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jillkaarlela's review against another edition
- 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
Age rating: 17+ (3 brief steamy scenes, 1.5/5🌶️)
This was a fairly emotional romance where the fmc has to cope with her autism spectrum diagnosis and unlearning her habits of masking. Please read with care and check the TW. This deals with pretty heavy topics. She has spent her whole life living for other people, doing only what everyone else wants, and it’s eating away at her. I love the journey of her finding the one person who never makes her feel like she has to put on a show. Quan is the one person who sees and loves Ana for her, and the only one who she doesn’t have to “mask” with. Their love is so tender and healing for both of them. I love the “failed” one night stand trope, where they plan to have a one night stand, but can’t seem to let each other go. They hold each other through truly dark times. They are just so perfect for each other!!
The way that Ana’s family treats her makes me want to scream. They always tell her what to do, and treat her with “tough love”, which is actually just bulldozing her wants and needs. It truly hearts my heart. This novel was definitely heavier than Hoang’s other novels, and it wasn’t my favorite, but it was still really great!
“When I realize I’m going south on the 101, I’m not surprised that I’m going straight to her. My compass always points to her.”
TW: emotional abuse, cancer (testicular), ableism, gaslighting, “tough love” very unsupportive family, terminal illness/end of life care, grief, death
Moderate: Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Grief, Death of parent, Cancer, and Death
kenzithereader's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Medical content
Moderate: Ableism and Infertility
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
shindanker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Grief, Death, Ableism, and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
annie_tonk's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Grief, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness
baileyt2424's review against another edition
- 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
Minor: Ableism, Infertility, Medical content, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
amissabellator's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Ableism, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, and Medical content
The text follows Anna Sun - a woman who is diagnosed with autism with low-support needs - (and, to a lesser extent, Quan Diep - a man who has recently overcome personal illness (mcsturgeon40's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Medical content, Death, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Classism
micaelamariem's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Excrement, Ableism, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content
analenegrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
After reading the author's note and the acknowledgements, I can see that Hoang wrote this book as part memoir and that it was deeply personal, which I thing shows throughout and is quite possibly why the end does not read as well as the rest of the book. As someone who is also exploring the possibility of autism as an adult women, Anna's character and her motivations made sense to me, although her relationship with therapy throughout was upsetting and at times made me want to reach through the page and shake her.
I wanted to touch on the use of Aspergers throughout the book. Although the author is autistic herself, she uses Aspergers in her bio and it is mentioned multiple times throughout the book. While she acknowledges it is no longer the term used, and that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is, she uses the term without acknowledging the inherent damage of the word and its history. Aspergers is a term that divides the ASD community and comes from the name of a Nazi Doctor who used it to decide who was useful or not and who lived or died. It either needs to be acknowledged or left out.
Quan was a fantastic love interest who was perhaps too good for this world and for this book. I was picturing him throughout as quite muscly so it was little shocking when they said lean runners muscles. I really enjoyed his and Anna's dynamic, although I wish we'd had more actual dialogue between the two in the last section as it felt like he really disappeared at the end. On his non-romance plot throughout, I thought that the resolution with
The final section of this book is really where Hoang lost me, and why this book is rated what it is. I genuinely believe that Hoang was trying to write an ending to her own story while she is still in the middle of it, and it feels rushed, the time jumps do not work, and the lack of dialogue and almost only inner monologue is frustrating. We also lose Quan's perspective in the end and it stops feeling like a Romance novel at all. I also wished we would have gotten a resolution for her relationship with her sister,
I'm very excited to talk to my book club about this book and see their perspective on the story.
Graphic: Death of parent, Ableism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
zoiejanelle's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
REVIEW TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS BOOK!
i devoured this book. i was up until 3am reading this and good LORD was it worth it.
i would definitely classify this as contemporary fiction and not a romance because the main focal point was Anna’s struggle to accept and honor herself, not the love story. though i liked the love story—which added fantastic levity to the serious topics presented here despite also being pretty rocky—i was completely sold by Anna’s arc: her diagnosis, accepting a caretaker role, the epiphany about her needs, her growth.
once again, Helen Hoang perfectly captures the neurodivergent experience. Anna’s relationship with her family, her friends, herself, and her art were so relatable and heart-wrenching. i can only describe my feelings/reactions towards the ongoing conflicts related to her autism as VISCERAL. chapter 41 literally caused me to sob into a pillow. i am not kidding. i had to try very hard to stifle my weeping.
the ending, though extremely fast-paced was satisfying and realistic. i appreciated that, unlike The Bride Test, not every plot point received a sparkly, happy conclusion. grief and healing are not linear, and it makes sense that Anna‘s experiences with them were not either.
i will admit, criticisms of Quan’s story are valid. though i liked that his chapters were brief, i would happily read an entire novel about his journey surviving cancer. i did not feel like his POV was needed at times, which led me to want his storyline to be fleshed out more, to be more on par with the tone and severity of Anna’s. i think each arc could have better paralleled the other and his story could have had a stronger impact. maybe Anna’s story was heavy enough and Helen Hoang felt the need to write something lighter to help the reader escape that darkness, but i think it still could have worked.
wrt the sex scenes: this book was much steamier and more satisfying (wink wonk) than The Bride Test. it also showed realistic sexual dysfunction and healthy communication of boundaries/needs. i liked the pining as much as i liked the sex scenes themselves, and i never turned the page and felt let down or disappointed by how the scenes ended. they all tended to make sense and feel complete.
overall this was a fantastic, quick read that i recommend to nd romance readers looking to see and authentic story in a new genre.
CW (not included below): autism meltdown, autism burnout, career burnout/career issues
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Ableism, Grief, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Cancer
Minor: Cursing, Car accident, Excrement, Xenophobia, and Vomit