Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Before We Were Strangers by Renée Carlino

27 reviews

_brockoli_'s review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad 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? Yes

5.0

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. It’s cute and funny while being so real and heartbreaking at the same time.

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taynash20's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A fine romance. Quick read.

Content Warnings

kal517's review against another edition

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emotional fast-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

3.0

Content Warnings

jeswasik85's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad 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

4.75

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aurora4847's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

It was fine, but nothing special in my opinion. I liked the story overall, but I didn't really like Grace or Matt at all.

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booklover6000's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I don’t know what to say. The beginning of the book, I thought their relationship was, well, cringy. I didn’t feel any chemistry throughout most of the book. And the concept of Matt’s perspective being 15 years future, then them back in college 15 years before, then back to the future again but with an expected twist, made the book bad. There wasn’t much of a consistent flow. And toward the end of the book, they were so hot and cold I wanted to give up on it. It was like hey, right person wrong time, but the plot just wasn’t great. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend.

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transreckless's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This being the first book of the year for me was not necessarily a great thing. I really really want to enjoy this. I thought the premise of two young college students
and coming back together would really speak to and there were certain aspects that I really liked, but I also feel like there was a lot of sub plots that just felt very messy and some tropes that just really grossed me out

Things I did like

I really enjoyed seeing the development of the couple. I appreciate the author for making a backstory on how the and how they it was a pretty instant connection, feel like an Insta love type of novel.
I feel like the characters had decent chemistry. They would say really weird things sometimes but it also just made sense with their character development.
I really liked Grace‘s character, but I also just thought it was weird how her dynamic felt so important at the beginning of the book, but just was dropped out halfway through
I really liked how the author wrapped up the present chapters

Things I did not like

Matt made some of the most dumbest decisions in this book. This man absolutely infuriated me. An example that I really was triggered by that I didn’t like is how he made a bet with Tati that he would marry Grace, first I think betting on something like that is so gross, especially making his partner drunk and then marrying her just for the bet
another aspect that I absolutely hated was Grace’s teacher I thought their relationship was really weird and I didn’t like how they ended up getting married, especially after they had no chemistry in the past
I understand why she made certain choices for the past and made it dated, but it was so weird how dated she made the present tense it’s like she threw every single slang term from 2010s that she could
I found a majority of the side characters, absolutely insufferable, and especially Scott I found it weird how the author had to make everyone against the couple and make the couple only seem like they were the ones happy and everyone other than
I think the author adding how many different side plots was exhausting. I really liked that they ended up having a child and I liked watching grow but some of the side plots were so unnecessary
I think the way that Grace‘s virginity and her sexuality was discussed in the book was so weird and it made me uncomfortable that they often had sex drunk

Overall, I was extremely disappointed in this book even though I did like some aspects like the ending and the character development. I hope I did this review right this is my first review and my first book in the new year

I would love to hear other people‘s thoughts

opinions!

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michellebub's review against another edition

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emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

3.0

Shy pixie girl meets eccentric depressed boy

This seemed so cliche I couldn’t believe my eyes.
When I think of a manic-pixie-girl romance, this will forever be what I think of. An innocent poor girl with lots of energy and ambition, but no means to do what she wants. But that won’t stop her. She has her quirks that might be strange to most but not to him. He of course is also the artsy type but more marked by life aka his family. And she distracts him from that, brings colors to his life.

I really wanted to like this book, which is why I started reading it on kindle in German, but oh gosh the translation is horrible, so much sentiment is literally lost in translation.

Content Warnings

jessicabearbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

"The present is our own. The right-this-second, the here and now, this moment before the next, is ours for the taking. It's the only free gift the universe has to offer. The past doesn't belong to us anymore, and the future is just a fantasy, never guaranteed. But the present is ours to own. The only way we can realise that fantasy is if we embrace the now".

This book is for anyone who has ever been so desperately in love, you can't see yourself surviving if it ends. I think a little part of this story will stay with me forever. As a side note - this book only took me three months to read because I was too busy crying over a dissertation. But once I opened this again I was OBSESSED and read the last two thirds of the book in a couple days.

The characters are beautiful, it's so easy to fall in love with a lot of them. Maybe because I saw so many similarities to people in my own life - but I think the relatableness is what makes this story so heartbreaking and real. There are plenty of silly, everyday scenarios that have happened to almost every university student and person, paired then with the plot twists that make you grateful your own life isn't as dramatic. But whatever the crazy situation and context is, the emotions are the same and tug at your heart because you've felt them. There is such human innocence in this book, and I think that's so beautiful.

Grace, oh sweet Gracie, who was always too gentle for this world, I'm glad you're happy now. Matt and especially Grace didn't deserve what happened throughout this novel, and GIRL - I hated the frustration I felt as a reader having to watch everything unfold! But ultimately the story was beautiful, there was such a nice balance between comedy, emotion, dialogue and description. The world building and scene setting was always great - after visiting New York last year I've been searching for a way to go back. Reading this was perfect and maybe that's why I felt such a sense of loss when I had to say goodbye to these characters, their world, and their story.

The story was beautiful and there were so many powerful quotes I found myself tabbing and going back too! However, I had a few issues with some of the things Matt agreed to or said, whether this is him being a teenager or him being a dick I can't decide, for the most part though Grace was lucky to have him. I got confused a lot over the whole Monica/Elizabeth timeline - there's definitely a lot of little things and hints to think about and remember when reading this book, as a lot of loose ends are tied up throughout and aren't as shocking or relieving unless you're reminded of which characters or plot they relate too.

Overall, a strong four stars as the book definitely lives up the hype. I would recommend (I actually bought this book again straight away as a gift for my Mum, who reminds me so much of Grace and Aletha), especially to those desperately in love, or who still think about the one who got away.

"I feared there would be no healing us. The scars were too deep".

Mini playlist for this book:

Matilda - Harry Styles
Timeless - Taylor Swift
Nothing New - Taylor Swift
When We Were Young - Adele
This Love - Taylor Swift

Content Warnings

amanda994's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.0

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