Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams

31 reviews

sfbookgirl's review

emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

Talk about steam! How to Fail at Flirting is not shy about getting to steamy stuff within the first few chapters. When Professor Naya (pronounced like papaya) Tuner’s friends convince her to get out in the dating scene again, Naya takes it seriously. But when her one-night-stand turns out to be the man of her dreams, Naya finds herself in trouble. 

 

I was shocked to learn that this is Denise William’s debut novel. It’s so good. The pacing, the writing, the dialogue; it’s all there. Williams does an amazing job tackling difficult issues in academia, abusive and toxic relationships, and race all within 343 pages. Also, gotta love a main character that is obsessed with Star Wars. And you can’t forget the punny dad jokes. Overall, I really loved this one. Five big stars from me! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

stephbeaudoin20's review against another edition

TRIGGER WARNING: The main character was in an abusive relationship, she is dealing with her trauma during the book, her abuser comes back into her life and attacks her. This was nowhere in the description and there was no trigger warning at the start of the book. It is really bad form for the publishers to miss this important step.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

courtneycanread's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

readundancies's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.25

I wanted to like this, but I could not get past the pacing of this novel. It was genuinely so confusing because it felt like nothing was going on and so incredibly slow, yet in reality the plot had quite a bit happening in such a short period of time. I’m still discombobulated over it.

Another thing that - and I don’t want to say aggravated me because that seems a little strong so let’s go with felt rather off - was the to do list itself. It was made out to be a focal point based on the synopsis but was kinda lacklustre in its execution because it was more so a subplot. Which is, you know, fine, but I was expecting it to be more encompassing than it was, because what it was was a catalyst for Jake and Naya to meet and then presumably proceeded to be a minor thing that was mentioned when the author remembered that it existed.

Additionally, none of the characters were relatable to me. I didn’t agree with a lot of Naya’s choices, I wasn’t really feeling Jake and I wasn’t really about Naya’s lack of a support system - which was definitely an intentional choice by the author but wasn’t something that I necessarily was in the mood to read about. Also, I think I’m just not in a romance mood, but that says more about me than the novel.

I will say that I appreciated the ending and how marriage was not the end game. That typically ends up being the last piece of the puzzle in formulaic romances and I’m glad that it was explicitly mentioned that it wasn’t necessary for their relationship to be successful.

But yeah, I think this just a case of this romance being one that is not for me. Other people will probably enjoy it, but by the halfway mark it was starting to feel like a chore and that is not why I pick up romances.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

jnb2796's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Racism

bee94's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, and Infidelity

jrreads's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Stalking

becca_todaro's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

The balance of heavy and light topics was perfection, I can’t believe this was a debut. It was amazing, I truly felt for Naya and Jake, the relationship was mature and believable that it was between two adults. The topics were complex and thoroughly fleshed out and there was resolution to them. I cannot wait for her next book. I loved this book but definitely check out content warnings before reading

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

jessiewolf's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

I was surprised by how much I liked this book! I was wary of the past abuse plot line, but I thought it was handled with a lot of thoughtfulness and dignity. The romance is fun and the problems feel realistic and not immature. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

carlyjmadden's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Racism