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krheath's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death of parent, and Infertility
livinthebubble's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
2.0
I'm going to start this review off by saying that I had to force myself to finish this book. If it wasn't an ARC I would've stopped at around 20%.
Plot
Going into this, this is what I understood of the plot:
- a guy and a girl meet in uni, fall in love
- something happens, and they don't talk for years
- fast forward, they rekindle and happy ending for them
Where in the blurb would I ever guess that they a) are married and b) have kids? Nowhere, besties. Also, the random ass subplots didn't work for me.
There are heavy topics thrown in (solely for impact imo). TW: alcoholism, assault, self-harm, terminal illness, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, death of a parent, infertility and cheating. As I said before, it sounded like a light-hearted story, but boy was I surprised when she out of nowhere describe in detail how she'd self-harm.
Characters
The story spans 20 odd years of the main characters' lives, but they meet when they are 18/19. I was that age not long ago (3/4 years ago to be exact), and Iunfortunately had a relationship during that time. Why am I telling my life story? I remember the feelings and behaviour I had during that relationship, and I do not understand why Clara would be this dramatic.
Everything Benjamin did, she overthought to the extreme. All the problems the two had were because of her. Any one of them, you can trace back to her. Although he's at fault, I felt like Clara played a huge part in him going to jail and she didn't even help him or defend him.
Benjamin, although sometimes badly, tried his best to communicate. He told her he was going to go home for a while, and since this is literally the year I was born, texting wasn't as popular as nowadays. Why does she assume the worst and cheat on him? Nofucking brain cells. She blames him for cheating on him, and she thinks he deserves it. Benjamin deserves better. Also, her being mad at him for wanting to watch football with his friend, please stfu. She's selfish, rude, dumb, whiney, irrational, and impulsive... I could go on. And even in her 40s, she has not matured AT ALL.
The fact that she could be married to Thom, which in my opinion also deserved better, for a decade and yet always think of what could be with Benjamin. This woman had cheated on every man she dated during this book, whether emotionally or physically. For someone who was traumatized by her ex-Daniel cheating, she really followed in his footsteps.
Romance
For a book advertised as a romance, there was literally none to be found. The main characters had no chemistry, they kept saying they were soulmates yada yada, but they just felt like dumb naive teenagers in their first relationship (been there done that folks).
Ending
The ending is random and I hate open endings. In the end, they are friends although I think I can infer that they'll date somehow, which was very unsatisfying, to be honest.
Overall, not for me, at all. Is there anything I liked? Well, Benjamin was wholesome but that's about it. I wouldn't recommend but if you enjoy books spanning most of the characters' lives and open endings, this might be for you.
This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Plot
Going into this, this is what I understood of the plot:
- a guy and a girl meet in uni, fall in love
- something happens, and they don't talk for years
- fast forward, they rekindle and happy ending for them
There are heavy topics thrown in (solely for impact imo). TW: alcoholism, assault, self-harm, terminal illness, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, death of a parent, infertility and cheating. As I said before, it sounded like a light-hearted story, but boy was I surprised when she out of nowhere describe in detail how she'd self-harm.
Characters
The story spans 20 odd years of the main characters' lives, but they meet when they are 18/19. I was that age not long ago (3/4 years ago to be exact), and I
Everything Benjamin did, she overthought to the extreme. All the problems the two had were because of her. Any one of them, you can trace back to her.
Benjamin, although sometimes badly, tried his best to communicate. He told her he was going to go home for a while, and since this is literally the year I was born, texting wasn't as popular as nowadays. Why does she assume the worst and cheat on him? No
The fact that she could be married to Thom, which in my opinion also deserved better, for a decade and yet always think of what could be with Benjamin. This woman had cheated on every man she dated during this book, whether emotionally or physically. For someone who was traumatized by her ex-Daniel cheating, she really followed in his footsteps.
Romance
For a book advertised as a romance, there was literally none to be found. The main characters had no chemistry, they kept saying they were soulmates yada yada, but they just felt like dumb naive teenagers in their first relationship (been there done that folks).
Ending
The ending is random and I hate open endings.
Overall, not for me, at all. Is there anything I liked? Well, Benjamin was wholesome but that's about it. I wouldn't recommend but if you enjoy books spanning most of the characters' lives and open endings, this might be for you.
This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Death of parent, Infertility, Self harm, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault
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