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sidhewitch's review against another edition
3.75
Audiobook Review. Dual Narration. Abby Craden did a fine job, despite the unfortunate 'Irish' accent that comes up a few times. Nelson Hobbs affected what almost sounded like a California surfer-dude accent, which was.. weird. It wasn't enough for me to DNF but definitely not my favorite.
So.. is it just this series that has a weird misogynistic problem, or is this a theme of the genre? Or the author? Like Tate before her, Fallon is set up opposite a "slutty mean girl" who is almost cartoonishly set on coming between her and her love interest, and who must be brought low by having her evil ways exposed to an audience so everyone can see how mean and slutty she is. It was off-putting, but it's also not even a main part of the central problem the couple faces and is once again largely introduced right near the end. And honestly, it was so unnecessary? We already had lots of reason to hate her. It felt like the book needed to make her extra bad, so that we excused the actions of the people around her who did nothing to stop her. Off-putting for me, and almost as dated as the musical references.
All that said and annoying as it was, that was a pretty small percentage of the book. What remains was a solid back and forth between the main characters, each with their own very understandable problems keeping them apart. While yes, a lot of this could have been solved by one honest conversation, you can understand why they don't have enough trust to be vulnerable and have that conversation. There is one issue between them I thought was extremely fumbled at the end, which is a shame because it could have been a much more emotionally impactful moment, but overall I found this one to be a real page-turner with only a few bits that dragged along the way.
So if you like the genre, don't mind that they're 18, and can overlook the brief flares of internalized misogyny, this one is a recommend. Check content warnings.
So.. is it just this series that has a weird misogynistic problem, or is this a theme of the genre? Or the author? Like Tate before her, Fallon is set up opposite a "slutty mean girl" who is almost cartoonishly set on coming between her and her love interest, and who must be brought low by having her evil ways exposed to an audience so everyone can see how mean and slutty she is. It was off-putting, but it's also not even a main part of the central problem the couple faces and is once again largely introduced right near the end. And honestly, it was so unnecessary? We already had lots of reason to hate her. It felt like the book needed to make her extra bad, so that we excused the actions of the people around her who did nothing to stop her. Off-putting for me, and almost as dated as the musical references.
All that said and annoying as it was, that was a pretty small percentage of the book. What remains was a solid back and forth between the main characters, each with their own very understandable problems keeping them apart. While yes, a lot of this could have been solved by one honest conversation, you can understand why they don't have enough trust to be vulnerable and have that conversation. There is one issue between them I thought was extremely fumbled at the end, which is a shame because it could have been a much more emotionally impactful moment, but overall I found this one to be a real page-turner with only a few bits that dragged along the way.
So if you like the genre, don't mind that they're 18, and can overlook the brief flares of internalized misogyny, this one is a recommend. Check content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexual content
Moderate: Abortion and Child abuse
Minor: Suicide attempt
Sexual Content: The smut.Misogyny: Both what is discussed in my review, and the fact that in the first third/half of the book the male lead lashes out at the female lead with frequent misogynistic insults.
Abortion: A character has an abortion off-page that is referred to several times.
Child Abuse: Fallon's mother is extremely emotionally abusive toward her, and
Suicide attempt: Character makes an attempt on their own life off-page, which is discussed once on-page.
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