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kayladaila's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Vomit
Minor: Ableism, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Pedophilia
leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Addiction, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Ableism, Car accident, Child abuse, and Grief
Minor: Sexual assault
toofondofbooks_'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Racism, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Death, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Ableism, Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Drug use, Violence, Car accident, Child death, Medical content, and Alcohol
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Abortion, and Adult/minor relationship
macknificent's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Before I get into my beef with the book, let me be clear that I was entertained by this story. It was filled with big emotions and wit, two of my favorite ingredients for a good time. I found Eva's relationship with her daughter incredibly endearing. It was very “of the moment,” what with the zeitgeist so focused on healing generational trauma. In that same healing vein, Shane's ownership of his shortcomings was refreshing; we don’t usually get a reformed bad boy visibly
doing the work.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get on with the gripes. Firstly, there seemed to be some Eurocentrism and possibly colorism at play. On the cover of the book, both Eva and Shane appear to have darker skin but the text describes them as having traits that would typically be associated with those of a fairer shade, i.e Eva’s loose curl pattern, Shane’s light eyes. Tia Williams is excellent with dialogue but seems to have some issues creating full and nuanced characters in this book. The majority of the adult characters felt like Black Excellence stereotypes, that was disappointing and gave the story a dated feel. The young characters weren’t much
better, especially the disadvantaged children Shane mentored. The only time we hear anything about them is when it’s useful for showing some sort of positive character trait for Shane.
My biggest issue is in making this a romance. For the romance to work, you have to be sold on Eva and Shane’s initial fling being real love so you can buy into the second chance of it all. I couldn’t.
The behavior of the characters during their original entanglement makes sense, they are teens with actions dominated by their hormones and their traumas. Stumbling upon somebody who didn’t immediately judge their coping mechanisms was a rare point of light in a dark and confusing life; it’s no surprise they squeezed every last endorphin out of it.
But this story isn’t about teenagers, not really. It is about two adults that are doing the work to heal themselves, we are told this explicitly and repeatedly. Why then are we expected to root for Shane and Eva as they fall back into their maladaptive, codependent habits? Because this is a romance and we need our HEA.
Overall the book was giving Tyler Perry Production; the experience was entertaining and filled with potential, but nobody trusted the audience to enjoy nuance so it relied on stereotypes to get a lesser message across. Had this story ended with the break up I think it could have been a much better book. After sharing so many big emotions with the characters, a bittersweet ending would have been cathartic and made more sense to the characters’ histories. Alas, that isn’t what we got.
I read this book as part of my #soblacklove2022 series on IG and Tiktok.
https://instagram.com/macknificentreads?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Graphic: Drug use, Self harm, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Ableism, and Addiction
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
claudiamacpherson'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? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Ableism, Addiction, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Sexual content
bad_bookworm_h'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Self harm, Sexual content, Chronic illness, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Murder, and Child death
Minor: Ableism, Gun violence, and Child abuse
reddeddy'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Pregnancy, Sexism, Car accident, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Infidelity, Racism, and Rape
caregorman'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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Grief, and Gun violence
kabrahams'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Self harm, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Ableism, and Abandonment
mandi4886'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
3.25
Graphic: Racism, Medical content, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Police brutality, Alcohol, Ableism, Body shaming, Sexism, Stalking, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse
Minor: Toxic relationship