Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

25 reviews

jourdanicus's review

funny hopeful lighthearted 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? No

5.0

This was just the rom com I needed when I was perfectly in the mood for it. Sweet, funny, emotional but not up its own ass, and of course narrated by the author (who is one of my favorite audiobook narrators).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Death, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content

daniofthewood's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Grief, Ableism, Alcohol, Death, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Drug use, Sexual content, Dementia, and Body shaming

blackveilbeccy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

This was attempting to be really clever in using and subverting tropes, but it fell flat for me. This whole book felt disjointed due to the rapid tone and style changes. There were also so many characters and subplots that it felt chaotic. I found the FMC horrendously self-pitying and I know it’s silly, but I struggled with the author’s choice of first name for her. Almost none of the characters were likeable as they all came away looking self-absorbed. There were times I felt like DNF but the premise was interesting enough that I pushed through. The texting and epistolary elements were the most enjoyable and felt the most real. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cursing, Terminal illness, Body horror, Death, Dementia, Eating disorder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Medical content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Self harm, Sexism, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Blood, Addiction, and Death of parent

siebensommer's review

emotional

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.25

wouldn’t have finished the book if i hadn’t listened to it 🤨

let regret come along for the ride. a passenger, not the driver. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Dementia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Racism and Alcohol

l1brarygirl's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Cute & funny romance written by one of my favorite audiobook narrators (and also narrated by her, duh). Made me laugh out loud at parts but it also had some serious parts. Also loved the author's note at the end. I couldn't put it down! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Ableism, Grief, Cursing, Body shaming, and Dementia

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Racism, Vomit, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Blood, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Addiction

chelle22's review

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

amy_in_the_city's review

slow-paced

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

2.0

The pacing of this book was weird. I really enjoyed the slow development of the relationship in the first half as the two lead characters correspond through emails and texts. Then they meet about halfway through, and the rest of the book is a mess. The FMC is pissed off at the MMC for hiding his identity from her, but she was also hiding her identity from him. She spends a good chunk of the rest of the book picking fights with everyone who cares about her. During this section, I really started to feel like instead of a relationship, the book should have ended with the FMC trying therapy again. Then the main characters spend a lot of time just kind of hanging out but not really as a couple while they slowly decide to actually be a couple. There are a bunch of other plot lines (the audition, grandmother's health, finishing recording the audiobook, mom's relationship, the audiobook studio, friend's acting career stress, etc.) in the second half of the book, so the romance gets sidelined. 

The MMC feels underdeveloped throughout the book and the story makes him grovel seemingly just because groveling is popular in romance novels. He didn't do anything that deserved groveling. Also, I think there was only like one sex scene, and it was kind of vague. It makes sense to be vague if you're trying to keep the book from being explicit, but the audiobook the main characters record is explicit so this book wouldn't have been non-explicit anyways. Something similar happens at the end when the story tells us the MMC wrote a song and then proceeds to tell us how the FMC felt listening to the song instead of giving us any song lyrics.

Another thing that bugged me throughout the book was that there were repeated instances of putting down other women. The FMC and one of her fellow audiobook narrators are dismissive towards an aspiring audiobook narrator because they perceive her as a blonde bimbo. The grandma is always making fun of another woman at her retirement home's plastic surgery, which seems like an especially odd choice in a book about a FMC with facial differences. Everyone at the retirement home makes fun of another female resident there for being proud of a recipe she makes that brought her family joy. The FMC seems judgmental towards and disdainful of the gentle-parenting yoga mom she is seated next on a plane.

I really loved the idea of this book, but it just didn't land the execution.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Misogyny, Medical content, Ableism, Grief, and Dementia

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Infidelity

Minor: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts

greatexpectations77's review

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing 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

4.75

Omg. I loved this book. I'm going to be a total devotee of Ms. Whelan because she is a perfect writer of flirting. Which is very hard! It's one of those things that's hard to describe but you know it when you're participating. And she completely nailed the cool, but not too cool, kind of teasing, but not mean or negging, just blissful little conversations. Have I ever been in love with a romance counterpart like this character? I don't think so. What a GIFT. This would have gotten 5 stars, but I felt like it lost a little steam in the last about third. But I will be watching Ms. Whelan CLOSELY for the next book drop because I am HOOKED. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Medical content

Listen to the audiobook! Ms. Whelan is superb as a narrator.