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dominic_t's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Sorry to get horny on main, but the sex scenes and kink scenes were super hot. It made for a strange reading experience at the doctor's office. I guess I'm telling on myself here, but I found the portrayal of all the kink stuff to be pretty spot on.
I loved, loved, LOVED Leah exploring her gray ace identity and navigating how she wanted her sex life to change in the wake of her learning about that aspect of herself. The author handled that really beautifully, and it was cool to watch her discover new aspects of her gray ace-ness.
Trauma comes up a lot in this book, and it was a really nuanced portrayal of how trauma can show up in our lives years after the traumatic event. I thought it was handled really well, and I loved this beautiful quote from Leah: "The wounds I have are deep, and I patched over them as best I could at the time, but the patches I used cut me off from so much possibility. I’ve come to realize that I want to be brave. That I want to try to live into the fullness of myself even though it scares the shit out of me." I really relate to that, and it's a good reminder.
Xan West subverted one convention in romance that I often find annoying:
I think my one big criticism is that there are definite GOOD GUYS and BAD GUYS. The bad guys have no redeeming qualities, and the protagonists have no positive memories about them. The good guys (including the protagonists) never do anything really wrong. They inadvertently hurt each other sometimes, but they don't do anything bad. I would have liked to see more nuance, including characters who don't fit neatly within a good character/bad character dichotomy.
Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicide and Fatphobia
Lots of kink, particularly impact play and a dominant/submissive relationshipkawthar114's review
- 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
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Moderate: Grief, Body shaming, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Ableism
Minor: Sexual violence and Toxic relationship
decie's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Minor: Death of parent
lennie_reads's review against another edition
Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, and Grief
kaetheluise_nckl's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Grief, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Dysphoria, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol
jais_pak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Grief
Minor: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship
moatzilla's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Emotional abuse, and Transphobia