Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Role Playing by Cathy Yardley

8 reviews

sdupont's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.75

This book is a bit of a slow burn much like the romance between Maggie and Aiden. It starts off with a slow pace but once the characters meet IRL the pacing and story picks up. Aiden is a sweetheart, I just wanted to give him a hug and defend him just like Maggie did. Maggie is a bad bitch and I just loved how self assured she was. Aiden’s family was the worst and Deb was annoying af, they served their purpose in the plot but their page count was suffering. You definitely don’t need to be a gamer to enjoy this one. I recommend it for someone looking for a meaningful bond between characters in their 50’s. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Car accident and Racism

gondorgirl's review

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Outing, Sexism, Sexual content, Infidelity, Misogyny, Cursing, Dementia, Mental illness, and Homophobia

aliciavalenski's review

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Outing, Body shaming, and Death of parent

mighty_lizard_queen's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Outing, and Biphobia

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Racism, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Cursing

Minor: Drug use, Dementia, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Car accident, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

cheye13's review

lighthearted 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? No

2.0

The book fails to deliver its premise. Despite meeting "through the game," there are nearly no scenes of the game, no descriptions of their characters, and no presence of the game in their offline lives. The characters practically meet through mutual friends over email. That being said, many scenes read as "too online." Dialogue grew soap-boxy or wikipedia-like, as if the author was communicating something rather than giving a perspective to a character.

There's a fatal flaw of focusing on the negative at the expense of the positive. All of the side characters are loathesome, creating endless conflict for both leads and edging out the supportive voices in their lives. Maggie's bffs get barely a page each, and Aiden's closest friend isn't even on-page once.
 
As a simple romance story, it's decent. I appreciate the older characters and the unexpected queerness. I have been begging for a woman!grump/man!sunshine forever, and this does deliver that well enough. But those tropes aren't enough to carry the story for me.

If you're dipping a toe into the romance genre, want to read about older characters, and know next-to-nothing about online communities, you'll probably enjoy this. If you read a lot of romance, have firsthand experience with online communities, and/or picked it up for the RPG angle, you'll likely be disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Biphobia

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Classism, Cancer, and Racism

emotional blackmail, broken bone, toxic masculinity

beepbeep101's review

emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

Heck yes demi representation!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Dementia, Abandonment, Cursing, Homophobia, and Body shaming

Minor: Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

reign_kaur's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-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? No

5.0

Oh my goodness, the family drama is on point. So accurate and inspiring. I'm in a similar situation to the main characters and this helped me to confirm I am doing the right thing and to ignore the gaslighting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Grief, Body shaming, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, and Outing

sharebear431's review against another edition

emotional informative lighthearted tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Outing, Death of parent, Sexual content, Body shaming, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship