Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Betting On You

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Betting On You by Lynn Painter

12 reviews

blackveilbeccy's review

emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.0

This book and its characters really grew on me by the end. At the beginning, I struggled with the cynicism of MMC Charlie and the whininess of FMC Bailey, but their character development and friendship over time was lovely. I felt very sorry for Bailey as

a child of divorce who had two selfish (in different ways) parents

- some of that, especially with the subplot relating to her mother, was handwaved away. This book kept a lighthearted tone despite some of the serious subject matter, and the wide variety of side characters worked well. I didn’t like it as much as the last Lynn Painter book I read, but I still enjoyed it.

Content Warnings

kristensreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted fast-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

3.0

Content Warnings

sunshinekmp's review

Go to review page

emotional medium-paced

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

3.25

This is concerned Teen Fiction-but I wouldn’t let my younger (14yo) teen read it. I know she’s heard the language before but she doesn’t need to read so much of it.

Content Warnings

mysticserenity's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful sad 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

Content Warnings

allingoodtime's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This is one of those authors I have been meaning to read for so long, and now that I have I’m kicking myself for waiting until now. This book is fantastic. Although my parents weren’t divorced, I’ve seen enough divorce in my life to know this story rings so true. When it came to the bits about Bailey and her feeling regarding her parent’s divorce and how it affected her relationship with her dad, it gutted me. Her fears and insecurities were so real.

While Charlie is a huge pain in the butt, he’s also funny and ends up being a big teddy bear. He just cannot let Bailey feel sad. He’d rather distract her by getting her mad at him than let her feel down. Soon the ribbing and poking fun turns to friendship, although Charlie doesn’t believe men and women can be friends. Which makes things super sweet when he slips and calls Bailey his friend rather than his co-worker. Charlie and Bailey are wonderful together and just what the other needs to navigate their way through their angsty teenager on the cusp of adulthood years.

I did find myself getting frustrated with Bailey at times, and definitely questioning the plan Charlie and Bailey had to “scare away” her mom’s boyfriend. Then I’d remind myself that this book wasn’t written for me, it is a YA story written for (this is crazy) young adults. When I would put that in perspective, I’d realize the things that were bugging me (and only slightly) were exactly as they should be for the age.

When it comes down to it, this book gave me all the feels and I didn’t want to put it down. Now I just have to figure out what to read next by this author. Now that I’ve experienced her writing, I want more!

Content Warnings

tamsterdam_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

Content Warnings

flowersandstars24's review

Go to review page

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

velsbooknook's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted

5.0

This was absolutely perfect! I read the two other young adult novels by Lynn Painter before and I loved them but Betting On You hit differently.
First of all I loved Bailey and Charlie. I loved the banter, the tension, their insecurities. The strangers to friends to lovers - absolute perfection. Both of them have to navigate life after the divorce of their parents and I enjoyed to see them getting through it together. The story has 2 POVs and Bailey's and Charlie's thoughts and actions were very relatable and they also dealt with the typical teenager problems. I also very much enjoyed the relationships between Bailey and her mom and seeing their bond strengthened even though Bailey sometines was a real pain in the ass.
This novel was also filled with sooooo many Taylor Swift, Netflix, The Office and bookstagram references it was right up my ally. I honestly enjoyed every second of this book. I listened to the audiobook and I knew I had to grab a physical copy because this book just screams reread. The day I finished it I went to town and picked up my physical copy. If that is not convincing enough for you to pick it up I don't know what else to say. Definitely one of my all time favourite reads and a new comfort read of mine for sure!

Content Warnings

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

I wanted to read this book because I love Lynn Painter’s work and when this was announced, I knew I would want to read it as soon as possible.

This book has two points of view. The first is Bailey. She has started a new job at a hotel waterpark and she is less than thrilled to see an old acquaintance is one of her co-workers. Bailey met Charlie a year ago on a long flight to Omaha, where she moved after her parents’ divorce. Charlie’s cynicism didn’t mix well with Bailey’s carefully well-behaved temperament, and his endless commentary was the irritating cherry on top of an already emotionally fraught trip. Now Bailey and Charlie are still polar opposites, but instead of everything about him rubbing Bailey the wrong way, she starts to look forward to hanging out and gossiping about the waterpark guests and their co-workers – particularly the two who keep flirting with each other. Bailey and Charlie make a bet on whether or not the cozy pair will actually get together. Charlie insists that members of the opposite sex can’t just be friends, and Bailey is determined to prove him wrong. The second point of view is Charlie, he is determined to deflect the growing feelings he’s developed for Bailey. He is terrified to lose her if his crush becomes known. What doesn’t help is his agenda is Bailey and Charlie’s “fake dating” in order to disrupt the annoying pleasantries between Bailey’s mum and her new boyfriend. Soon, what Charlie was hoping to avoid becomes a reality as Bailey starts to see him as not only a friend she can rely on in the midst of family drama – but someone who makes her hands shake and heart race. But Charlie has a secret which involved Bailey and another bet Charlie might have made. Can the two make a real go of things or will Charlie betrayal too much for Bailey?

This book was so fluffy and fun. I love the aspect of fake dating and the whole young adult one bed stuff was great. I loved Charlie’s POV and I wish we had more of Charlie’s POV. This book was such an easy read and the dual POV made it a quicker read. I like the progression of the friends-to-lovers as it seems more realistic than books I've read in the past – both of them denying that they couldn’t have feelings for each other, ignoring them, and then getting over it and accepting it, to admitting their feels. As a kid of divorced parents and have stepparents, I loved the rep though now I appreciate the fact that my parents lived close to each other because I couldn’t think about doing a flight on my own under the age of 15. I loved that Scott was honest and open towards the end.

I wanted more. I would have loved more light being shed on Charlie’s overthinking/TUMS bit – I felt like it got mentioned with his mum, Bailey didn’t question it and then that was it. I would have liked to see more from Charlie’s household because we didn’t see much expect that he doesn’t like to be home. I get it was mainly focused on Bailey, but sometimes I felt like Charlie’s POV was just needed to move the story alone rather than a more depth of a character.

I will always read Lynn Painter, but I think I will always prefer her new adult books rather than young adult books because I felt like the bet bit of it was just unnecessary – not the bet with Bailey and Charlie but the bet between Theo and Charlie – the She’s All That reference of a bet. Plus these kids were giving me a headache sometimes.

Content Warnings

vj_thompson's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad 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

Content Warnings

More...