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fleur____'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy
dblue236's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Medical content
liciaaaaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, Cursing, Infidelity, Abandonment, and Sexual content
Minor: Death and Vomit
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Things I love:
- Jacob Maddox!!!!!😍 Oh my gosh! I love him! I love him! I love him! He's literally the standard and the ultimate book boyfriend! I can't even count the amount of times I was smiled and cried over the things that he did for Briana in this book. Ugh, it makes me teary-eyed just thinking about it. He's the embodiment of comfort. He feels like home! I hope everyone finds themselves a Jacob!🥰
- Briana Ortiz! I love her too! Her spunk, her attitude, her charisma, her just overall care for her loved ones!
- Jacob x Briana!❤️ The chemistry was off the charts. Every scene they had, they delivered! The inside jokes, the letters, their little phrases to each other, etc. I loved how attentive BOTH characters are to each other's needs. Usually, it's always the man going out of his way to shower the girl so it's nice to see that both characters go out of their way to go above and beyond for one another. It was really nice to see! I love how Briana always went out of her way to defend Jacob even when he isn't around and I love how Jacob always prioritizes Briana's feelings and I love how they promise not to be "harmless" to one another.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think the third act conflict made sense. I love seeing Briana's reluctance to commit to Jacob because it honestly makes sense considering what she went through. I've never related to a situation more than when Briana broke down because she couldn't believe that Jacob could love her unconditionally and with good intentions. When going through the trauma that Briana went through you internalize not trusting your heart and ergo the decisions you make with it. And in turn, it may cause you to sabotage the one good thing you have in fear that it won't be true.😔 Reading those scenes made me realize just how traumatic my own experiences are and how feelings like this shouldn't go unmanaged because they really do leave a lasting imprint on you whether you notice it or not. I really admired how Jacob legit goes out of his way day in and day out to make sure Briana never has to question his love for her. I hope someone will do that for me one day!😟💕
- the anxiety representation; Now, I don't have anxiety, however, in stressful situations, I do tend to get very anxious so, although I couldn't relate to everything that Jacob was going through, I did relate to a lot of things that he said and thought about and it just felt so great to be seen! 🤧😢Becuase I check the routes of places before I drive too as well as parking. I like to check the menus before I order too (not due to anxiety though). And I tend to overthink every bad interaction I have too! Just soo many other things. The representation in this book was sooo good!
I liked how towards the end they're not pinning the two girls (Amy and Briana) against each other.
Things I didn't like:
- the miscommunication (but I hear that's common in all of Abby Jimenez's books so I guess I'll have to deal with it)
I thought it was sooo weird how the book was encouraging the siblings of Briana and Jacob to get together and that they actually did. That's so weird. They're literally brother and sister-in-law. lt contributed nothing to the story. We could've done without it. It was one of the few reasons why this book wasn't a five-star for me. That redundant addition to the story was so weird and literally did nothing for the story. Gave me the ick!😖🤮
Spice Rating: 🌶️.5/5
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Abandonment, Cancer, and Medical content
Minor: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Misogyny
callie_castle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I am well aware that trauma changes the brain. I’m a person who has faced their own trauma in life -but everything Brianna did in the last third is completely inexcusable. She was beyond cruel and quite frankly how Jacob handled the way she treated him has me worried for his wellbeing.
I’m so disappointed that this book ruined everything it had built and destroyed its own story. A single book should not manage to jump the shark like this.
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Infertility, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Cursing, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Classism, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Blood
Minor: Vomit and Injury/Injury detail
emilyreadstoomuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Miscarriage and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy
readwithria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Briana and Jacob are so perfect for each other. Their chemistry is off the charts, and they have such a deep understanding of each other’s needs and how best to support the other. I loved reading about their love so much.
Fake dating and forced proximity will always be some of my favorite tropes. Having so much time on the page spent with both characters together is exactly what I want in a romance!
The therapy rep, anxiety rep, strong family bonds, and deep friendships supported the rest of this book so well! Jacob and Bri’s families are so excellently written, as are the rest of the secondary characters. Abby Jimenez did such a great job of developing all of the characters in this book, and I love how they all fit together.
The one thing that bothered me was how little they communicated for so long, especially Briana. Having Jacob’s anxiety monologue running made perfect sense, but there were so many times when Bri was so close to getting actually useful information if she just voiced the question she had in her head.
I will definitely be reading more by Abby Jimenez. 4.5 stars.
Graphic: Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
Moderate: Cursing, Chronic illness, Vomit, Pregnancy, Blood, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Medical trauma, and Miscarriage
kaydeedickins's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Vomit, Alcohol, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexism and Suicidal thoughts
sarahflanders's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death, Grief, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Chronic illness, and Cursing
laheath's review against another edition
- 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
As before, the author includes some serious topics so there's a real-life aspect to the plot, not just a sweet romance. In this book, she addresses chronic kidney disease, organ donation, infidelity, abandonment, miscarriage, and panic attacks. Again she addresses each appropriately, using sensitivity readers and mental health advisors, according to her author's note (kudos for this!).
Graphic: Infidelity, Chronic illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Death, and Cursing