Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

21 reviews

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

After getting burned in a relationship with a power differential, Catalina flees Spain for New York, starting over, climbing the misogynistic corporate ladder, and vowing not to make the same mistake twice.  Her family’s pity is suffocating as Lina struggles to trust and avoids romance, but now her sister’s getting married, and the whole family can’t wait to meet Lina’s new American boyfriend…whom she may have made up at the thought of facing her family, and her newly engaged ex, who is also the best man.  ¡Ay, Dios!  When her irritatingly handsome work nemesis, Aaron, overhears her predicament, he offers himself as her wedding date, and no matter how much she wants to, she can’t turn him down.  And that’s how Lina and Aaron end up fake dating, in Spain, amidst the lovefest of wedding festivities and the chaos of Lina’s family.  But their Spanish love deception turns into a sexy and intoxicating slow burn romance that has Lina wondering, Is it love, or is it just pretend? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcohol, Fatphobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Cancer, and Medical content

savanapavlak's review

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Death of parent

victorianbsilva's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Medical content, and Sexual content

le3713's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This one fell short of the very high bar set by all the hype. There was plenty to enjoy, but I felt it needed a significant amount of editing. I love romance novels, and yet I found myself skimming through overwrought scenes. There were also some aspects of character development and power dynamics that bothered me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Cancer, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death of parent

evicteline's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Cursing

Moderate: Eating disorder, Cancer, Sexism, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol and Medical content

maja_mecia's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I listened to the audio version and I think it made me enjoy it more as the woman narrating it spoke Spanish
It made vanilla a spice

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Medical content

alliesmusings's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I loved this book, I took my time with it and found the audiobook version way easier to go through because of the excellent narrator. I am docking half a star from the review because of the way Catalina's issues with what is hinted at to be eating disorder behaviours as well as OCD behaviours are simply brushed over and more or less dismissed. That didn't sit right with me. I love that Aaron was there for her and helped her and he was fantastic and noticed things and while I understand that this is not the main plot of the book, it shouldn't (in my opinion) have just been brushed over since it's something that hinders Lina's life in one way or another and is not just a one-time occurence.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent, Eating disorder, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Mental illness

hayleyw's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, and Misogyny

Moderate: Terminal illness, Death of parent, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual harassment

ednam0dewannabe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

There's nothing like a romantic comedy to make your day. I decided last year that The Spanish Love Deception was going to be one of my favorite reads.... And with this reread it has been solidified! I recommend it to anyone who wants a fun read with a hint of spice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Eating disorder, Cancer, and Terminal illness

Minor: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Misogyny, and Sexism

michellemaas's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

I liked the book for what it was.

A little context: I am usually a fantasy reader but when everyone started recommending The Spanish Love Deception and I heard it included a lot of my favorite tropes I wanted to give it a try. 488 Pages later I can confidently say that it was a good book but by no means revolutionary. Aaron Blackford is your cookie-cutter perfect, contemporary romance man (aka practically twice her height, massive hands, blue eyes, and a grump at their workplace) while Catalina is your typical contemporary romance woman (aka super short with a quirky, sunshiny personality, and just barely repressing her hate for the "enemy" because he was rude to her the first day they met). This makes for a very typical, cookie-cutter-perfect, contemporary romance relationship. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but something to note nonetheless.

My main thing is that I can't specifically tell you what I liked about the book, I just know that it was an overall entertaining read. It was fast-paced and cute, which is what most people want and expect from these types of books, I just find that I long for more. I can appreciate it for being a part of the cute romance genre, but that doesn't make it a good book, even if it is a good book within the genre. Did that make any sense? Anyway, I probably won't re-read this because "real-life" books are boring to me (I am 100% in it for the escapism) but if you enjoy these types of books I think you'll LOVE it. It is all about knowing what you enjoy/want from your books.

PS. There is a fair amount of Spanish in this book, so if you don't speak the language and find translating a bunch of things to understand what is happing tedious I would suggest moving on to the next read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness