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language_loving_amateur's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- 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
This is a rom-com that did not give me second hand embarrassment. It is funny and sweet, and she had it bad from like chapter 3. It is all from Ruthie's POV, but readers get to know Teddy very well too. There was something that I saw coming from the very beginning, and something else that I only started hoping for about half way through, but it was so very satisfying.
Sex: basically one sex scene with euphemistic language. While technically open door, it is more like the door is cracked. There is general horny-ness throughout. Not granny approved, but not graphic.
Mental health topics, are brought up and I think they are handled well. The book doesn't give the characters diagnoses, but you can expect anxiety and difficulty leaving the property. Ruthie is a reverend's daughter and doesn't believe anymore, so there is some churchy stuff, but the prospective offered in the novel is interesting.
Sex: basically one sex scene with euphemistic language. While technically open door, it is more like the door is cracked. There is general horny-ness throughout. Not granny approved, but not graphic.
Mental health topics, are brought up and I think they are handled well. The book doesn't give the characters diagnoses, but you can expect anxiety and difficulty leaving the property. Ruthie is a reverend's daughter and doesn't believe anymore, so there is some churchy stuff, but the prospective offered in the novel is interesting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Bullying and Sexual content
Childhood neglect, emotional neglectreadandfindout's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.5
Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 3.5 stars
Plot: 3 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 3.5 stars
Plot: 3 stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Death, Body shaming, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Bullying, and Infidelity
mishaps's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry
_thelitlibrarian's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
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
5.0
TW: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Bullying, Gaslighting
5.0 stars
-
I picked up this book based solely on the setting of the plot, a retirement villa. As someone who has spent their life working in retirement homes, I felt drawn in immediately. I'm so glad I picked this up on a whim, as I need more Teddy and Ruthie in my life. I love the hilarious banter that turns into a solid friendship, my heart was swooning the entire time, I was rooting for these two characters to end up together, but at one point it just didn't seem as if it were an option.
Our two main characters are nothing alike, Ruthie has dedicated most of her life to taking care of the villa and the residents, and it's often joked that she'll never move out and just end up retiring into the cottage she's currently in, Ruthie often forgets that she's supposed to be a young, beautiful, and single woman. Teddy Prescott is known for partying, sleeping in late, tattooing his body, and not taking anything in life seriously. After a few too many mess-ups in life, Teddy's father, and the owner of the villa agree to let him stay in one of the cottages as long as he earns his keep. When a spot working for two of the wealthiest and most eccentric residents in the villa opens up, Ruthie knows that Teddy is the perfect person for the position.
I loved watching Teddy prove to himself and everyone else that he's much more and deserves a lot more credit. Although this seems like a light book on the surface, my heart broke as we got more of a backstory both for Ruthie and Teddy. Watching the two of them grow as characters as they spent time together was refreshing, I love how they each taught each other a lot and helped their personalities grow and come to life. Listening to Teddy describe everything he wanted in a woman and it describes Ruthie to perfection made my heart swoon.
5.0 stars
-
I picked up this book based solely on the setting of the plot, a retirement villa. As someone who has spent their life working in retirement homes, I felt drawn in immediately. I'm so glad I picked this up on a whim, as I need more Teddy and Ruthie in my life. I love the hilarious banter that turns into a solid friendship, my heart was swooning the entire time, I was rooting for these two characters to end up together, but at one point it just didn't seem as if it were an option.
Our two main characters are nothing alike, Ruthie has dedicated most of her life to taking care of the villa and the residents, and it's often joked that she'll never move out and just end up retiring into the cottage she's currently in, Ruthie often forgets that she's supposed to be a young, beautiful, and single woman. Teddy Prescott is known for partying, sleeping in late, tattooing his body, and not taking anything in life seriously. After a few too many mess-ups in life, Teddy's father, and the owner of the villa agree to let him stay in one of the cottages as long as he earns his keep. When a spot working for two of the wealthiest and most eccentric residents in the villa opens up, Ruthie knows that Teddy is the perfect person for the position.
I loved watching Teddy prove to himself and everyone else that he's much more and deserves a lot more credit. Although this seems like a light book on the surface, my heart broke as we got more of a backstory both for Ruthie and Teddy. Watching the two of them grow as characters as they spent time together was refreshing, I love how they each taught each other a lot and helped their personalities grow and come to life. Listening to Teddy describe everything he wanted in a woman and it describes Ruthie to perfection made my heart swoon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Death, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Panic attacks/disorders
mengzhenreads's review against another edition
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
2.5
Ruthie is definitely one of the most annoying/bland main character's I've read in a while, the fact that she's so scared of the outside world that she never leaves the retirement home, dresses like an old person, and needs everyone around her to constantly validate her existence and actions gets tiring very fast.
Generally the romance is enjoyable, but it definitely runs on the weirder side and at times was unbearably embarrassing. Also the main love interest really didn't have any boundaries at the beginning of the book and it was really uncomfortable to read about so yikes.
Generally the romance is enjoyable, but it definitely runs on the weirder side and at times was unbearably embarrassing. Also the main love interest really didn't have any boundaries at the beginning of the book and it was really uncomfortable to read about so yikes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Gaslighting
isitcake's review against another edition
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I loved The Hating Game, but this is not that. I put this down the first time I tried reading it. The FMC Ruthie is a 25-year-old but dresses like a grandma. This is very much a plain jane hiding a stunning hottie makeover trope book. She encounters MMC Teddy on a motorcycle. He initially mistakes her as an old woman before seeing how young she is. He follows her to where she works and he starts working there full time because twist his family owns their business/property. They bought it awhile ago intending to redevelop it but forgot about it. It's now on their radar because of Teddy. Teddy takes on a job there temporarily because he's saving to open his own tattoo parlor. Teddy is covered in tattoos, including the words Give and Take written on his hands.
While working for this old lesbian couple 12-hour days, he shares the adjoining duplex with Ruthie. He's one of those people who invades your space but is insanely charming while doing it. His meager interest in Ruthie quickly has her struggling to not fall in love with him because he's moving on eventually.
Ruthie's whole plot is that she was raised by religious parents, her father is a pastor, and after a church fundraiser that raised $10k and it went missing and Ruthie was blamed for failing to lock the door. Now she has an anxiety complex and obsessively locks all doors and makes checklists. Her parents used her college fund to offset the loss. She had wanted to go to school to be a vet but instead she took this job from Sophie, who was one of their churchmembers and suspiciously has been on a cruise forever since the money was taken.
Later the reveal of the book is that Sophie stole the money and has been stealing money from the retirement community she owns, falsifying the books and underpaying staff. When Teddy's sister audits the books she discovers this. The retirement community is also home to endangered turtles so that's what prevents them redeveloping it.
Ruthie also spends a lot of the book trying to "get back out there" and go dating. So there's makeover montages where suddenly changing her clothes she's the hottest thing ever. And everywhere warns Teddy and Ruthie away from each other because they're "all wrong for each other." But of course they get together at the end. Teddy has always lacked routine and normalcy in his life so he loves and plane and predictable Ruthie is (gag).
Plain jane is one of my least favorite tropes, and when the FMC is a shy, unexperienced near-virgin while the MMC is an insanely hot, modern-day rake. But I also love having sassy old people as side characters who provide lots of good banter. So even though I didn't love the plot this book was fun to read for the side characters.
While working for this old lesbian couple 12-hour days, he shares the adjoining duplex with Ruthie. He's one of those people who invades your space but is insanely charming while doing it. His meager interest in Ruthie quickly has her struggling to not fall in love with him because he's moving on eventually.
Ruthie's whole plot is that she was raised by religious parents, her father is a pastor, and after a church fundraiser that raised $10k and it went missing and Ruthie was blamed for failing to lock the door. Now she has an anxiety complex and obsessively locks all doors and makes checklists. Her parents used her college fund to offset the loss. She had wanted to go to school to be a vet but instead she took this job from Sophie, who was one of their churchmembers and suspiciously has been on a cruise forever since the money was taken.
Later the reveal of the book is that Sophie stole the money and has been stealing money from the retirement community she owns, falsifying the books and underpaying staff. When Teddy's sister audits the books she discovers this. The retirement community is also home to endangered turtles so that's what prevents them redeveloping it.
Ruthie also spends a lot of the book trying to "get back out there" and go dating. So there's makeover montages where suddenly changing her clothes she's the hottest thing ever. And everywhere warns Teddy and Ruthie away from each other because they're "all wrong for each other." But of course they get together at the end. Teddy has always lacked routine and normalcy in his life so he loves and plane and predictable Ruthie is (gag).
Plain jane is one of my least favorite tropes, and when the FMC is a shy, unexperienced near-virgin while the MMC is an insanely hot, modern-day rake. But I also love having sassy old people as side characters who provide lots of good banter. So even though I didn't love the plot this book was fun to read for the side characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual content
hampshark's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Neither excellent nor awful. It was fine. Thorne’s writing style came through clearly, but the relationships didn’t feel fleshed out enough for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment and Religious bigotry
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
ashylibrarian's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-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? Yes
This is a cute New Adult/Adult romance between Ruthie and Teddy (and maybe a few more) with exploration of careers, self-identity, family, and past traumas. I enjoyed this book for what it was - for the most part. One thing that really rubbed me the wrong way, however, was Ruthie's invasion of Teddy regarding why he was going to therapy. Multiple times she asked him bluntly to tell her why he was seeing a therapist and not until after about the third (3rd) or fourth (4th) time did he tell her. I just feel like that is not an appropriate way to have a conversation with someone about therapy, no matter how close you think you are to them.
I just have to say that I am so happy for Aggie and Renata. I had my suspicions that they were not sisters, and once Renata started talking about her tattoo I was pretty convinced that they were in a relationship together. It did not take away from the reveal of the moment or the dance floor scene! Fresh, new love encouraged by strong, consistent love.
I also just have to say that I was SHOCKED in the end to read that Renata was the one who passed before Aggie. Every time something would happen to Aggie in the story, my heart would get really sad, so I was definitely expecting her to be the one who passes. Either way, the love they showed for each other is beautiful, and I am so glad they were able to make peace with what they were forced to miss in high school.
Overall, I am satisfied with this book and would be interested in listening to more of Sally Thorne's books.
I also just have to say that I was SHOCKED in the end to read that Renata was the one who passed before Aggie. Every time something would happen to Aggie in the story, my heart would get really sad, so I was definitely expecting her to be the one who passes. Either way, the love they showed for each other is beautiful, and I am so glad they were able to make peace with what they were forced to miss in high school.
Overall, I am satisfied with this book and would be interested in listening to more of Sally Thorne's books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Classism and Grief
brittany_jean's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
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
3.75
This book doesn’t have the tension that was in The Hating Game, but it was a very sweet story. I enjoyed the character journeys and it felt like everyone had solid attention and development, which is rare! I doubt I’d reread it, but if you are tired or burnt out and want something easy-going, I’d recommend it. It makes a lot of sense to me that she wrote it during the pandemic.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
daisychainreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Death