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sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-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
this was my first time reading an mz book and i think it will also be the last one. i really enjoyed the journey of reading this book but i think everyone knows about the author being problematic and looking back at the story, i can definitely see a couple of red flags proving that so yeah.
therefore, i am gonna start by highlighting some of the things that didn't sit well with me. firstly, something that many other reviewers have focused on is the body shaming. i know both of the mc's were just teasing each other all along but i am pretty sure the author could have come up with something better and less offensive. moreover, i think it's "funny" how the characters with ethnical features were the most mocked ones. however, as i am not a filipino, i don't think i am in the position to give a more exhaustive comment on that.
furthermore, i must agree with everyone saying the writing wasn't the best. maybe i didn't pay much attention to it while reading, but yeah i believe characters can do other things besides blinking. and yes, both of the mc's had childish attitudes throughout the book but what gave me the biggest ick was the sex scene at the end. i must admit that spice is not my cup of tea, however, i believe many people can agree with me when i say that the whole scene had a poor choice of words.
however, i would be lying if i said that i despised it. as i said at the beginning of the review, i acknowledge that i enjoyed reading the book and anyone can see that with a simple look at my annotations.
one thing i absolutely adore about slow burns is how the story revolves around other topics aside from romance. and i loved how important the santos family was in the story. idk, i just cherished their interventions <3 i guess i just wish karina had some important appearance too because all of the mentions of her convinced me that she must be one of the kindest characters in the story. family isn't always given an important place in romance books but im so glad that they were important in this book.
on the other hand, even if jasmine could be super annoying sometimes, i must confess i liked her character at times. for some reason, the fact that she was always pushing herself to do better just to make her family proud or to make everyone forget about her learning issues resonated with me. so yeah her stubbornness was both a strength and a weakness for her character because it was exasperating to see how she wouldn't let anyone take care of her. since we're at it, i really enjoyed the scenes where jasmine was sick and ivan was taking care of her, especially after he was like "if you get sick i won't be the one to take care of you." maybe it's just because one of my love languages is acts of service but idk, i was a sucker for that.
to sum up, the author could have improved many things before publishing the book (most of them could have been solved by just sticking to the skating theme) however i still enjoyed reading it.
therefore, i am gonna start by highlighting some of the things that didn't sit well with me. firstly, something that many other reviewers have focused on is the body shaming. i know both of the mc's were just teasing each other all along but i am pretty sure the author could have come up with something better and less offensive. moreover, i think it's "funny" how the characters with ethnical features were the most mocked ones. however, as i am not a filipino, i don't think i am in the position to give a more exhaustive comment on that.
furthermore, i must agree with everyone saying the writing wasn't the best. maybe i didn't pay much attention to it while reading, but yeah i believe characters can do other things besides blinking. and yes, both of the mc's had childish attitudes throughout the book but what gave me the biggest ick was the sex scene at the end. i must admit that spice is not my cup of tea, however, i believe many people can agree with me when i say that the whole scene had a poor choice of words.
however, i would be lying if i said that i despised it. as i said at the beginning of the review, i acknowledge that i enjoyed reading the book and anyone can see that with a simple look at my annotations.
one thing i absolutely adore about slow burns is how the story revolves around other topics aside from romance. and i loved how important the santos family was in the story. idk, i just cherished their interventions <3 i guess i just wish karina had some important appearance too because all of the mentions of her convinced me that she must be one of the kindest characters in the story. family isn't always given an important place in romance books but im so glad that they were important in this book.
on the other hand, even if jasmine could be super annoying sometimes, i must confess i liked her character at times. for some reason, the fact that she was always pushing herself to do better just to make her family proud or to make everyone forget about her learning issues resonated with me. so yeah her stubbornness was both a strength and a weakness for her character because it was exasperating to see how she wouldn't let anyone take care of her. since we're at it, i really enjoyed the scenes where jasmine was sick and ivan was taking care of her, especially after he was like "if you get sick i won't be the one to take care of you." maybe it's just because one of my love languages is acts of service but idk, i was a sucker for that.
to sum up, the author could have improved many things before publishing the book (most of them could have been solved by just sticking to the skating theme) however i still enjoyed reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia
Minor: Car accident
tkatt20's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-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
4.75
OMG THIS BOOK. I do not even have the words to describe how much i loved this book. I have been in a slump for so long and this pulled me right out, I already want to read it again.
This is not my first book by this author so i had an idea of what i was in for, but that could not prepare me for how much I loved this book. The characters are amazing, each one had their own personality and quirks and were so fleshed out, they all felt like real people to me. And I loved how much insight we were given into the competitive skating world and getting to see how both characters dealt with the immense stress they were under. This is a longer romance but it didn’t feel like it with how lovable the characters were and how entertaining the situations they were in were to read about. I loved the extra added layer of family drama we got. It helped break up the focus on their skating and allowed me to see more insight into the main character’s life and her personality while also showing a bit of what drives her to succeed and what effects her mood throughout practice and in her day to day life. We were also given some feminist undertones and that will always be a plus for me.
My only negative for this book and the reason I dropped it down a to a 4.75 is the writing style; more specifically the wording. I found some scenes, mostly in the beginning, didn’t feel very natural and the wording in some descriptions were a little out of left field and pulled me out of the story. This is such a minor grievance and these instances were very sparse and didn’t effect me as much as it could have which is why I didn’t rate it lower. Otherwise I genuinely enjoyed this story to the very end.
I could gush for hours about how much I loved this but I’ll leave it at that. This has quickly moved to the top of my favorites list and I can’t wait to read more by this author.
This is not my first book by this author so i had an idea of what i was in for, but that could not prepare me for how much I loved this book. The characters are amazing, each one had their own personality and quirks and were so fleshed out, they all felt like real people to me. And I loved how much insight we were given into the competitive skating world and getting to see how both characters dealt with the immense stress they were under. This is a longer romance but it didn’t feel like it with how lovable the characters were and how entertaining the situations they were in were to read about. I loved the extra added layer of family drama we got. It helped break up the focus on their skating and allowed me to see more insight into the main character’s life and her personality while also showing a bit of what drives her to succeed and what effects her mood throughout practice and in her day to day life. We were also given some feminist undertones and that will always be a plus for me.
My only negative for this book and the reason I dropped it down a to a 4.75 is the writing style; more specifically the wording. I found some scenes, mostly in the beginning, didn’t feel very natural and the wording in some descriptions were a little out of left field and pulled me out of the story. This is such a minor grievance and these instances were very sparse and didn’t effect me as much as it could have which is why I didn’t rate it lower. Otherwise I genuinely enjoyed this story to the very end.
I could gush for hours about how much I loved this but I’ll leave it at that. This has quickly moved to the top of my favorites list and I can’t wait to read more by this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Vomit
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Car accident
silvestre's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Sexual violence
Moderate: Fatphobia, Bullying, and Body shaming
Minor: Racism
fremzz's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I’m so late to the hype but omg this was so good 😫😫
The visceral reactions this got from me are actually mental like every three seconds I was giggling or screaming or crying and that epilogue had me on the floor crying help help help
Had its issues but I pretend I do not see 🫡 (really it was just the meatball thing cause that was weird).
The visceral reactions this got from me are actually mental like every three seconds I was giggling or screaming or crying and that epilogue had me on the floor crying help help help
Had its issues but I pretend I do not see 🫡 (really it was just the meatball thing cause that was weird).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
zoecrepp's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Fatphobia
jrmrf's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
girlgetsbook's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Well, what a ride. I started this book and got through the first 200 pages easily, and then... hit a wall. Because I couldn't get over how the main character was so rude and how much she cussed at anything and anyone. Someone would lightly bump into her and she would call them names in her head, there are long scenes where she would stubbornly refuse to do something that clearly was for her own good and in one scene she bullied a group of 13 year-olds, which is very telling, because I think she read like a 13 year-old, when she's supposed to be 26. Other characters like her brother were also pretty immature and even Ivan, though he showed his mature side later, had a very childish dynamic with her. Besides my rant I genuinely cared about the characters and they felt very real to me, even though it took me AGES to finish this and I almost DNFd it, it definitely had so great moments and some great topics, like the criticism and sexism Jasmine faces just for existing as a woman of color in sports, besides not agreeing with how some of her actions are viewed as charming rather than childish and stubborn (like when she was sick) I still cared about her happiness which says a lot about the way Zapata built the world in this book. I still feel like some descriptions were too long and they broke the dialog most of the time, which wasn't always amazing to begin with, and disrupted the pacing of the scenes, and it did also have a lot of hints of fatphobia throughout which didn't sit super right with me. I'm a little traumatized by the reading slump and reader existential crisis this put me in to ever pick up another Maria Zapata book (I wanted to read Kulti but I'm very very scared) seeing I'm not very good at DNFing. But we'll see. Either way I'm glad I read it, though it could easily be 200 pages shorter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Fatphobia
haleyatucker's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
ididnotmakeapie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
3.25
more graphic than I had thought it would be, did skip a couple scenes.
There were a few really, really poignant, emotive scenes. the part where Jasmine (and Ivan) deals with the emotional abuse her father hurls at her and the way she talked about her dyslexia!! The handling of it made me very happy. Jasmine and Ivan's talk in the aftermath of Jasmine's injury, I liked that it did actually lead to a proper conversatio and then subsequent reconciliation.
I enjoyed the way the actual *romantic* relationship between the two main characters came to be.
I really liked Jasmine's family, all the character's were very vivid and well characterised. Also liked the casual rep from Jojo and James' marriage.
The A and B plots all intertwined well to create the overarching theme of Jasmine's renewed confidence in herself.
I liked a lot of what Jasmine herself had going on as a character and her drive is inspirational.
There were a few really, really poignant, emotive scenes.
I enjoyed the way the actual *romantic* relationship between the two main characters came to be.
I really liked Jasmine's family, all the character's were very vivid and well characterised. Also liked the casual rep from Jojo and James' marriage.
The A and B plots all intertwined well to create the overarching theme of Jasmine's renewed confidence in herself.
I liked a lot of what Jasmine herself had going on as a character and her drive is inspirational.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
Minor: Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Racism
mbichaela's review against another edition
slow-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
5.0
ENG
rivals-to-friends-to-lovers, ach. this book was so cute that i can't even express it using words. the banter was everything and it made me question why i haven't picked this book sooner. ivan lukov is everything a girl can wish for (my high standards went from high to higher). i also loved the fact how much i could relate to jasmine, i feel a huge need to be perfect and sometimes it makes life harder.
(fmc is latina)
rivals-to-friends-to-lovers, ach. this book was so cute that i can't even express it using words. the banter was everything and it made me question why i haven't picked this book sooner. ivan lukov is everything a girl can wish for (my high standards went from high to higher). i also loved the fact how much i could relate to jasmine, i feel a huge need to be perfect and sometimes it makes life harder.
(fmc is latina)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Stalking
Moderate: Body shaming