You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
samflowerv6's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
4.0
It’s not that I didn’t like it. I totally did. And… it feels like the Christina Lauren’s books all have very similar plots with miscommunication tropes. Elliot is an all time favorite book bf. I think the authors really didn’t address how Elliot was sexual assaulted by Emma. It was was brushed off as a mistake. I would’ve liked more about him being supported too and less miscommunication tropes. It just broke my heart what happened to him and he deserved therapy and lots of hugs I love Elliot and Macy. If Macy had said half the things she thought during the “now” timeline, the book would’ve been half as long. But regardless. Macy and Elliot made my heart hurt and I’ll never forget them. Their tension and childhood best friends, to strangers to ENDGAME. GOD I LOVE ELLIOT!!!
“Favorite word?” he whispers.
I don’t even hesitate: “You.”
“Why can’t everyone be like you?”
“I can be enough of your world that it feels like everyone is.”
“I like your kind of quiet. Your heart isn’t quiet.”
“Well, you’re more, too. You’re my best everything.”
“You broke up with her last night?”
He nods … “You’re the love of my life. I assumed I would get over you eventually, but seeing you yesterday?” He shakes his head. “I couldn’t go home to someone else and pretend to love her with everything I have.”
“I think of her everywhere. She is everywhere, in every moment, and also she’s in no one moment. She misses every single one of my moments and I’m not sure who that is harder for: me surviving here without her, or her without me, existing wherever she is.”
“Favorite word?” he whispers.
I don’t even hesitate: “You.”
“Why can’t everyone be like you?”
“I can be enough of your world that it feels like everyone is.”
“I like your kind of quiet. Your heart isn’t quiet.”
“Well, you’re more, too. You’re my best everything.”
“You broke up with her last night?”
He nods … “You’re the love of my life. I assumed I would get over you eventually, but seeing you yesterday?” He shakes his head. “I couldn’t go home to someone else and pretend to love her with everything I have.”
“I think of her everywhere. She is everywhere, in every moment, and also she’s in no one moment. She misses every single one of my moments and I’m not sure who that is harder for: me surviving here without her, or her without me, existing wherever she is.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
tabbed_reads2much's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
The ideal second chance romance
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
andreareiter's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Car accident, and Death of parent
katieconrad's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity and Car accident
Minor: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol
annalovesbookss's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
stephfauteux's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
This book broke my heart. I will probably be thinking about it for a long time. However, without giving any spoilers, the reason why the main characters stopped talking was anticlimactic and actually almost ruined their love story for me to be honest. But the reality of Macy’s hardships and everything she’s been through just made me want to root for her and whatever made her happy. Macy’s dad was my favorite and the true MVP of this story.
Basically, their childhood best friends turned lovers then something happens and they don’t speak for 11 years until they run into each other, quiet literally, at a coffee shop but now their both in different relationships etc. The book switches back and forth between when they were kids and present day, both storylines heading toward what caused the fallout, until they converge with the night they stopped talking. While the reason they had a falling out is anticlimactic and predictable, everything else from that day is now and OUCH I really didn’t see that coming and Christina Lauren really didn’t need to do us like that.
Would have gotten 5 stars from me if it wasn’t for the cause of their falling out tainting their relationship for me. 🤷🏻♀️
Basically, their childhood best friends turned lovers then something happens and they don’t speak for 11 years until they run into each other, quiet literally, at a coffee shop but now their both in different relationships etc. The book switches back and forth between when they were kids and present day, both storylines heading toward what caused the fallout, until they converge with the night they stopped talking. While the reason they had a falling out is anticlimactic and predictable, everything else from that day is now and OUCH I really didn’t see that coming and Christina Lauren really didn’t need to do us like that.
Would have gotten 5 stars from me if it wasn’t for the cause of their falling out tainting their relationship for me. 🤷🏻♀️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity and Terminal illness
Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy
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: Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol
christinemcgoveran's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
4.5
This was a delightful and fun read. It was hard at points because it does deal with death and loss. I liked the idea of the two timelines, past and present. The story of Elliot and Macy going through their teenage years together and how they reconnected was really touching. I loved how books, reading, and words plays a role in the story. I will remember this books and recommend it to other people.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment
thatswhatshanread's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
I think I can officially say that the duo of Christina Lauren has successfully infiltrated my heart into the deepest, most emotional parts.
I feel numb after finishing this one, because I felt everything else while reading it. It didn’t take me long at all to pour through it, but somehow I’m left thinking I’d been inside those words for years and years. It was so comforting, real, sweet, honest, deep, heartbreaking… and other words.
To say this is a ‘great romance’ is doing it a disservice—it is an overwhelming portrait of every pulsing vein that makes up a contemporary romance. The chemistry between Elliot and Macy, built up so naturally, stretched into an aching slow burn, the intensity of raw hurt and mixed signals, dialogue dripping with honesty, the painful passage of time lost. Short chapters switching between “then” and “now” made it all the more heart racing. Would love prevail?
This isn’t a romcom, like the other books by Lauren that I’ve read. I adore romcoms, but I adore real stories even more. Real characters, real emotions, real loss, real situations. And this is real, this is all-encompassing, this is love.
Lauren’s full-hearted leap with this romantic drama is an instant winner for me. Hard to believe it was their first foray into women’s lit. What a home run.
I feel numb after finishing this one, because I felt everything else while reading it. It didn’t take me long at all to pour through it, but somehow I’m left thinking I’d been inside those words for years and years. It was so comforting, real, sweet, honest, deep, heartbreaking… and other words.
To say this is a ‘great romance’ is doing it a disservice—it is an overwhelming portrait of every pulsing vein that makes up a contemporary romance. The chemistry between Elliot and Macy, built up so naturally, stretched into an aching slow burn, the intensity of raw hurt and mixed signals, dialogue dripping with honesty, the painful passage of time lost. Short chapters switching between “then” and “now” made it all the more heart racing. Would love prevail?
This isn’t a romcom, like the other books by Lauren that I’ve read. I adore romcoms, but I adore real stories even more. Real characters, real emotions, real loss, real situations. And this is real, this is all-encompassing, this is love.
Lauren’s full-hearted leap with this romantic drama is an instant winner for me. Hard to believe it was their first foray into women’s lit. What a home run.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Car accident
Minor: Addiction and Pregnancy
stellabyproxy's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
What’s better than reading a book? Reading a book about characters who love reading books!
This slow-burn, ironically, left me at a loss for “other words”. As a 19 year old girl, reading about Macy and Elliot’s younger selves made me reflect on my adolescence and draw parallels to my own younger self, nose-deep in a book and disconnected from the world. And made me eternally grateful for the years I shared with my own guy best friend. I, too, hope to find an “everyfriend” with the capacity for love that these two shared.
“Favourite word?“ Infinite ❤️
This slow-burn, ironically, left me at a loss for “other words”. As a 19 year old girl, reading about Macy and Elliot’s younger selves made me reflect on my adolescence and draw parallels to my own younger self, nose-deep in a book and disconnected from the world. And made me eternally grateful for the years I shared with my own guy best friend. I, too, hope to find an “everyfriend” with the capacity for love that these two shared.
“Favourite word?“ Infinite ❤️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity and Car accident