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katiekaiser's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
4.25
I liked this book a lot!! It’s an easy and quick read. I like the way it incorporates characters from the previous books. For whatever reason, I just didn’t love the characters as much as I did in previous books. Something about Dean just seemed a little off to me. I also didn’t like that they kept it secret from their friends and that their friends didn’t really approve. One thing I really liked is that Allie took a break to find herself. I think that was good for her as an individual and it added to her character development
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Car accident, Cursing, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Alcohol and Drug use
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Vomit
ttumbletree's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I loved this book. I very much didn’t expect to love this book, but I loved it! I tried to avoid this series for a very long time, and me picking it back up after the first book was more out of convenience, but I’m glad I read these books. I love the relationship between Dean and Allie as much as I love the characters separate from one another. Their chemistry was explosive and I enjoyed the way their relationship developed over the course of the book. I even liked the drama towards the end of the book, which isn’t very typical for me. Usually I’m over it before it even starts, but this time around I couldn’t help but be invested. And it gave the characters more chances to grow and develop and it made me feel a lot of emotions so that’s also a tick in my book.
All in all I loved the book: it made me giddy, made me full out laugh (at 2 am so thank you very much for that), it made me cry, it made me feel everything. (I never expected a book series about hockey players falling in love to make me cry, but here we are.)
I have to take away some points though, for the blatant heteronormativity, and the “I’m so masculine, I call people p***y” remarks that are sadly present in all the books in this series… (never liked that, never enjoyed that, cringe every time it happens, cannot effing stand it!) Oh and not to forget the over sexualization of wlw. It’s disgusting and harmful!
I am also very much not over the Beau thing. It was rude and it broke my heart!! Did not expect that to happen, nor that it would hit me this hard, but I am still very much upset about it!!
All in all I loved the book: it made me giddy, made me full out laugh (at 2 am so thank you very much for that), it made me cry, it made me feel everything. (I never expected a book series about hockey players falling in love to make me cry, but here we are.)
I have to take away some points though, for the blatant heteronormativity, and the “I’m so masculine, I call people p***y” remarks that are sadly present in all the books in this series… (never liked that, never enjoyed that, cringe every time it happens, cannot effing stand it!) Oh and not to forget the over sexualization of wlw. It’s disgusting and harmful!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Cancer, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Sexism, and Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia
sarinaxenia's review against another edition
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Chronic illness and Death
Minor: Drug use and Death of parent
kb33's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Cursing
Moderate: Drug use and Grief
Minor: Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Car accident, Death of parent, Cancer, Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Death
vanessa1982's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
teasag's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
I absolutely loved this book, definitely my favourite in the off campus series so far, however the ending definitely caught me off guard haha but it actually made the book better for me personally. I loved Deans character development as it didn’t happen immediately (i hate love at first sight!) but i love the slow changes in his character of the time him and Allie were getting closer. Allie is such a great character, i feel like Hannah and Grace (the love interests in the past two books) were written as being these “quirky” “cute” girls when really they just ended up being a bit annoying. Allie is definitely written in this way too but i feel like her character is much better developed than the other two girls, she’s not annoying or cringy and she seems genuinely sweet. I liked this plot line the most so far, not too dark but not so lack lustre that it’s like every other book out there. I cant wait to get onto ‘The Goal’ and see Tucker and Sabrina’s relationship flow. Absolutely love this series, i will be reading the Briar U after this as well :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, and Drug use
Minor: Pregnancy
lifeonasofa's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“Well, kudos to your dad for making sure you could protect yourself. Followed by a f*ck you to your dad for turning you into a deadly weapon” - Elle Kennedy 🤛🏻
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5 Stars
Another (not so) Bitchy Buddy Read 🎉
She’s back ladies and gentlemen! I was concerned after book 2, but the vibes are back! Surprisingly, Dean was almost as perfect as Garrett - I know, I did not expect it either. The play boy of the group, somehow so wholesome and healthy for our girl Allie. 👀
I loved that Allie was so relatable and the same lovely ray of sunshine from The Deal. We also got more Hannah and Garrett - yay! I loved how refreshingly honest Dean was, his layers slowly unraveling. Allie learnt to accept herself and her wants without feeling ashamed. 💋
I’ve been so surprising and impressed with Kennedys ability to make her smutty romance books deep! She handles serious topics in such a lovely way, highlighting healthy relationships with partners, family and friends. So a quick heads up, check the trigger warnings for this one. 🥰
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Car accident
sinilukee's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing and Drug use
Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, Death of parent, Death, Car accident, and 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.
...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
Graphic: Chronic illness, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Car accident
Minor: Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Vomit
krsalvati's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Alcohol, and Sexual content