Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Six Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did)

This book was a surprise.
Don’t let the cover and back cover fool you.
This book is deep, very emotional and hard to put down. It deals with grief, trauma, heartbreak and a tensed, profound love.

Content Warnings

lithoerary_atria's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i have 4% charge left on my phone so i'll try to be brief.

please check the trigger warnings for this one. this is not really a cute summery romcom!! there's ableism, character death, graphic scene of character death & injury, grief from losing a loved one, bad parenting, ptsd, major surgery of a loved one etc. go into this book taking your mental health into account!!

now if the formalities are over with, onto my review:

THIS BOOK WAS MADE FOR ME!!! like handcrafted & thought for me idcidcidc. i just, god, the characters are SOOOOO human and flawed and i was crying so many times & my herat was in my throat because god, this felt tooooo real. tess sharpe didn't hold back AT ALL. like ok here's the thing, this is the PERFECT™ love story for me. the way the entirety of their relationship is shown ughhh it's sooo *screams & starts chewing on walls*.

the scenes where they are comforting each other but can't say what they feel for each other while DESPERATELY pining for each other is just TOP TIER!! THE YEARNING, THE PINING, THE EMOTIONS, THE WAY THESE BITCHES FUCKING TOUCH EACH OTHER & HUG EACH OTHER (SHE'S THE ONLY ONE THAT PENNY ALLOWS TO TOUCH HER HANDS!!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS SHIT!!!!) BUT STILL CANNOT SAY WHAT THEY THINK BECAUSE THEY'RE AFRAID OF THE CONSEQUENCES & THERE'S TOO MUCH HISTORY ON THEIR SIDES — i'm telling you once again this book was written for me actually idec about anyone else.

the romance aside, this is also such a brilliant depiction of grief and complex familial relationships and it hurts to see both penny & lottie hurt each other because they're both grieving and neither of them can't help themselves and there's so much anger and love in here, both of them at the exact same time, they both wrong each other in so many ways but it's sooo realistically portrayed. it's all just done so so so well. it's so dysfunctional and it was just portrayed sooo well (also penny's last thoughts about how she wants to have a relationship with her mom but it seems growing apart is inevitable and how we are left hanging at the end — it's so so so so so messy yet satisfying in its own way).

idk i have SOOOO many thoughts about this book — the portrayal of mother-daughter relationships (and oh the contrast between penny & tate and lottie & anna killed me!!! it was so cruel but that is life), the romance, the fucking prose at some specific moments — all of them *chef's kiss*

idk girl just read it. this took me a month to read ('cause exams & college & life & mental health & global issues stuff) but i'm sooo glad i did read this!!! and my phone will switch off at any moment. so parting words: READ IT!!!

Content Warnings

sapphic_alpaca's review

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dark emotional funny reflective sad

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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jennalise13's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

damn what a slow burn but tate and penny’s chemistry was so good. also love a complicated mother daughter relationship!!

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starrypinksky's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense 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

5.0

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zaesbookshelf's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Sometimes YA hits so hard, so perfectly, that you can’t help but love it. This book had me laughing, crying, kicking my feet in excitement. Yes, it is a cute, sapphic romance, but is so much more than that.

The author does a wonderful job touching on all the hard topics: grief, trauma, ptsd, the hardships of medical needs when you’re not rich, the complications of parent-child relationships, the fear around knowing (but never fully knowing) how someone feels about you, the power of found family.

It’s just — so good. It will make you feel all the feels - good and bad. But in such a way that has you always looking to hope.

Definitely going to be in my top books of the year.

Content Warnings

evelynyle_88's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad 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

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kharlan3's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective

5.0

Best YA of 2023

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