Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Outdrawn

Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

btwnprintedpgs's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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? No

4.5

I really really loved this. For a lot of reasons, but I'm going to walk you through a few of them.

First and foremost, I love how Sage and Noah's competitive history is established immediately. You get their history in a way that's natural and interesting, but it also lends itself so well to building both characters. Noah is someone who's always been told that her interests are not valid, her job isn't valid, and she's not enough to be the best, so she's very determined to prove herself, no matter the costs. Sage, on the other hand, is a loner and a fixer - she swoops in to help her family with their finances, but she also pushes people away constantly so she can never be hurt. At the start, they're both so into the art to cope with everything else, they don't see anything else around them.

Their characters develop so well, and as they become lovers you really get to see how they respect, support, and challenge each other. How this impacts their peripheral lives (friends, family, etc.) was also very telling for their growth and development and I feel like every secondary and tertiary character had their purpose. Nothing felt extraneous, and I loved that.

The subject of web comics and comic publishing was so much fun too. I don't know too much about that side of publishing, but I loved learning about their art and interests and getting to know their coworkers. It definitely helped flesh out the main stage (their workplace) and the looming deadlines added stakes and intensity to every moment spent there.

As a bonus, a sapphic sex scene on page?? So rarely do I find books that have that and in such a way the fits the characters so well in their teasing, competitive, yet also soft manner?? Perfection.

I love how every moment in this book matters - not that it's heavy, but that it adds value to the characters and their stories. This book really came to life for me and loved every moment!

Rep: Black bisexual MC, Black lesbian MC with chronic pain (carpal tunnel)

TW: sexual content, chronic illness, burnout, mental illness, suicidal thoughts, abandonment; mentions lesbophobia, biphobia, car accident

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hailstorm3812's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

This is such a fun time. I love the girls, the rival to lovers, the family dynamics, and the message. And the Spice!! (though a few times it could have been longer imo). It has a few self publishisms and typos but none of them remove the charm for me. I just really liked it.

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booksdogsandcoffee's review

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This! This is the nerdy sapphic book I have been looking for. Two rival artist thrown together again after being rivals in college.

The way these two beautifully imperfect women picked each other up and made each other better made the book for me. Outdrawn wasn’t just a romance, both Sage and Noah learn and grow so much through the entire book. Both together and separately.

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danaslitlist's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

“My loneliness slowly but surely melted with each smile she gave. This was trouble-- I was in trouble. Instead of being vigilant, I fell headfirst, no longer a girl with a plan."

This book was everything I could’ve wanted in a rivals to lovers romance! The characters were so realistic and jumped off the page, the banter and dialogue was a wonderful mixture of humor and tenderness, and the fact that Noah and Sage communicate healthily was the cherry on top.

I absolutely loved the character growth and seeing how they both worked on their own problems without expecting the other to magically fix their behaviors or personal lives. It was refreshing to have a romance not rife with drama and childish behavior constantly between the two leads.

PLUS!! No third act break up.

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wilybooklover's review

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

3.5

This was very cute, but the pacing dragged in the first half and the change from rivals to lovers (and the change in Sage's personality) felt a bit too abrupt. There was a lot of telling rather than showing, which I think contributed to the pacing issues.

Once these two got together though, they were adorable!

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rickireadss's review

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4.5

this was SO FREAKING GOOD!!! i had a feeling i would love this when i found out it was about sapphic rival comic artists, and deanna absolutely delivered. the aesthetics of noah and sage fit them so well and i just really liked their personalities. this was also HOT AF. i very much loved both noah and sage, individually but together they were such a power couple. i also wanna see their comics SO BAD, esp noah's from the epilogue !!

representation: Black FMCs, Bisexual rep, Lesbian rep, Chronic pain (FMC w/ carpal tunnel & extreme nerve pain)

content warnings: chronic pain, alcoholism, biphobia, mental illness, suicidal thoughts, lesbophobia, homophobia

Content Warnings