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bzliz's review
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
2.5
I didn’t have high hopes for this which is probably for the best because it was just okay. I enjoyed it enough to finish it but it wasn’t anything special.
I think the author tried to include some more serious subjects that people face in life like sexism, racism, loss and grief, but none of them went in depth enough to feel genuine. The closest was the sexist boss at the radio station getting minorly told off for his awful behavior but it was mostly handled through conversations about him between female characters which means nothing really came of it. There was also some mention of the struggle of interracial dating but it was brief and the main characters didn’t have to deal with any of it.
Shay and Dominic were fine characters but they were hampered by a downright obsession with public radio. There were a couple of romance tropes used to varying degrees of success. The rivals to lovers aspect was fun vs the ‘just one bed’ trope which was super predictable from the moment they were being sent on a trip. And Shay mentioned being pushed up against the wall roughly a dozen times which got old quick.
If you read purely for vibes, this is worth checking out. If you’re looking for something with more heart, you can skip this.
I think the author tried to include some more serious subjects that people face in life like sexism, racism, loss and grief, but none of them went in depth enough to feel genuine. The closest was the sexist boss at the radio station getting minorly told off for his awful behavior but it was mostly handled through conversations about him between female characters which means nothing really came of it. There was also some mention of the struggle of interracial dating but it was brief and the main characters didn’t have to deal with any of it.
Shay and Dominic were fine characters but they were hampered by a downright obsession with public radio. There were a couple of romance tropes used to varying degrees of success. The rivals to lovers aspect was fun vs the ‘just one bed’ trope which was super predictable from the moment they were being sent on a trip. And Shay mentioned being pushed up against the wall roughly a dozen times which got old quick.
If you read purely for vibes, this is worth checking out. If you’re looking for something with more heart, you can skip this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, and Sexism
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Racism and Cancer
blackveilbeccy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? No
4.0
I was a little slow to get into this one, but about a third of the way in it just clicked with me. I adored the MMC and I felt the relationship was super cute in the end. Both the FMC and MMC were relatable in different ways and their relationship development felt natural. Most of the side characters were well developed. The workplace dynamics and the rivals to lovers trope were both done well. Despite a lot of the heavy topics discussed in the plot, this still managed to retain a little fluffiness, a little lightheartedness and humour.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Misogyny and Panic attacks/disorders
bookishspy's review
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
slow-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
4.0
The Ex Talk was a solid read but was missing something for me.
Shay was pretty interesting, and I was pretty pleased that I didn't hate an FMC for once. She had a personality, and she adopted a cute AF dog, Steve Rogers! I've got to say, being a dog trainer myself, the little bits of dog training "advice" did kind of make me want to stop reading, but otherwise, that was super cute.
Dominic felt a little flat for me most of the time. There were moments when his personality peeked out, and I LOVED it, but he just felt very one dimensional otherwise. Perhaps this was because the story was only told from Shay's perspective? I wanted to know what was on Dominics' mind.
Their romance was totally believable, though. It was gradual and slow and felt really natural. I wanted more honestly it was so good!
The side characters were all fantastic. I also love the diversity in this book and that real-life issues like sexism and racism were brought into the story.
The pacing at the end did feel a little weird. I didn't quite feel satisfied like I'd hoped. I think because we were hit so hard, and then we got barely any time to recover.
Overall, this was a good read that I could recommend to most people, but it was just missing that satisfying finale and the wow factor that makes me go for that extra star
➛ 𝟒 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬
Shay was pretty interesting, and I was pretty pleased that I didn't hate an FMC for once. She had a personality, and she adopted a cute AF dog, Steve Rogers! I've got to say, being a dog trainer myself, the little bits of dog training "advice" did kind of make me want to stop reading, but otherwise, that was super cute.
Dominic felt a little flat for me most of the time. There were moments when his personality peeked out, and I LOVED it, but he just felt very one dimensional otherwise. Perhaps this was because the story was only told from Shay's perspective? I wanted to know what was on Dominics' mind.
Their romance was totally believable, though. It was gradual and slow and felt really natural. I wanted more honestly it was so good!
The side characters were all fantastic. I also love the diversity in this book and that real-life issues like sexism and racism were brought into the story.
The pacing at the end did feel a little weird. I didn't quite feel satisfied like I'd hoped. I think because we were hit so hard, and then we got barely any time to recover.
Overall, this was a good read that I could recommend to most people, but it was just missing that satisfying finale and the wow factor that makes me go for that extra star
➛ 𝟒 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Racism
sagireadinglist's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The basics:
-an (brief) enemies-to-lovers story
-an age-gap romance (older woman with a younger man)
-two people having to pretend to be exes as they host a podcast about relationships
-smut? yes
Even though I don't always gravitate toward enemies-to-lovers stories, the premise was interesting enough that I became curious. I like the behind-the-scenes look at public radio and podcasting, but would have liked having more of the podcast transcripts throughout the book (they ended up being more fun to read than I expected) and see how Shay and Dominic warmed up to each other on the show.
Now, onto the couple. The banter was there. Nothing particularly ground-breaking or life-changing, but it was nice to see how their interactions developed. However, I do find the mentions of Dominic's height too excessive and I could only stand so much description about how he's so tall and towering (yes, I get that he's 6"3, can we move on now?). I did like reading about how Shay is still processing the death of her father and how it's still affecting her to this day, and some of her words about the topic really resonated with me, but I can't get rid of the sense that she doesn't really read like a woman in her 30s. Maybe it's the way she acts? A little too aware that she's "millennial trash"? But then again, I'm not in my 30s so I can't comment too much on this.
I did end up liking Dominic quite a bit. He's very endearing, and I ended up relating to him because he and I share the same views when it comes to dating and sex. To be warned, their conflict is mostly centered around communication problems, and even the inevitable unraveling of their show did not get a satisfying conclusion.
Other than that, this was a fun and light read that suddenly made me want to go back to listening to podcasts.
-an (brief) enemies-to-lovers story
-an age-gap romance (older woman with a younger man)
-two people having to pretend to be exes as they host a podcast about relationships
-smut? yes
Even though I don't always gravitate toward enemies-to-lovers stories, the premise was interesting enough that I became curious. I like the behind-the-scenes look at public radio and podcasting, but would have liked having more of the podcast transcripts throughout the book (they ended up being more fun to read than I expected) and see how Shay and Dominic warmed up to each other on the show.
Now, onto the couple. The banter was there. Nothing particularly ground-breaking or life-changing, but it was nice to see how their interactions developed. However, I do find the mentions of Dominic's height too excessive and I could only stand so much description about how he's so tall and towering (yes, I get that he's 6"3, can we move on now?). I did like reading about how Shay is still processing the death of her father and how it's still affecting her to this day, and some of her words about the topic really resonated with me, but I can't get rid of the sense that she doesn't really read like a woman in her 30s. Maybe it's the way she acts? A little too aware that she's "millennial trash"? But then again, I'm not in my 30s so I can't comment too much on this.
I did end up liking Dominic quite a bit. He's very endearing, and I ended up relating to him because he and I share the same views when it comes to dating and sex. To be warned, their conflict is mostly centered around communication problems, and even the inevitable unraveling of their show did not get a satisfying conclusion.
Other than that, this was a fun and light read that suddenly made me want to go back to listening to podcasts.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Sexual content
vj_thompson's review against another edition
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
4.5
This book started out slow but once the initial plot of Shay and Dominic host the radio show together happened, it got good. Seeing their relationship develop was absolutely adorable. The relationship felt normal aside from the miscommunication. Ugh, that sucked. The story surprised me. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, and Misogyny
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism
Minor: Racism and Cancer
clareasday's review
emotional
funny
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexism, Misogyny, and Cancer
chloelj27's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer
bootsmom3's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer
jennp28's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I enjoyed the story, an interesting twist on the fake-dating trope. I listened to the audiobook, though, and it loses stars because I didn’t enjoy the narrator. It was a little too “acted” for me - I prefer (unless it’s a full cast) for the book to be just *read* but she got way too breathy in the steamy scenes and too sobby in the sad scenes. Instead of adding to the story it actually pulled me out of it because I found it annoying.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
abifoster02's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Sexism, and Grief
Minor: Cancer