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lisettemarie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Blood
aelsaj711's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Really solid read, I enjoyed the character interactions, and I like the depth the author added to her characters, it really helped elevate the narrative. I enjoyed the romance, and I loved getting to learn more about the Black American experience, and Creole history throughout the book! Really glad I read this:) I think this book had important representation as well, such as chronic pain and addiction. I hope this book reaches a wider audience, it definitely deserves it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual harassment
hannahelaine's review against another edition
DNF @ 36%. I honestly am just getting a lot of cognitive dissonance from this book? It literally has a “The State of the Black Author” panel in the book that condemns blaxploitation in media, and how there needs to be more black joy and showing black people as literally just any other person instead of deeply and always traumatized. And then it seems (to me, who is a white person) to do exactly the opposite and be the paragon of blaxploitation. Maybe I’m missing something since this book isn’t written for me specifically and I don’t have the cultural context for it. I don’t know. But it seems very dissonant in what it’s saying and doing. It feels icky. I may be misinterpreting the author— I certainly haven’t stumbled on any black reviewers saying the same thing, so I may be totally getting it wrong. But it feels icky for me, so I’m just going to leave it.
I honestly don’t even have thoughts on the romance or even the plot because that has overshadowed everything else for me. I feel weird about it and I’m just not going to continue.
Finally, this is a little more a nitpick than criticism on the book, but some content warnings would be good to put in this one. There’s a lot of extremely dangerous self-harming situations. I didn’t know this going in, and recently have been having pretty bad mental health issues requiring partial hospitalization. Luckily It didn’t throw my mood or thoughts in a bad direction, but it could have. A little warning ahead of time would have been nice.
I honestly don’t even have thoughts on the romance or even the plot because that has overshadowed everything else for me. I feel weird about it and I’m just not going to continue.
Finally, this is a little more a nitpick than criticism on the book, but some content warnings would be good to put in this one. There’s a lot of extremely dangerous self-harming situations. I didn’t know this going in, and recently have been having pretty bad mental health issues requiring partial hospitalization. Luckily It didn’t throw my mood or thoughts in a bad direction, but it could have. A little warning ahead of time would have been nice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
redefiningrachel's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment
becxaa's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
leciareads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
This book was everything! Loved the character development. The growth. The rekindling of a lost love. It feels like you are right there with them! So good!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Self harm
maddy_brown99's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
After years of hearing about this book, I imagined it to be a slow, sad, brooding romance. It is definitely some of those things (check the content warnings!), but the tone is also light and readable, which came as a surprise. I honestly felt like it maybe could have gone deeper and taken a bit more time? Like the content was definitely heavy, but the way it was addressed wasn't super lived-in. I really really liked the ending and the overall themes of self-discovery and not having to be perfect to be loved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Self harm, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
danapratt's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Keeps you hanging until the end. So beautifully written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Suicide attempt
adelus21's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.0
A wonderful modern romance novel about the one who got away showing up after 15 years and the chaos that ensues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual assault
its_the_lauraxx's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I don't know that there's any one thing that makes a book "good", but I do know that I didn't enjoy myself while reading this, and I have no idea why its readers are so insistent about others knowing this story. Shane and Eva's love scared me in maybe a really good way, but coupled with all the pain and trauma it grew in? This was tough. Emotionally I was exhausted on page 65, but I didn't know the content warnings beforehand so that could be part of it. There are a lot of good parts of this book (Audre's entire character, Eva's honesty with herself about her relationship with her mother) that give me glimpses of why it's so popular, but I just won't condone the abundance of triggering content for the sake of the narrative. The arc of Ty's character was not okay. So let's just say that with the dark twists and romanticizing of self harm, it was a long seven days reading this.
The syntax was gorgeous, though. I felt everything.
The syntax was gorgeous, though. I felt everything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Self harm
Moderate: Child death and Violence
Minor: Rape