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cemeterygay's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
4.25
This was a pretty great romance book but the sheer amount of miscommunication just killed me.
It's a cute and fun romance with a great sense of humor that is written so cleverly.
The best part of this book is Hibbert's writing style. With the exception of a few bizarre word choices during sex scenes, the way Talia Hibbert writes is always so enjoyable. The balance between humor and description works fantastically and the jokes keep the pace quick enough to keep your attention. The detail to the romantic scenes is always so great and sweet.
Before I get into the other aspects I adore in this book, I need to take a moment two express the only strong issues I have with this book. One, the sheer amount of miscommunication killed me. Watching two grown adults have the communication skills of two teenagers in their first high school romance hurt me so deeply. The only positive about this is that it is over relatively quickly so it doesn't take up too much of the book. Two, I think Red is a pretty meh love interest. He's okay, I like the vibes but is very much outshone by Chloe.
I cannot highlight how much I adore the cast but particularly Chloe Brown. Chloe is just such an amazing main protagonist. She has such a distinct personality and has a charm that really makes you want to root for her. I love the way both disability and past instances of abuse are talked about. I adore Chloe's relationships with her family and Hibbert does a fantastic job at writing family dynamics specifically sisters. It is an underrated skill but one that Hibbert has absolutely mastered.
The romance in this book just is so great and I love the framing of Chloe's list.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book to both lovers of romance and people getting into romance.
It's a cute and fun romance with a great sense of humor that is written so cleverly.
The best part of this book is Hibbert's writing style. With the exception of a few bizarre word choices during sex scenes, the way Talia Hibbert writes is always so enjoyable. The balance between humor and description works fantastically and the jokes keep the pace quick enough to keep your attention. The detail to the romantic scenes is always so great and sweet.
Before I get into the other aspects I adore in this book, I need to take a moment two express the only strong issues I have with this book. One, the sheer amount of miscommunication killed me. Watching two grown adults have the communication skills of two teenagers in their first high school romance hurt me so deeply. The only positive about this is that it is over relatively quickly so it doesn't take up too much of the book. Two, I think Red is a pretty meh love interest. He's okay, I like the vibes but is very much outshone by Chloe.
I cannot highlight how much I adore the cast but particularly Chloe Brown. Chloe is just such an amazing main protagonist. She has such a distinct personality and has a charm that really makes you want to root for her. I love the way both disability and past instances of abuse are talked about. I adore Chloe's relationships with her family and Hibbert does a fantastic job at writing family dynamics specifically sisters. It is an underrated skill but one that Hibbert has absolutely mastered.
The romance in this book just is so great and I love the framing of Chloe's list.
Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book to both lovers of romance and people getting into romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Medical trauma, and Mental illness
Moderate: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Drug use and Alcoholism
CW: Harry potter references, drug use is in reference to legal prescription drugs, abandonment (refers to past friends and partner), past medical trauma, general descriptions of trauma, Domestic abuse (both physical and emotional) is pastmariekejee'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
4.0
Funny, sexy, heart-warming. What more do you want in a romance?
I'm not a big fan of the romance genre, but every once in a while it's nice to turn off your brain and just enjoy some fluff or smut. This book has both, and does both pretty well. I tried the book once and was turned off immediately by the way the main character talks - she is very posh, and British, and odd. I tried it again and due to the fact I was stuck on my flight with nothing to entertain me but my phone stuck on airplane mode, I was able to power through and get used to it and to Chloe, our main character.
The only complaint I have is that the latter half of this book, like many romances, just doesn't really do it for me. There always needs to be some big misunderstanding that can easily be solved by just fucking talking to eachother that drives the story to its completion, and I get it, but it still annoys me. Also,these people fall in love like it's nothing, and that threw me off as well . Also also, I dislike this trope of the love interest having some blue collar job he secretly hates but actually being a very talented artist that isn't making his money off of his art because of XYZ (looking at you, The Kiss Quotient). At least our MC enjoys being a superintendent and doesn't secretly hate his job. But please, romance writers, a love interest can sometimes just be a plumber that just likes his job and doesn't have any great ambitions to be on Forbes' 30 under 30 list.
That said, I think this romance was very well done. I believed every part of it, and I wasn't annoyed by the will-they-won't-they, because unlike the typical "two hot people believing the other person just is too perfect and doesn't actually like them like that" spiel, they actually have some meaningful conflict to overcome. I enjoyed my time with this book thoroughly, and I'd like to see what Talia Hibbert has in store for Dani in Take a Hint, Dani Brown.
I'm not a big fan of the romance genre, but every once in a while it's nice to turn off your brain and just enjoy some fluff or smut. This book has both, and does both pretty well. I tried the book once and was turned off immediately by the way the main character talks - she is very posh, and British, and odd. I tried it again and due to the fact I was stuck on my flight with nothing to entertain me but my phone stuck on airplane mode, I was able to power through and get used to it and to Chloe, our main character.
The only complaint I have is that the latter half of this book, like many romances, just doesn't really do it for me. There always needs to be some big misunderstanding that can easily be solved by just fucking talking to eachother that drives the story to its completion, and I get it, but it still annoys me. Also,
That said, I think this romance was very well done. I believed every part of it, and I wasn't annoyed by the will-they-won't-they, because unlike the typical "two hot people believing the other person just is too perfect and doesn't actually like them like that" spiel, they actually have some meaningful conflict to overcome. I enjoyed my time with this book thoroughly, and I'd like to see what Talia Hibbert has in store for Dani in Take a Hint, Dani Brown.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship
lasafica_reads's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Car accident
alisylvi'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual content, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Car accident and Toxic relationship
raccoonbirb_'s review against another edition
funny
hopeful
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
emilycollins0910's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
5.0
I want love like theirs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death
Minor: Drug use
lesbegays's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Physical abuse, Ableism, Medical trauma, Racism, and Drug use
One half of the couple deals with trauma from a past abusive relationship. there is a small amount of discussion of the abuse experienced, and a relatively large focus on the effects the abuse has had on his life. The drug use is in regards to prescription painkillers, used as directed, to treat chronic pain.anna_wa's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Before this review starts, I will make it clear that I usually only read Young Adult books and therefore you can take my review with a grain of salt. It's possible everything I say will just make you want to read it more, in which case, more power to you and I hope you like it.
I read this series in reverse: I read "Act Your Age Eve Brown" first because it featured an autistic couple, which is something we don't see enough in literature, then when I found out "Take A Hint Dani Brown" was about a bisexual woman I read that too, and throughout both of them Chloe was my favorite side character, so I was excited when I finally got her book in my hands.
And I did enjoy reading about Chloe, and Redford as well. In fact I enjoyed reading about them as individual people so much, that the romance fell flat for me. I remember reading someone else saying that "Act Your Age Eve Brown" had the most sex out of the entire series? Nah man, that award goes to this one.
From the beginning of their relationship (or even before the beginning, really), Chloe and Redford are so lustful for each other that, to me, it was almost ridiculous. Now, I get it, you know what a person looks like long before you know anything about them as a person, but come on. The amount of boners Redford got, the amount of clit-boners(?) that Chloe got when they hadn't even talked to each other in a positive way was just ridiculous and, for me, a bit unbelievable.
For example, in the other two books, Talia Hibbert makes the readers wait until the book is half over before the two of them do the dirty. But in this book, on page 83 out of 369, we have Redfordwaking up from a wet dream and masturbating over a Chloe fantasy in his head . It was way too much too soon, especially after the pace I felt Hibbert had set with the other two books - that you learn who they are, and what they mean to each other, before any clothes are removed.
And even after they finally started developing romantic (not just sexual) feelings for each other, I found myself thinking "okay, but like, are they even friends?" multiple times. There are exceptions for sure. The motorcycle scene and the camping scene both tugged at my heartstrings and made me want more of THAT and less of... whatever the rest of their relationship was. But overall, like I said, the relationship felt flat.
I guess I wanted more of them being themselves. Like, I wanted to learn more over time about Red's ex-girlfriend, about Chloe's ex-man and ex-friends, about Chloe grappling with her fibromyalgia (I don't need the author to make her into an inspiration icon or anything like that, but just... honesty about how it made her feel, more than just one quote in the entire book), about Red grappling with his depression(maybe we could have SEEN rather than been TOLD about his therapy sessions) .
In other words, I feel like this book would have benefitted from being a general adult contemporary book instead of a romance book. If the romance had been a sidebar to Chloe's list and Redford's journey in his mental health and art. If there had been more friendship and less lust to this relationship (doesn't mean no lust at all, because they are only human, but again, a sidebar to their respective journeys).
I don't regret reading this, though, and I would like to thank Talia Hibbert for taking me outside my comfort zone - and for making a book where a disabled woman is considered sexually attractive. Because despite my personal feelings that the lust was overdone, there are not enough books where disabled bodies are considered sexually attractive, and we need more in the world. ♥
I read this series in reverse: I read "Act Your Age Eve Brown" first because it featured an autistic couple, which is something we don't see enough in literature, then when I found out "Take A Hint Dani Brown" was about a bisexual woman I read that too, and throughout both of them Chloe was my favorite side character, so I was excited when I finally got her book in my hands.
And I did enjoy reading about Chloe, and Redford as well. In fact I enjoyed reading about them as individual people so much, that the romance fell flat for me. I remember reading someone else saying that "Act Your Age Eve Brown" had the most sex out of the entire series? Nah man, that award goes to this one.
From the beginning of their relationship (or even before the beginning, really), Chloe and Redford are so lustful for each other that, to me, it was almost ridiculous. Now, I get it, you know what a person looks like long before you know anything about them as a person, but come on. The amount of boners Redford got, the amount of clit-boners(?) that Chloe got when they hadn't even talked to each other in a positive way was just ridiculous and, for me, a bit unbelievable.
For example, in the other two books, Talia Hibbert makes the readers wait until the book is half over before the two of them do the dirty. But in this book, on page 83 out of 369, we have Redford
And even after they finally started developing romantic (not just sexual) feelings for each other, I found myself thinking "okay, but like, are they even friends?" multiple times. There are exceptions for sure. The motorcycle scene and the camping scene both tugged at my heartstrings and made me want more of THAT and less of... whatever the rest of their relationship was. But overall, like I said, the relationship felt flat.
I guess I wanted more of them being themselves. Like, I wanted to learn more over time about Red's ex-girlfriend, about Chloe's ex-man and ex-friends, about Chloe grappling with her fibromyalgia (I don't need the author to make her into an inspiration icon or anything like that, but just... honesty about how it made her feel, more than just one quote in the entire book), about Red grappling with his depression
In other words, I feel like this book would have benefitted from being a general adult contemporary book instead of a romance book. If the romance had been a sidebar to Chloe's list and Redford's journey in his mental health and art. If there had been more friendship and less lust to this relationship (doesn't mean no lust at all, because they are only human, but again, a sidebar to their respective journeys).
I don't regret reading this, though, and I would like to thank Talia Hibbert for taking me outside my comfort zone - and for making a book where a disabled woman is considered sexually attractive. Because despite my personal feelings that the lust was overdone, there are not enough books where disabled bodies are considered sexually attractive, and we need more in the world. ♥
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Chronic illness
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Mental illness
Use of opioidsthemagicalbookarchive's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Cursing, and Chronic illness
morganholmes49's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Chronic illness
Minor: Drug use