Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Bad Girl Reputation

"Change is a choice we make every day, a thousand times a day. We choose to do this one thing better. Then the next. And the next."

While I didn't particularly enjoy Good Girl Complex I really wanted to read about Evan & Gen's relationship. Evan was introduced in Good Girl Complex as the identical twin to its male lead Cooper, but we only heard about Gen because of how her supposed actions affected Evan and influenced his dickish behaviour, so I was very interested to get more of a backstory on their past. Unfortunately, what we get is a very toxic second-chance romance between a girl trying to shed her party-girl image and live a sober life and a guy who can't take 'no' for an answer and doesn't believe that his supposed 'best friend' is being genuine in wanting to change her ways.

"Evan and I have always had this tension between us. Pushing and pulling. Making each other jealous and manipulating a response. It's all part of the bad habits I'm trying to break. Yet, in doing so, I'm repeating the steps."

I think I may be ageing out of enjoying Elle Kennedy because I just found it, overall, to be quite juvenile. And yes, comparatively, 22 is young, but their actions (Evan's more so) were so immature. I also didn't appreciate that Gen kept stringing along Harrison knowing full-well that their relationship was going nowhere while she still had feelings (and kept hooking up with!!) Evan. That was totally unfair.

Everything wrapped up much to quickly and neatly, throwing up happy resolutions between so many intertwining relationships, it was a bit of an eye-roll. I won't be continuing with the series after this.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

eviecheesepuff's review

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challenging emotional funny inspiring 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

4.25

I really loved Good Girl Complex, so it was a no-brainer to request the sequel when I saw it available on Netgalley 😊 Thank you so much Macmillan Audio for approving me for this audiobook. Release date: 10/4/2022

Meet Evan and Gen. Childhood sweethearts. Troublemakers. Two peas in a pod. That is…until Gen left for the city without any explanation. Now she’s back for her mom’s funeral and staying in town to help her family out. Is she the same girl that used to cause mayhem around town? Evan doesn’t know…but he sure as hell wants her back.

This book was the complete opposite to its predecessor imo.
At first I was a bit put off by how destructive Evan and Gen’s relationship was but I admit they grew on me! There are so many good tropes in this book, it’s hard to pick my favorite (second chance love, friends to lovers, he falls first…)

The character development in this book is off the charts. The people we meet at the beginning of the book are NOT the same ones we say goodbye to when reading the epilogue. Evan’s efforts to get Gen back, by doing things completely out of character for him, are hilarious and so heartwarming. Props to Elle Kennedy! 👏👏 I absolutely love stories where we follow characters interconnected with each other because any details we get about other people within the same universe are def gonna pop up in the next installments of the series and I can not wait.

This was a multicast audiobook, which I always love! But I liked Gen’s narration better than Evan’s. Her pace was so well maintained throughout the story and I found myself looking forward to her parts a bit more. Then again, I always relate more to a female narrator so that might be unfair of me. 👀

For me this book was a solid four stars. I would highly recommend checking the trigger warnings for it however, as it deals with a lot of heavy topics (death of a parent, illness, postpartum depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, toxic relationship, abuse of authority etc.)

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

I really loved Good Girl Complex, so it was a no-brainer to request the sequel when I saw it available on Netgalley 😊 Thank you so much Macmillan Audio for approving me for this audiobook. Release date: 10/4/2022 Meet Evan and Gen. Childhood sweethearts. Troublemakers. Two peas in a pod. That is…until Gen left for the city without any explanation. Now she’s back for her mom’s funeral and staying in town to help her family out. Is she the same girl that used to cause mayhem around town? Evan doesn’t know…but he sure as hell wants her back. This book was the complete opposite to its predecessor imo. At first I was a bit put off by how destructive Evan and Gen’s relationship was but I admit they grew on me! There are so many good tropes in this book, it’s hard to pick my favorite (second chance love, friends to lovers, he falls first…) The character development in this book is off the charts. The people we meet at the beginning of the book are NOT the same ones we say goodbye to when reading the epilogue. Evan’s efforts to get Gen back, by doing things completely out of character for him, are hilarious and so heartwarming. Props to Elle Kennedy! 👏👏 I absolutely love stories where we follow characters interconnected with each other because any details we get about other people within the same universe are def gonna pop up in the next installments of the series and I can not wait. This was a multicast audiobook, which I always love! But I liked Gen’s narration better than Evan’s. Her pace was so well maintained throughout the story and I found myself looking forward to her parts a bit more. Then again, I always relate more to a female narrator so that might be unfair of me. 👀 For me this book was a solid four stars. I would highly recommend checking the trigger warnings for it however, as it deals with a lot of heavy topics (death of a parent, illness, postpartum depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, toxic relationship, abuse of authority etc.)

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