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alexisgarcia's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
this book was so great up until the very end for me. i loved their friendship and the exploration of themselves and each other, it was super cute and authentic. however the “reveal” or ending was incredibly disappointing to me. also please please check trigger warnings!!!! like why does nobody talk about how elliot was literally r*ped/sa’d??? while it definitely wasn’t wise of him to get drunk at a party with friends that weren’t good influences and with emma (not that it was his fault). it totally disregards how traumatizing that experience must’ve been for him, like it just glazed right over his pain. it didn’t sit right with me. i also don’t know how Macy could ever forgive him for the whole experience being the catalyst to her fathers death. idk maybe i just hold grudges. but the ending definitely kinda soured the book for me which was sad because the rest was amazing :(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Cancer, Car accident, Sexual assault, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Terminal illness
taya_gray's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
dianaschmidty's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, and Death of parent
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Cancer, Car accident, Rape, Sexual assault, and Infidelity
stacy_figueiredo's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
why tf was Macy so fucking annoying at the end of the book like honestly I get that you have got mommy, daddy and boyfriend issues but that does not make your problems more important than others. Elliot was raped bitch and you still had the audacity to never talk about it with him, and i get that it's hard losing a parent I could never relate to that thank God. but still don't talk over someone when stuff like this happens just cause it isnt as important as your stuff.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Minor: Rape
katie_louise_reads's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really like the first 60% it was sweet it made me feel all the feels.. but finding out why they parted ways was for me wasn't communicated in a way that stated what happened to Elliot properly and what is really was?
The lack of willingness to communicate after saying they were best friends and all that is annoying. You don't cut someone off for ten years when they are your soulmate.
The lack of willingness to communicate after saying they were best friends and all that is annoying. You don't cut someone off for ten years when they are your soulmate.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Rape
charlottasimojoki's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Car accident, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death of parent and Death
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Misogyny, and Mental illness
ellaalcorn's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Rape
catrayhill's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Initially, I liked this book. In the past I have read one other Christina Lauren book, The Unhoneymooners which I was not a fan of, but I was actually enjoying myself with this one. I really liked Elliot as a character and all his quirks (the favorite word thing was delightfully corny and incredibly romantic, and fit right in with his character and his dynamic with Macy) which I could not say for Ethan (the love interest of The Unhoneymooners) and in general, I much preferred this plot. The books do share some issues like both female main characters fall into the "not like other girls" trope who slut-shame other female characters, a behavior that is not only left unchallenged in both books but is justified by the authors writing all other female characters that show any interest in the male love interest as two-dimensional, judgemental nuisances to the main characters. Despite this, I was for the most part enjoying myself and was planning on giving Love and Other Words a 3.5ish rating up until the "reveal" that comes in the last quarter of the book.
The book switches back and forth in time from "then" and "now" and consistently in the "now" section the characters allude that the main character, Macy, and the love interest, Elliot, had some sort of falling out eleven years ago and hadn't spoken since. I was feeling quite happy with the build-up to the reveal, I felt they did of foreshadowing what had occurred between them without making it explicitly obvious and I was honestly excited to see what they would do with the implications these actions had on Elliot's character. But then I actually got to it.
The reveal is that eleven years before the present day, Macy had walked in on Elliot in a compromising position with a longtime female friend, Emma, who had been pining after Elliot for a while and had become a point of contention between the main characters due to her infatuation with Elliot and their shared history (they had kissed before). Macy runs off and avoids Elliot for years after that, an action I entirely understand from her point of view at that moment.
My issue is the way Elliot's explanation of the events is framed and how it impacts the rest of the book. Elliot admits to Macy, when they eventually reunite, that he had been incredibly inebriated that night and had woken up to someone kissing him, and was under the assumption it was Macy. He confesses that he was so drunk that even in his memory, it was Macy, not Emma that night. He remembers engaging willingly, but again, under the presumption that it was Macy and not Emma. Consent cannot be gained under false pretenses/through deceit. That is sexual assault. The book (and Macy, the main character, whose point of view we read from), however, frame it as more "accidental cheating" and even worse, this framing is left entirely unchallenged.
I think there are ways to engage with this subject critically. I don't think Macy was unjustified in her feelings of betrayal given the fact that she did not know what really happened, and even when she did find out, I don't think that she had to just throw out all of her emotions from the past 11 years due to the new information. It is a difficult situation. The problem is the book doesn't treat it with any nuance. No one refers to it in any way as possible sexual assault, Macy calls it a "heartbreaking mistake" (pg 368), and it honestly seems that the authors themselves don't view it as SA which to me is a problem. The closest they get to it is when Elliot mentions how he had a panic attack the next time he attempted to engage sexually with another woman, Rachel. This can be read as PTSD for Elliot from being sexually assaulted, but it is more framed as guilt for how things ended with Macy. Rachel references this when she accuses Macy of having "fucked up" (pg 280) Elliot emotionally, and Elliot himself describes it as "the first person to go down on me after you left" (pg 370), directly correlating his emotional reaction not with what happened with Emma, but instead with Macy leaving him.
Male sexual assault survivors face a heavy stigma (as do all survivors of SA) and in particular, there is a lot of shame put on the survivor when the assailant is a woman. Some people just straight up don't believe it is possible for women to sexually assault men. By failing to engage fully with what happened to Elliot that night the authors inadvertently perpetuate this belief, simply having Elliot apologize to Macy and her accepting it. I have to think about if the roles were reversed if Elliot was a woman and Emma was a man. I think more people would have referred to it as sexual assault rather than "unintentional cheating" and the subject would have been engaged with much more critically.
Then the sequence of the car accident occurs and that really cemented my feelings towards this book. It just felt like trauma porn at that point and once again, nothing was engaged with critically. The concept of Macy partially blaming Elliot for her father's death despite knowing it is unreasonable is really fascinating to me, but they did nothing with it. The circumstances of her father's death are just thrown at us haphazardly in the last 40 pages of the book and there is no emotional reckoning, by the time we know all the details Macy is ready to move on. Then the book is tied up with an uncomplicated happy ending like we weren't just bombarded with both of those revelations.
I will likely not be reading any more Christina Lauren books.
The book switches back and forth in time from "then" and "now" and consistently in the "now" section the characters allude that the main character, Macy, and the love interest, Elliot, had some sort of falling out eleven years ago and hadn't spoken since. I was feeling quite happy with the build-up to the reveal, I felt they did of foreshadowing what had occurred between them without making it explicitly obvious and I was honestly excited to see what they would do with the implications these actions had on Elliot's character. But then I actually got to it.
The reveal is that eleven years before the present day, Macy had walked in on Elliot in a compromising position with a longtime female friend, Emma, who had been pining after Elliot for a while and had become a point of contention between the main characters due to her infatuation with Elliot and their shared history (they had kissed before). Macy runs off and avoids Elliot for years after that, an action I entirely understand from her point of view at that moment.
My issue is the way Elliot's explanation of the events is framed and how it impacts the rest of the book. Elliot admits to Macy, when they eventually reunite, that he had been incredibly inebriated that night and had woken up to someone kissing him, and was under the assumption it was Macy. He confesses that he was so drunk that even in his memory, it was Macy, not Emma that night. He remembers engaging willingly, but again, under the presumption that it was Macy and not Emma. Consent cannot be gained under false pretenses/through deceit. That is sexual assault. The book (and Macy, the main character, whose point of view we read from), however, frame it as more "accidental cheating" and even worse, this framing is left entirely unchallenged.
I think there are ways to engage with this subject critically. I don't think Macy was unjustified in her feelings of betrayal given the fact that she did not know what really happened, and even when she did find out, I don't think that she had to just throw out all of her emotions from the past 11 years due to the new information. It is a difficult situation. The problem is the book doesn't treat it with any nuance. No one refers to it in any way as possible sexual assault, Macy calls it a "heartbreaking mistake" (pg 368), and it honestly seems that the authors themselves don't view it as SA which to me is a problem. The closest they get to it is when Elliot mentions how he had a panic attack the next time he attempted to engage sexually with another woman, Rachel. This can be read as PTSD for Elliot from being sexually assaulted, but it is more framed as guilt for how things ended with Macy. Rachel references this when she accuses Macy of having "fucked up" (pg 280) Elliot emotionally, and Elliot himself describes it as "the first person to go down on me after you left" (pg 370), directly correlating his emotional reaction not with what happened with Emma, but instead with Macy leaving him.
Male sexual assault survivors face a heavy stigma (as do all survivors of SA) and in particular, there is a lot of shame put on the survivor when the assailant is a woman. Some people just straight up don't believe it is possible for women to sexually assault men. By failing to engage fully with what happened to Elliot that night the authors inadvertently perpetuate this belief, simply having Elliot apologize to Macy and her accepting it. I have to think about if the roles were reversed if Elliot was a woman and Emma was a man. I think more people would have referred to it as sexual assault rather than "unintentional cheating" and the subject would have been engaged with much more critically.
Then the sequence of the car accident occurs and that really cemented my feelings towards this book. It just felt like trauma porn at that point and once again, nothing was engaged with critically. The concept of Macy partially blaming Elliot for her father's death despite knowing it is unreasonable is really fascinating to me, but they did nothing with it. The circumstances of her father's death are just thrown at us haphazardly in the last 40 pages of the book and there is no emotional reckoning, by the time we know all the details Macy is ready to move on. Then the book is tied up with an uncomplicated happy ending like we weren't just bombarded with both of those revelations.
I will likely not be reading any more Christina Lauren books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Car accident
Moderate: Rape, Cancer, and Sexual assault
immychiffon's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
2.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
freydawreviews's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault