Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Offside by Avery Keelan

5 reviews

abidavisf's review

funny hopeful slow-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? No

3.75

An enjoyable and funny romance with characters you like straightaway. Chase is an angel, and I want to wrap Bailey in cotton wool and treat her like the queen she is.

The book is probably a little long for what it is. The plus of that is that you get a good amount of actual hockey time. This isn’t just a romance where one of the love interests happens to play hockey; you actually get the ins and outs of the games and what happens in each period which is what I live for.

There were elements of the story that I think we could have explored further, including Chase’s father and the way he processes

his death

. Because of the length of the book and the time between finding out about his dad and then determining the day of the party, it took me longer than it should have to realise why the party happened in the first place. Had the book been shorter or we been reminded more of his dad, the significance of that night would have made sense much sooner.

There were also several sub-plots that were fairly brief and therefore now feel unnecessary as they didn’t add a great deal to the plot or at least set us up for a sequel, e.g.

Derek’s relationship with Jill. It just ended and that was that. No repercussions? Did she break up with Eddie? Who knows?!

Another thing that, now that I’ve finished, feels like it was unnecessary if it wasn’t going to be explored more is

Sophie’s pregnancy

. We never heard about it again after that one scene so it feels like it didn’t need to happen. Either that or we should have gotten at least one other scene explaining what the outcome was. (In general, I’d actually very much like to hear the confirmed outcome for all of that group: Luke, Kristen, Amelia, Jill and Paul. I hope Eddie got out.)

I’d also like to know that

Nikki is okay. Luke blew up her life and potentially her relationship. We never got to hear about any of her involvement (if any) so, from the information we were given, it is clear that she was as much a victim as Luke.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Infidelity, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Car accident, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Vomit

dreezy's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Cursing, Medical content, Violence, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Bullying, and Sexism

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Classism, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Car accident, and Death of parent

culzean's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Vomit, Gaslighting, Violence, Classism, Cursing, and Death of parent

annica_fourie's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Even though the book is on the longer side for a NA romance, I felt that the story was well-paced. I really liked the way Bailey and Chase's relationship was built up from not liking each, and that it wasn't insta-love. And the spice was some of the best I've read recently. The story was also fairly sex positive.

The toxicity of Bailey's friendships was not at all something I expected going into this book, but I appreciated the aspect it added to the story. I really liked that as I was reading about how toxic her friend group was, I was also reading about her "rebuilding" her life with healthier relationships.

Overall, I enjoyed the reading experience and I would definitely recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, and Car accident

Minor: Self harm, Abortion, and Pregnancy

reading_diaries's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

If I could rate this a 6, I would. I read this in a day and it was the most fun I had reading a book. It was so fast paced, the characters were so enjoyable to read, the story was just amazing. Don't get me wrong, this book is by no means a phenomenal book with this deep story and touching characters, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it and thought it was the perfect book to get me out of a reading slump. Especially loved the playlist for this book, listened to every song while listening.

I really loved how Chase took things slow with Bailey and really allowed her to explore her range of intimacy. I think the way he helped her navigate her toxic friendships really hit home for me. I wish there was someone that would have done the same for me when I was going through a toxic friendship. 

The ending plot twist had me screaming. I think the way Avery Keelan wrote it with such sensitivity and care especially since it showed a different side to sexual assault that's not often talked about in mainstream media. 

Overall this book was such a fun read and I enjoyed it so much. Can't wait for the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Alcohol, Bullying, and Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Violence