but the characters are fun and enjoyable. i love dean and allie’s relationship <3

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theworldisyourlibrary's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was soooooo good! It’s a fun lighthearted read but with lots of substance. You get the steamy scenes but also real life situations that the characters have to deal with, it’s not all a fantasy land. The author does a great job and mixing the two, giving you the escapism you look for in books mixed with realness and relatablenes. I love all the boys, all the characters are chef kiss!

At the moment, I think this is my favorite book. Dean was too precious, I love him! Him and Allie make a great couple.

And that ending!! 😱😱 So pumped for Tucker’s book! 😅😂

Content Warnings

itsmeyseniab's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-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? It's complicated

3.5

I swear this series is like candy to me, I eat these books up so quickly! Although this has been the spiciest book in the series thus far in my opinion, it was my least favorite romance. I unfortunately didn't completely love Allie and Dean as a couple (apart from their palpable physical chemistry), but they are HILARIOUS. I kind of wish that

Dean and Allie didn't end up together in the end. I know that's probably an unpopular opinion, but I loved the idea of them just being friends with benefits. They would've still been capable with learning from each other and growing as individuals without the pressure of being in a relationship by the end.

The main reason that I ended up giving this one 3.5 stars is because it felt as though Elle Kennedy was throwing the most ridiculous conflicts at the end to give the characters more depth. There were multiple times at the end when I put the book down and laughed, not because the situation was particularly funny, but just because I was so flabbergasted by the huge downer at the end when the first 80% was lighthearted and sexy. I also appreciated the character growth that Elle Kennedy attempted to display, specifically with Allie, but it didn't pack as much of a punch due to my feelings on the spoiler I mentioned above.

All in all I'm still having a fabulous time with this series and can't wait to pick up the next one!

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