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mx_sunshine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
But I feel that this book is the weakest of the Bright Falls Series.
The author employs questionable time jumps (2 weeks later and 6 months later) to skip over what would have been interesting scenes.
I really enjoyed Stevie, I thought she was written very well. I liked reading about how she dealt with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). I found it interesting that Stevie is the first character in this series to have a diagnosed mental illness, given queer people have higher risks of developing mental illness. GAD is also one of the most common conditions to appear with additional mental illnesses. So it is an interesting choice for Stevie to only have GAD. Stevie’s growth was the strongest. But there is a lack of development from side characters. They are brought in when convenient, to move the plot along.
I felt it was a bit unrealistic that Iris has suddenly become an author, as well as an artist. I found it hard to believe that Iris drew real scenes from memory.
Iris’ family were introduced all at once in the beginning. They are discarded for the length of the book, only to reappear near the ending. Interactions with friends are interwoven throughout, but it feels like they are sitting on the sidelines waiting to be called in. I didn’t feel like their lives were continuing outside of the main story.
I also didn’t believe the friendship between Vanessa, Adri, and Ren. The author makes a point to tell the reader about their 10 year friendship. But their bond isn’t shown.
Van also reads as a very flat character. She is extremely beautiful and friendly. Every character notes her beauty. She solely exists as Adri’s partner and is not developed on further.
The characters have always been conventionally attractive. I thought it was interesting that the non-binary character had such a strong feminine presentation. They consistently wore makeup, heels and nail polish.
The fake dating trope also wasn’t employed as I had expected. There wasn’t much yearning or uncertainty around potential unrequited feelings. It seemed to settle quite quickly as the protagonists suddenly realised their feelings.
While the cast of characters is technically diverse, I didn’t feel this was integral to the story. Majority of the characters are queer and white. POC are described as such, but it’s not mentioned again. Ren is Japanese American, Vanessa is Latin American, Emery is Black. The only case where someone being a POC influenced their life were brief mentions of how Vanessa taught Latin American literature and decorated her apartment with Latin American art.
As an aside - for how prevalent Iris’ freckles are in the story, I’m surprised they aren’t a part of her character design on the book’s cover.
Also interesting how the book has included no praise for itself and instead refers to praise of her previous two books.
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Vomit
morgsreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit
lunep's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a great book...up until the third act conflict. I was so excited because I was loving it and rooting for Stevie and Iris, they were so cute, so fun, the sex scenes were great, there was angts, but then in the third act conflict Iris lost me. And I feel so mad at myself!! Bc I can think about why she acted the way she acted in a logical way, I understand why she did what she did, but I still think she was unfair to Stevie, and her attitude made me not feel excited at the end 😭😭😭
There were another couple things I didn't love, but I didn't mind that much:
- The way Adri didn't get any accountability ever. I'm sorry but she was a shitty friend/ex, and I know ending long friendship like theirs is hard, but she never even apologized, and Stevie just accepts it because "she knew everything she needed from Adri she'd already given to herself"
after telling each other "I love you platonically", and after the fact that the last conversation the two had on the page ammounted to Adri telling Stevie that she wanted her back but she didn't want to break up with Vanessa??? , nuh uh, sorry - Iris's family. Also never apologized to her for being so shitty and never understanding her, and her brother seemed so misogynystic?? Making "jokes" about how a Happily Ever After is really a "Shittily Ever After" and other kind of "jokes" like that with his BIL, like, just say you hate your wife and go
- And, the one I ignored the most bc ofc, this is a romance book, and I was actually rooting for them: that I don't love when a MC is constantly telling their family "I don't want to date, I'm happy by myself, I do not need you to set me up on dates, I actually hate it" and their pushy family doesn't accept it only for the MC to, in fact, fall in love/realize that they weren't happy by themself. The petty side in me doesn't like giving the pushy families the satisfaction lmao
But one thing I ADORED were Iris's friends! At first I was a little lost ngl, when they're first introduced via group chat, because I couldn't keep up with who was who and who was with who, but I know that's on me for starting on the last book of the trilogy lmao, and once I was able to keep them straight, they're just the most supportive, lovely group of friends <3 (specially compared to Stevie's 😒 cuz I don't let Vanessa off the hook either, even tho I didn't talk about her when talking about Adri
I also LOOOVED Stevie's character growth, at the end, I felt she was the MC more than Iris (tho, since it was dual POV I'm pretty sure they're both of them are MCs, and neither is just "the love interest") because through most of the book I didn't feel like Iris got much development
Graphic: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Misogyny
Moderate: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Acephobia/Arophobia, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage
Slut shamingapoppyinthewind's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Gaslighting
mangofraiche'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
3.5
Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Sexual content, Mental illness, Biphobia, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Toxic friendship
finnickdeservedbetter's review
- 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
Tropes & Themes:
- romance author x theatre actor
- fake dating
- spicy lessons
- dating lessons
- failed one night stand
- small town
- mid-sized FMC
- anxiety rep
Spice level: low-medium
3 explicit sex scenes
Representation
- Bi MC & multiple secondary characters
- Lesbian MC & multiple secondary characters
- 2 non-binary side characters
- Several POC side characters
- MC with Generalized Anxiety Disorder
My thoughts:
I loved it. It took me a second to warm up to Iris in Delilah Green Doesn't Care but once I did, I love her and I knew her book would be my favourite. Surprise, surprise, I was right.
I loved seeing GAD rep. Anxiety as a whole isn't discussed a lot in fiction, especially in contemporary romance. I also liked the emphasis on it being part of Stevie, but not defining her. It's not a personal fault. It just is what it is.
Another thing I loved was the child-free by choice rep. So often (as in 9.9/10 times) a women's HEA in romance books is being married, having 2.4 kids, and living in the suburbs in a house with a white picket fence. That's fine and dandy...if that's what you want. That's not the case for so many women but those women are so rarely represented.
Anyways, I'm stop yapping, otherwise we'll get into spoiler territory.
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
Moderate: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Homophobia
zaesbookshelf's review
- 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
I love a fake dating trope. When you add in how absolutely queer-centric the story is, it’s so much better. While this is technically the third book of this series, it is the first one I read and had no problem following the story — so yay for series that can read as stand-alones!
It was also really refreshing reading a book with a MC who had an anxiety disorder that didn’t magically go away throughout the story.
Only downside: I felt like the end was slightly rushed. But, I might have enjoyed it a bit more if I had read the other two books first as it does feel like a wrap-up for the series.
Graphic: Sexual content and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
prettynerdy3'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: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Cursing, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Alcohol
Moderate: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship
fuzzywilson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Cursing, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders
cats33'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
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Moderate: Vomit and Cursing
Minor: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Toxic friendship