Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Built to Last

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

culzean's review

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funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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bringmybooks's review

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Griffin, & St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗬𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦 ✨

This is such a bummer for me, but it really feels like one of those "did I read the same book as everyone else?" type of books - Built to Last has a 4.1 rating on Goodreads and I just don't get it. I didn't buy into their love story and didn't feel as though there was enough of a reason for them to pine after one another the way they did. It also felt like a lot of angsty spicy times - which I don't necessarily mind - for absolutely no reason which gave a feel of their relationship being built on a physical attraction and not much else.

The strongest parts of this book, for me, were those discussing the home reno aspects - I loved reading about the restorations that Shelby did, and loved all of the parts talking about the specific home renovation project they were working on for the TV show. (But in my opinion that was not enough to carry the book)

All of that being said: I like Erin Hahn's writing and as this was her debut adult novel, I would definitely try another by her - which we will get, because this is a first in a series! Erin has stated that the second book will feature Lorelai and the third Maren, so I will definitely give Lorelai's book a try before making my final judgment on EH's foray into adult novels.

Also all of THAT being said, I am super in the minority here so if the synopsis speaks to you I would still give it a shot! I think you'll know pretty early on if you're going to have the same issues that I did.

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dianaschmidty's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad fast-paced

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

4.25

Disney-like child stars meets HGTV meets second chance romance? And it’s dual POV?! Perfect premise!

Cam and Shelby just oozed chemistry and amazing dialogue. I loved how open and honest they were with each other after having dealt with years of miscommunication. It was super refreshing to read a romcom where the main characters aren’t torn apart by their dumb decisions, just torn by circumstances, which is very realistic.

I also thought Cam and Shelby’s respective friends added a lot to the book. Even though there were a lot of characters, each was fully fleshed out and added something to the story.

The song titles for the chapters was amazing! I even ended up making a Spotify playlist with all of the songs, because Erin Hahn clearly has great taste in music!

The novel did a great job at making me feel connected to Shelby and Cam from the first page, with me already being mad at Shelby on Cam’s behalf by page three! I felt that way the whole book.

While the writing felt a little off and clunky near the beginning, since this is an ARC, I’m hopeful those issues will be corrected with the published edition!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Griffin, and Erin Hahn for providing me access to this book.

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