Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Play With Me by Becka Mack

20 reviews

amre23's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Addiction, Sexual content, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Gaslighting, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

Minor: Eating disorder, Medical content, and Vomit

whichdirection's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful relaxing 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

4.0

Dragged a Lot at the end imo,

it was never super believable to me that she was going to take that job, so the amount of time spent on her going to the interview and questioning everything was just kinda… boring

good chemistry & a very healthy relationship!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Grief, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Body shaming, and Bullying

Minor: Sexual assault

THIS IS ALL GONNA BE SPOILERS SO BE AWARE OF THAT! Sexual Content: They fuck a Lot kids; no condoms here. Body Shaming, Fatphobia & Eating Disorder: Jennie is a professional dancer & both talks abt her past experiences with these things And experiences them on the page. Toxic Friendship & Bullying: Jennie’s dance partner & another student are definitely bullies to her. Death of a Parent, Car Accident, Grief: Jennie’s father died when she was young bc of a drunk driver, it still effects her a lot. Injury/Injury Detail & Medical Content: Garrett gets a concussion in the early part of the novel, Jennie sprains her ankle around this time too; later they are in a hospital and Jennie talks abt her IV. Pregnancy: Jennie’s sister in law Olivia is pregnant through about 95% of the novel. Sexual Harassment: Jennie’s dance partner makes multiple advances despite her repeated no (and is put in his place), including kissing her twice. Sexual Assault: Jennie’s ex boyfriend Kevin, in high school, allowed the football team to record audio of him taking her virginity.

marine2907's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Sexual content, Car accident, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

thereadhersrecap's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted slow-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

3.75

"But here's the thing, Jennie. You don't  have to be strong and confident all the time. You're allowed to have insecruities, to be afraid, to feel lonely. Those things don't make you weak; they make you human

I have a serious love/hate relationship with this book. It starts off strong. Garrett has the hots for Carter (his teammate's) little sister Jennie. He's trying so hard to suppress them until Jennie realizes she has the hots for him too. They start secretly messing around (very descriptive) and in the process they become best friends.

First of all, it was way too long. AGAIN! I don't see the point of having 20 different sex scenes. I love the descriptions and I love how "alpha male" Gare is and how Jennie asks for what she wants and needs. But I don't need 300 pages of it. 

Secondly, Garrett is..... intersting. I feel like BM couldn't decide if she wanted him to be shy and goofy or demanding and grumpy so she made him both. It was a little bit of a turn off for me. Give me cute, shy, and goofy or give me alpha-male, confident and grumpy. Can't do with the back and forth. 

Jennie = LOVED. I thought BM did a great job portraying Jennie ask a badass but it was nice to see some of her insecurities come through. She is so much like Carter is was sooo soo good.

The best part.... Carter & Olivia. Seeing how they manage pregnancy and how Carter is so attentive to Liv's wants was something unexpected but amazing. 

CW: alcohol/alcoholism, bullying, car accident, curing, death of a parent, emotional abuse, eating disorder, grief, sexual content, panic attacks, toxic friendship, sexual harassment

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Cursing, Addiction, Car accident, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

kb33's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

TW/CW: brief mention of minor spoiler

  Non consensual video recording of sex in the past

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Pregnancy

Minor: Eating disorder, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders

heathrinwonderland's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

He's the Vancouver Vipers star right winger, she's the captain's little sister and completely off-limits. But that's kind of hard when your Captain and best friend buys her a condo in your building and asks you to keep an eye on her. After being physically assaulted by Jennie’s expansive adult toy collection, he wants to show her that a real man can really make her vibrate. The relationship starts out very closed off, as Jennie has been through some trauma that she hasn't quite worked through. She doesn't trust, doesn't open herself up to anyone. She slowly begins opening up to Garrett. He makes her feel safe and helps her believe that she is more than just Carter Beckett's little sister.

I loved Consider Me, playing for keeps book one, so I wasted no time digging into Play With Me, book two in the series. Both books carry the same themes, etc are incredibly insecure and closed off to the men. They both have severe trust issues, both not thinking they're good enough. Insert big sexy Hockey player who has a hard exterior and a soft heart to show them that they are so much more than they give themselves credit for.

This book features the same characters and l love now they continue to develop as the storylines draw out. We get a glimpse into everyone's life while still focusing on the main characters' storyline. I love Garrett but have a complicated opinion of Jenny. She comes off as a huge bitch all the time. It's one thing to be strong and independent, it's another to be hatefully mean. She was very whiny and almost always through a temper tantrum over simple misunderstandings. 

My overall rating is 5/5 stars. I instantly fell in love with Garrett, he's patient, flirty, and goofy. I loved getting to meet his family and learn about his history. Jennie's story was really slow to come out, but once it did, it was nice to understand why she was so guarded. The secrecy thy had to keep kept me engaged. Would they get caught? When would they get caught? Who would be the one to catch them? How would Carter react?

I give this a spice rating of 4/5, they were intense and the secrecy made them even better. The giant box of toys were put to good use. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Moderate: Gaslighting, Car accident, Alcoholism, Bullying, Pregnancy, and Body shaming

bookswithca's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence

namenotimportant's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

I laughed, I cried. 
If I don't get a book for Adam next, I might die.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Car accident

sdupont's review against another edition

emotional funny slow-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

4.75

I really enjoyed reading this book! I loved Garrett- he was so patient, gentle, and supportive to Jennie and really worked at meeting her needs. They built a strong foundation of friendship and trust. Just like in book 1, I love the scenes when the group is all together they’re so fun. My only gripe is that the book didn’t have to be quite this long. Despite that, I honestly couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait for Adam’s story in book 3! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Alcoholism

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Bullying

ecravens's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful slow-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Death of parent, Bullying, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Cursing